Rocked (Rock & Romance II.)

Chapter 54. - Shoot Me I.

*Ash*

A familiar girl was working on my face, chatting away about a recent movie set she was contracted for when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I lifted my body slightly from the chair to dig it out and looked at the message between the brushes she kept poking in my direction.

Red: What are you doing?

Short and right to the point, I grinned, my fingers already typing out a response.

"Ash, I need you to look up," The girl instructed, before going right back into the story. She applied smoky liner to my lower lashes - a term I should've been embarrassed to be even familiar with as a man. But I was a rockstar and makeup wasn't far out of character. Especially when we were shooting a new video.

My phone chimed again and the girl in front of me groaned in protest. "Sorry, sweetheart, this is important."

Red: That sounds interesting. And wildly uncomfortable.

Gia's message read after I told her I was currently on set.

Me: Why don't you swing by and see for yourself?

I dropped my location into the text, before pocketing my phone.

"You're smiling," Makeup girl told me, eyeing me like I grew a second head right in front of her. "Is that who I think it is?" She smiled wide, and without waiting for an answer from me, she chatted on. "I don't mean to be nosy. I saw pictures of the two of you together the other day in some parking lot. I can't tell you how happy that made me! I know it's childish to be rooting for celebrities, but this is the fourth video I'm shooting with you guys and it feels like I know you well enough to be allowed to care!"

Well, that explained why she looked familiar, I thought.

"She seems amazing! So much personality and brains!" The girl gushed, and for a change, she didn't irritate me. I was in complete agreement. "She really makes being a brainiac look cool!"

I didn't agree with her choice of words, but the message, I couldn't argue. Gia was cool. Probably the coolest person I've ever met, and that said a lot given the company I kept.

"Ash, the set is ready and the girl will be done in twenty," Vivian, our newest executive assistant, and the love of my brother's life informed me. She had a clipboard in hand and her dark-framed glasses perched on top of her small nose. "I have a back-up dancer as well, just in case something goes wrong."

"Nothing will go wrong," I groaned.

"Well, I know you declined to have an expert come in to-"

I cut her off. "I don't need an expert, baby. I can find my way around the bedroom."

She snapped her mouth shut, swallowing the rest of her sentence. The girl was nice enough, but she still wasn't comfortable being around me. I couldn't blame her. I haven't made it easy for anyone to like me in the past. That was sort of my signature.

"Anything else?" I snapped, noticing the way she straightened her back.

Vivian shook her head and walked away.

"Wow, you really have a way with women!" The makeup girl said, laughing under her breath. I shot her a stern look and she quieted. "I'll just finish you up then."

"Good idea." I murmured, pulling my phone out once more. I typed out a quick message to security, letting them know about Gia's arrival. They were instructed to escort her to me as soon as she set foot on the studio's property.

This was ought to be interesting.

***

*Gia*