Page 57 of Cast to be Mine

I appreciated that. I really did. But my brain was already spinning in a different direction.

“Let me call my agent,” I said. “See what she thinks.”

I dug my phone out of my bag and winced when I saw the screen. Seventeen missed calls. And a slew of text messages.

“Oops,” I muttered.

I’d silenced my phone last night on set. A ringing phone during filming made you the most hated person in the room. I’d completely forgotten to turn it back on.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” Micah said, moving toward the door. “But Grace—whatever you decide, I’ve got your back. Okay?”

I nodded, my throat tight. “Thank you. For telling me.”

He left my trailer and I immediately hit Loretta’s number.

She answered on the first ring. “Grace! Where the hell have you been? What the hell is going on!”

“I know, I know. I had my phone silenced. I just found out.”

“Honey, you’re trending on Twitter. TMZ has photographers camped outside your apartment building.”

“It’s not true,” I said quickly. “It wasn’t me in those photos. It was Jack’s wife in a wig, standing in for a scene.”

There was a pause. “Come again?”

I explained everything. Chantilly insisting on doing the kiss herself. The photos that made it look like something it absolutely wasn’t. The studio’s plan to let it ride.

When I finished, Loretta was quiet for a long moment.

“Loretta? You still there?”

“I’m thinking.” Another pause. “Okay, this isn’t terrible.”

“Excuse me?”

“Think about it, Grace. Two weeks ago, nobody knew who you were. Now? Everyone’s talking about you. Your name is everywhere. Debut actresses would kill for this kind of exposure.”

“They’re calling me a homewrecker!”

“And in a few days, the truth will come out.”

I sank onto the trailer couch, my head spinning. “So you think I should go along with this?”

“I think you’d be a fool not to. We’re not lying to anyone. We’re not misleading the press. We’re just not correcting their assumptions. In the meantime, every single person who clicks on those articles is learning your name. By the end of the day, Grace Stone will be a household name. That’s the kind of PR money can’t buy.”

“Fine,” I said finally. “We don’t say anything. For now.”

“That’s my girl.” Loretta’s voice was practically vibrating with excitement. “Now, let me handle the press inquiries. You focus on the work. And, Grace?”

“Yeah?”

“Try to enjoy this. I know it feels like chaos right now but trust me—this is the beginning of something big.”

I ended the call and sat there for a moment taking it all in. It was my fifteen minutes of fame. It’s what I wanted, right? I just had to ride the wave and not fuck it up.

I took a deep breath and opened the trailer door. Micah stood about ten feet away, deep in conversation with Toby. Something about camera angles, from what I could catch. But the moment the door creaked, his head snapped up. Our eyes met across the distance. I almost smiled. He’d been loitering, waiting for me. I watched him say something quick to Toby before walking toward me.

He climbed the steps and slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind him.