“Okaaay.” Cara waited, but no further explanation seemed to be coming. In fact, with how irritated Skye looked, Cara was almost afraid to ask.
“Do we need to do anything or just carry on?” Cara looked around the set, noticing that her coworkers all wore sour expressions.
“If they come on to our set, try to look busy and stay out of their way.” Her mouth flattened into a thin line. “The last two he brought through were tech bros, and all they cared about was finding out who had the best blow and if casting couches were still a thing.”
Cara stared at Skye trying to decide if she was being serious. From the irritated energy radiating off her, Cara suspected she was.
“Great.”
The shoot continued, and by the time the clapper board went down the final time, Cara was more than ready to go home. Possibly attracted by the warm lights, a long, black rat snake had found its way onto the set, and while Cara totally sympathized with the actors who jumped on set pieces to get away from it, it caused a major delay. First, the snake had to be caught, then there was a spirited debate as to whether or not it should be killed.
After one of the supporting actors sobbed that she was a member of PETA and wailed about them even considering killing an innocent animal, the director ordered it relocated. Cara suspected however, by the look on the face of the unlucky grip chosen to transport the snake in a trash bag, the director had told him to kill it.
The histrionics had required the props and furniture to be reset, and several members of the cast needed their hair and makeup fixed.
Cara was dirty, and sweaty, but also somehow inexplicably cold. She was helping Skye pack up their bags in preparation to take them back to the trailer when Skye’s eyes narrowed.
“Do you know him?”
“Who?” Cara straightened abruptly from her bent over position, and her stomach fell to her feet.
Shit!
Declan’s words about Courtney shopping for a job for her son, Trey, rang in her ears.Why here?
“Are you okay? You’re as white as a sheet!” Skye put her hand on Cara’s arm.
“Just stood up too quick,” Cara mumbled, her eyes still fixed on where her stepbrother—was he even technically still a stepbrother?—had come to a dead stop, blocking the people behind him. Trey’s behavior quickly drew the notice of his mother and brother, Matt.
Matt’s eyes went wide when he spotted her and then laughed, pointing in her direction. Trey stood uncomfortably next to his mother and shuffled his feet.
For a split second, she thought Courtney would pretend she didn’t know Cara. She saw the hesitation on Courtney’s face, but their reaction to Cara had been noticed by others nearby. Everyone looked back and forth between them, muttering behind hands.
Cara brushed the loosened hairs from her braid out of her face. There was no avoiding it. She could only hope that Courtney was in a good mood. With one last regretful scan of her dirty, disheveled clothes, Cara pasted a smile on her face and answered Skye’s question.
“It’s my stepmother and her sons.”
Skye’s eyes were saucers.
With an elegance that belied the monster beneath Courtney’s beautifully put together façade, the woman approached Cara and Skye with an exaggerated, sympathetic moue.
“Oh, darling! What’s happened to you!” Courtney cried out, pitching her voice so that even those on the far side of the set could hear.
“Damn!” Skye muttered.
Cara noticed Jerrod and a few others angle closer to better hear whatever drama was about to go down. It was abundantly clear that Brian’s guests were not happy to see the makeup assistant.
“I’m not sure what you mean, Courtney.” Cara kept her tone saccharine sweet, inclining her head to Trey when he and Matt stopped just behind their mother.
Matt was an ass, but Trey looked like he was embarrassed by the whole thing. He sent her a sympathetic smile and then resumed his study of the floor. He knew, as well as Cara, that Courtney wouldn’t let the opportunity to embarrass her husband’s daughter slip by. The only question was how vicious would she be?
Courtney glanced around in disbelief. “Do you…” She waved her hand limply at the set. “Work here?” Her voice dropped to a horrified whisper.
Skye took a few steps back. Cara didn’t really blame her. If Courtney ended up being the new owner of the studio, then it was in Skye’s best interest to distance herself from Cara. It hurt even if she recognized that the woman didn’t owe her any loyalty. They were new friends, and this was Skye’s career.
Anger bubbled inside her. Cara loved this job and was starting to make real friends. Courtney had already taken so much from her and her family. There was no way Cara was going to let her waltz in and take this away, too! At least not without fighting back.
“I do. I love it!” Cara knew she had put a little too much enthusiasm in her tone when Matt smirked, and Trey risked a glance.
