Page 41 of PR Stunt

She crouches down, slipping the pumps onto my feet, adjusting the ankle strap with quick, skilled fingers. I glance down at my reflection in the mirror. The liquid gold dress, the delicate heels, the weight of history woven into the embroidery.

Sienna straightens, tilting her head. “Hair and makeup?”

“Hair down, old Hollywood waves. Makeup, I’m thinking glowy. No red lips.”

Sienna hums approvingly. “A burnt honey gloss, sharp cheekbones, barely there liner. Golden era bombshell, but make it lethal.”

I smile. “Exactly.”

She grins. “You’re gonna break necks.”

Then, just as quickly, she pivots, grabbing her phone and spinning it toward me.

“Speaking of breaking necks…”

I don’t need to see the screen to know.

Charlie Grace & Grayson Cole: Hollywood’s Hottest Ride?

And beneath it is a photo of me on the back of Grayson’s motorcycle, arms snug around his torso as we ride through Malibu. His oversized jean jacket is draped over me, the sleeves swallowing my hands. The second shot is worse. My head tilted back, hair flying around my helmet, caught in that fleeting moment when I let out a carefree “whoop,” the wind pressing me flush against him. The whole thing looks reckless, intimate, and ridiculously cinematic. For a second, it doesn’t look like me. Or maybe it does.

I busy my hands with the gown’s fabric. “Of course, the cameras caught that exact moment.”

“Oh, honey. Caught it? They immortalized it. This is James Dean and Natalie Wood levels of hot.”

I press my lips together, refusing to react. “It was just for the shot.”

Sienna hums, unconvinced. “Sure. You two just happen to look damn good for pr.” She adds a wink.

I shoot her a look. “Let’s focus on the dress.”

She grins, all mischief. “Fine, fine. But do me a favor. Next time you and Hollywood’s favorite bad boy go ripping around the city, at least give me a heads-up so I can style you for the occasion.”

I step carefully out of the gown and slide back into my silk robe, the familiar softness settling against my skin.

“So,” she muses, crossing her arms. “Plans tonight?”

“Yeah,” I say dryly. “A not-so-romantic dinner date with the ball and chain.”

Sienna grins. “Have fun on your deeply unromantic date.”

I sigh dramatically. “Oh yeah. It’s gonna be so fun.”

Chapter 16

I sit on a barstool at the kitchen island, one foot propped on the seat, hunched over a chicken salad. Scrolling through socials, I check the latest tagged photos. There are hundreds of the same shot of me on the back of Grayson’s bike. I take a bite of salad and shake my head. It really is a shame I couldn’t have been on that bike with literally anyone else. Still, the photos are objectively cool. Cool enough that, if it weren’t for him, I might actually want one framed in my house.

It’s the feeling in the image that gets me. That rare sense of quiet bliss. Slowing down, even when everything’s moving fast. That kind of presence is hard to hold on to in my world. I set my fork down, maybe a little too hard. I am still annoyed with myself for forgetting that this is a job in that brief moment. Even if the photos looked exactly the same, I would have known the difference. I would have known it was supposed to be just for the cameras.

My phone rings, pulling me out of my thoughts. Glancing at the screen, I smile. “Hi, Anna!”

“Charlie, those photos turned out perfect. You’re doing such a good job getting into character. And the post-hike shots? Genius. You two are really taking this seriously, and it’s paying off.”

I twist my fork into my salad, stalling. I don’t want to admit that the hike photos were Grayson’s idea. Or that the bike shot was all him, too. That I hadn’t even been thinking about the cameras when I wrapped my arms around him. Or that the laugh caught mid-photo, the wind pressing me against his back, hadn’t been forced. But Anna doesn’t need to know that, and my mind needs to stop betraying me.

Instead, I let out a casual, noncommittal hum. “Mm-hmm, yeah. Just figured we should, you know…sell it.”

Anna practically beams through the phone. “Well, you’re nailing it. I mean, have you seen the internet today? They’re obsessed.”