His laugh was cut off when she dragged his face back to hers and fused their mouths together. When he came up for air, he was breathless, but smiling. “I hate how bossy you are.”

She scoffed and reached down to place a hand over the front of his pants. “You love it.”

He groaned. “You’re right. I love it.”

Then he lifted her up. She clamped her thighs around his hips. The move shoved her skirt up, and he grasped her bare legs with his strong hands. The heat from his fingers seared into her thighs, sending a bolt of genuine arousal through her as his lips moved hungrily against hers.

He broke the kiss to look for a surface to set her on. But the second he spotted the rickety folding table at one end of the tent, the walkie on Carmen’s waistband squawked.

“Carmen?” a tinny voice called out. “We need Victor on stage in five.”

Breathing hard, Victor looked to Carmen, their noses inches apart. “Think we can do this in five minutes?”

Her bland stare was unamused. “Victor, put me down.”

With a disappointed sigh, he set her on her feet, then helped her straighten her hair and her clothes.

“Well, at least you look more alert now,” she remarked, reaching up to fix his hair.

“Oh, I am.” His voice was thick with innuendo.

She glanced down at his pants, then gave him a stern look. “You better get that under control before you give the audience the wrong kind of show.”

“Keep bossing me around and it’s not going anywhere. I told you, I love it.”

That made her laugh. She gave him a small peck on the lips, glad that he was in better spirits.

“You’re not nothing,” she said fiercely. “And everyone knows it. I think that’s what really worries you.”

His brows creased. “What?”

“If everyone knows you’re extraordinary”—she jabbed a finger in his chest—“then you have to know it too. And it means you can’t get away with acting like a scared little boy anymore. But we’ll deal with that later. Come on.”

She took his hand and led him out of the tent.

“Cut!”

Chapter 16

Outside the tent set, Jasmine turned to Ashton, adrenaline coursing through her. With a big smile on his handsome face, he raised his hand. She smacked it with her own. The sound rang out and the slap reverberated through her palm. Now that was a satisfying high five.

“We did that,” she said.

“Hell yeah, we did,” he agreed.

On the sideline, Ofelia, the first AD, was positively beaming. “Whatever you’re doing, keep it up,” she said.

The episode four director came over too. “Playback looks good. Let’s go from wide to medium.”

Ashton shot Jasmine a thumbs-up, and she grinned back, but deep down, she knew she was a liar, liar, pants on fire. In Ashton’s dressing room, she’d acted all shocked and offended at the thought of them sleeping together. She deserved a damn Oscar for that performance, because there was nothing objectionable about the idea at all. Even now, her traitorous mind couldn’t stop replaying the sensation of his hands gripping her thighs.

Shit, she was experiencing the warning signs of a crush—the second point on the Jasmine Scale. That warm feeling in her solar plexus, as if they had a connection that was pulling her toward him. The desire to make him smile, asking questions and hanging on his every word when he answered, looking for hints that he might be crushing on her too.

It’s all in your head, she told herself. This isn’t real.

God, she was so predictable. Michelle was going to have a field day with this. Jasmine had developed a crush on nearly every cute guy she’d spoken to since the age of twelve, and she was terrible at hiding those feelings from her cousins.

But maybe she shouldn’t hide them. Maybe her cousins’ interference was exactly what she needed.

After they completed all the takes for the scene, Jasmine grabbed her phone from her chair and hurried back to her room. Once alone, she dashed off a text to Ava and Michelle.

Jasmine: Quick. Remind me why having a fling with Ashton is a really bad idea.

Ava replied first.

Ava: Because a Leading Lady is whole and happy on her own.

Her reply was so fast, Jasmine was sure Ava had copied Jasmine’s list onto her own phone, just for this occasion. Michelle answered next.

Michelle: And Leading Ladies don’t piss where they eat.

Jasmine scowled at the screen.

Jasmine: I don’t think that was an official point on the list.

Michelle’s reply was quick.

Michelle: Two words: Seth Thomas.

Two more words: Abuela’s party.

Oh god, she was right. Jasmine had to get her growing attraction to Ashton under control before she did something stupid, like she had with Seth.

She’d been casually dating Seth Thomas, one of her costars on Sunrise Vista, a short-lived daytime soap about architects, before the writers decided to make their characters an item. Seth had interpreted this to mean he could take certain liberties with Jasmine on set. When she’d suggested they handle the scenes like professionals, he’d accused her of “running hot and cold”—among other things—and stormed off to his trailer.

Definitely not an experience she cared to repeat.

She also had to figure out a way to invite Ashton to the party. They were on better terms now, but she still didn’t feel comfortable asking him yet. Especially after spilling how much her grandmother adored him. Ashton didn’t say much, but she’d noticed that he kept to himself and avoided the press. What if he thought she was trying to use him? Or set him up? Maybe he didn’t like fan attention. Would he think less of her grandma?

She’d have to kill him if he thought badly of her grandma, and that didn’t bode well for a second season of Carmen in Charge.

Maybe private rehearsals weren’t such a great idea after all. She couldn’t deny that running lines with him had helped their performance in episode four, but it had the potential to wreak havoc on her Leading Lady Plan.

His sweet awkwardness was too endearing, especially when coupled with the face and body of a god and an outwardly aloof demeanor. Plus, he made her laugh, and he cared about his family. How could she not fall for him?

But she couldn’t. Not this time. For once, she was going to cockblock her stupidly romantic heart.

Something else occurred to her, and she shot off another text to her cousins.

Jasmine: Can I get back on social media yet?

Michelle: Um, no.

Ava: I wouldn’t recommend it.

Jasmine let out a sigh. She had Ava monitoring her accounts and Michelle keeping up with the Google alert. They were supposed to let her know when the gossip reporters had tired of speculating about her and McIntyre. In the meantime, she was staying off social media and the internet, and avoiding anywhere that sold entertainment magazines. It was easier while she was working on set, but it also meant she couldn’t post any cute behind-the-scenes clips to drum up fan interest in Carmen.