Page 42 of Shine For Me

“Fox, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. When you’re on set, you work sixteen-hour days sometimes. Of course you need someone to help you! How do you get groceries? Or go to the bank or have your dry cleaning done? How do you do anything when you’re working through most places’ business hours?”

I shrug, not meeting her eyes. “My, uh, Mom usually arranges a grocery delivery—”

June snorts out a laugh. “So you’ll get made fun of if you hire an assistant but not if you let your mom take care of it all?”

“The difference is, they don’t know she’s helping me.” God, that sounded better in my head. “If I hired a PA, they would definitely know. And they’d never shut up about it.”

“What are you, twelve?” She throws her hands up. “Your cousin is married to a literal pop star. Are you telling me Eva doesn’t have an assistant?”

My mouth snaps closed. Eva does have a PA—her friend Marissa runs her whole life, basically.

“And your dad and your uncles—did they not have help when they were touring?”

They didn’t have PAs but they did have minions from the label to handle all the day-to-day grind stuff. Not to mention my uncle Levi, who basically kept them fed and alive for all those years.

June is shaking her head. “You’re busy, Fox. That’s a good thing. It means you’re working your ass off and getting somewhere for the effort. Hiring someone to help isn’t something to be embarrassed by.”

I rub my hands over my face. “You’re right, okay? It’s stupid to worry so much about my family ragging on me.” I place a hand over the script. “But that doesn’t help me right now.”

She narrows her eyes further, like she’s not quite ready to be done scolding me, but eventually sighs. “I’ll help you right now if you promise to call your manager—tomorrow—and ask her to screen some candidates for a PA job.”

“You’ll help me?”

She shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Sure. So long as you promise—”

“I promise,” I say quickly, not wanting to risk losing this opportunity. “Tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She stands from the table and I look up in confusion.

“I thought we were—”

“All of my scenes tomorrow require me to be in heels.” She lifts a foot so I can see the needle-sharp spikes currently strapped to her feet—and I do my best not to think about how good they make her calves look. “I want to change and get comfortable. Then we can meet up in my room and go over all this. I’ll record your lines and we can run through it a few times. Sound good?”

I just stare up at her, kind of dazed. “You’re really going to do that?”

She shrugs, like it’s no big deal. “Of course.”

“But…it’s your day off. And I already stole your whole morning and afternoon.”

She rolls her eyes. “Give me a break. That was the best time I’ve had in ages. You hardly stole it.”

Warmth rushes through me at those words.The best time I’ve had in ages.I did that for her. I made her day better.

Why does that make me feel about a hundred feet tall?

I decide there will be plenty of time to question it later. For now, I stand from the table and follow June upstairs.