Page 26 of Shine For Me

She tugs her hand away, laughing. “Let go, weirdo.”

“No way. You’ve maligned me, Miss Cain. This won’t stand.” I get her twisting hand onto my stomach. “See? Abs of steel.”

She snorts with laughter. “Uh huh. Sure.”

“Stop squirming! You’re not even feeling them right.”

“I shouldn’t have to feel themright,” she scoffs. “Abs of steel should be immediately recognizable.”

“This looks fun.”

June immediately stops her struggling at the sound of the voice behind me, her eyes going wide as she looks over my shoulder. “Bash?”

I twist to see a tall, good-looking man approaching us. There’s something familiar about him, but I can’t quite place his face. His gaze drops down to June’s hand, still pressed against my stomach, and his eyebrows go up. June’s face turns red and she tugs her hand away. This time I let her go, feeling a strange tinge of disappointment when her fingers leave my skin. That disappointment swells into something darker, something unrecognizable, when he grins and holds out his arms. June pushes right past me and goes to him, wrapping her arms around his middle with a gleeful little laugh.

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

“The same thing you are,” he says, and that dark feeling grows when he presses a kiss to the top of her head. “Good surprise?”

“The best surprise!” She pulls back, her grin huge. “But what do you mean, the same thing as me…” her mouth drops open. “Oh my God, did Gabe cast you?”

The guy holds out his arms. “Yup. You’re looking at your newest co-star.”

“Holy shit!” She bounces on her feet. “Are you serious? You’re really working on this film?”

“I am indeed.” He slings an arm over her shoulder. “You’ll have to carve some time out of your busy schedule to hang out with me, movie star. I miss the hell out of you.”

“I miss you too.” She leans her head into his shoulder, her face soft as she gazes up at him. The dark feeling is roaring in my gut now. Who the fuck is this guy? And why does she seem so comfortable with him?

He must sense me looking—okay, glaring—at him, because he finally tears his eyes from her face to look at me. His eyebrows go up a little bit, like he’s surprised by something, but he smiles as he holds out his hand. “Hey, man. I’m Sebastian.”

“Oh, right, sorry,” June says. She gestures to me as I reach out to shake hands with the guy. “Bash, this is Fox Ransome. Fox, this is my cousin, Sebastian.”

I blink a few times, her words setting in. Automatically, my fingers loosen and I realize belatedly that I was probably squeezing his hand a little too hard. His smile only grows, and I don’t like the knowing look in his eyes.

“Nice to meet you, man,” he says. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I don’t tell him that I haven’t heard anything about him. I didn’t even know June had a cousin named Sebastian, let alone a Sebastian who worked in the industry.

But they’re both ignoring me now as June turns back to him and smacks his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me you were cast? I didn’t even know you auditioned!”

He shrugs. “It was kind of last minute, and I thought it would be fun to surprise you.”

She studies him. “And how did this go over with…the rest of the family?”

He laughs. “They don’t know yet. But I definitely got spotted by a photographer on my way in, so it’s only a matter of time.” Someone calls his name and he turns to look over his shoulder. “Shoot. I have to go. Dinner tonight?”

I have the urge to point out that she and I are supposed to be having dinner tonight, but I manage to bite my tongue in time. “Sure! I think we should be done by six.”

“Perfect.”

He squeezes her arm, offers me a brief nod, then heads off to the production assistant who was calling for him. June watches him go, her eyes wide. “I have to text Grey,” she mutters, reaching for her phone. “He’s not going to believe this.”

“Why?” I ask. “It’s not exactly unusual for your grandfather’s studio to hire family members.” I realize how bitchy that sounded the second the words are out of my mouth, but June only makes a scoffing noise as she taps away on her phone screen.

“Notthisfamily member,” she mutters as she types. “Believe me.”

“I’ve never heard of a Sebastian Cain.”