Page 10 of Rescued Heart

THREE

The tungsten lamp pointed at Bianca made her eyes water. She rested her hand on Carter’s chest. “You saved me. I never could have done it without you.”

She held on to her smile. Right words. Wrong man. Or at least, not the firefighter that had taken over her dreams again last night.

An extra moved off-screen over her costar’s shoulder, and Bianca zeroed in on her mark—the point of Carter’s chin. She couldn’t glance over. Couldn’t spike the camera—look directly at it—and ruin the shot. She needed everything real to fade away. To be and to feel as her character.

Except all Bianca currently felt was her pain meds wearing off.

She fisted the fabric under her fingertips.

Though a hoodie shadowed Carter’s face, her costar’s gaze locked onto hers. “I think you have it backward. You rescued me.”

His words brought to mind when the firefighter had steadied her. Made her feel safe despite the chaos.

Fingers traced her cheek, and Carter’s pinkie hit her stitches.

Bianca flinched.

“Cut!” The director hooked his hands onto his hips. His gray shirt would have blended him into the array of crew members behind the lighting and cameras, but Leo’s glare couldn’t be ignored. “Bia, what was that?”

Bianca wiped her sweaty palm down her face, and the fresh makeup smudged onto her fingers. Great. “Sorry, I…”

Hesitated. Daydreamed. Panicked.

Beside her, Carter sighed. “You’ve really got to remain in character, Bia.”

Bianca winced again. If only she could redo the previous week. If she’d missed the entirety of the mayor’s event, yesterday’s headlines wouldn’t have read:Are Both Acting and Carter Old News for Bia Pearl?

The complete opposite of what her contract said must happen concerning the hype around her and Carter’s relationship on and off the set. Worse may have been the pictures of her injured face.

Leo stormed toward the camera. “Roll it back. I need to see if her stitches are visible. Bia, go see Tiff. Make sure she works her magic.”

Bianca ducked out of the crowd and sat in her chair. She grabbed her phone and a water bottle. Usually, the best makeup artist in the business would have beaten Bianca to her seat. Except Tiff wasn’t waiting behind the cameras. Maybe she had taken the day off, since one of the makeup assistants had done Bianca’s makeup earlier?

An assistant walked by, and Bianca waved her over. “Have you seen Tiff?”

The girl pushed up her glasses.

Bianca stopped. She knew the woman. “Hey, Grace. Your new hair color looks great.” Grace pulled her honey-chestnut hair over one shoulder. “I’ve had this color for almost two years.”

“Guess it has been that long since we’ve worked on a set together.”

Grace pushed her hair back. “Tiff had a family emergency. Her actual replacement just arrived.” She checked her phone. “Name’s Riley.”

“Bia!” Leo shouted.

“Yes, sir.” Bianca rushed to the camera the director glared at.

“See that.” Leo shook his finger at the screen. “I count two stitches.”

Grace wrinkled her nose. “That one’s only a hair stuck in?—”

“It will be fixed in fifteen minutes. If the press doesn’t die down about you and that firefighter…The point of your contract was to create hype about the movie. Not self-promotion. I took a chance on you despite your relationship and tabloids history. Don’t make me regret my choice.”

Bianca locked her jaw. “I’ll fix it.”

She marched for the makeup trailer and pulled out her phone. One text message from Frances.

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