Under the Spotlight

Chapter Eleven

Her dress is tighter than she thought it was going to be. It squeezes her ribcage, creating a lot more cleavage than what she normally shows. Considering that it is a deep red and that it hugs every curve on her body, this dress would be considered scandalous to many in the media. If she were to be going to a public event, Cassie would never dare wear this dress.

Since it is only a cast party, no one will be taking pictures of her in the dress and scrutinizing her outfit. Therefore, she will be safe from any negative commentary and criticisms from the public.

A lot of thought and effort goes into Cassie's outfits. She has plenty of clothes that sit in her closet that would be considered too prude or too sexy to wear anywhere. There's a fine line that an actress has to walk on when it comes to outfit planning. She must look put together but not uptight. Authentic but not messy.

"We still have time to go back to your house if you'd like to change," Jeremiah claims from beside her.

Heat immediately rushes to the woman's cheeks while she forces herself to look at him. She never took Jeremiah to be the type of guy to care about how a woman dresses. Jeremiah felt like the type of man that only cared about a person's character. "Is there something wrong with my dress?" She asks.

Jeremiah gives her a confused look before his face drops. "No— no. Nothing is wrong with it, you just—" He draws in a deep breath before releasing it. Redness tints his cheeks and his eyes fall to the house in front of them. "You're not comfortable. You keep fidgeting and readjusting the dress. You also keep trying to use your hair to try and cover up more."

He says everything matter-of-factly. Reading her as if she were an open book. She resists the urge to fidget with her dress once more by messing with her hair. Then, she remembers the comment he had made about her hair and lowers her hands.

She had forgotten to ask which branch of the FBI Jeremiah fell under. While observation is important to all parts, there are particular Special Agents that Cassie would like to steer clear from.

"I'm fine," she responds. "I just never get to wear anything like this."

Jeremiah's brows furrow together. He studies her quietly for a moment, clearly confused by her choice of words.

The door to Trenton's house bursts open. Music assaults Cassie's eardrums, threatening to deafen her. Trenton, the gracious host, stands in the doorway with a wide grin on his face. He calls out Cassie's name while gesturing inside. "I'm glad you came!" The man exclaims when Cassie walks through the threshold. "I was worried you would bail."

Laughing off the comment, Cassie looks around what was supposed to be a small, intimate party of just cast and crew. There is at least double the amount of people on the cast and crew inside Trenton's mansion. His foyer is overcrowded, with people bumping into one another. Cassie isn't even sure if she'll be able to enter the space, let alone stand in it.

"There's a lot of people here," she observes. Her eyes flit back over to Trenton, whose blue eyes fall down to her cleavage. Maybe she should have taken up Jeremiah's offer of going back home to change. There's going to be so many people ogling her all night.

"I know!" Trenton rolls his eyes toward the ceiling. "Penelope invited them all."

And now, Trenton is stuck having a large party inside his home. Of course Penelope would not invite all these people to her place, considering its lack of size. With the exception of Trenton, Penelope has never invited anyone to her home.

Cassie has, however, stalked the place on a house selling website before. She knows plenty about the small details of the home. About how it had been a foreclosure home before Penelope took out a mortgage on it. And all of the places that needed to be fixed up by Penelope in order to make the house look liveable.