Redemption of a Hollywood Starlet. Kimberly Lang

shrugged. “The PR people want to shift attention from just you to you and Jason. Maybe get a couple of folks questioning whether you two are becoming a couple. It will shift focus nicely away from us.” His lips twitched. “And a romance blooming on the set with your on-screen love is a perfect way to kill two birds.”

      Ugh. Was she destined to have to make a name for herself based on who she was—or supposedly was—dating? While Naomi got to keep the attention on the project and her role? It was degrading. It left a really bad taste in her mouth. “That’s a cheap ploy.”

      If Finn didn’t stop shrugging in that who-gives-a-damn? way she might strangle him. As it was, she was grinding her teeth into a pulp to keep from shouting at him to stop.

      “But you know it works.”

      But Jason Elkins? He was a good actor—a big box-office draw—and they worked well together on camera but she didn’t like him all that much. He was a little too egotistical and not exactly the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

      She bit back each of the dozen comments she wanted to make about where they could stick this grand publicity plan. She had dues to pay again, and it seemed her penance wasn’t quite over, after all. “Fine. I’m a team player. Whatever’s best for the project.”

      “Smart girl.”

      She stood and reached for her shoes. “Don’t patronize me, Finn.”

      “I wasn’t.”

      He seemed sincere and Cait felt a bit bad. She was just too jumpy around him, ready to go straight to Worst Possible Meaning.

      “Those were honest words from a friend.”

      Something icky rolled into her chest and brought a dull pain with it. Caitlyn chose her words carefully. “We were many things to each other, Finn, but I don’t think we were ever really friends. Now we’re colleagues, and there’s no reason why we should be enemies, but I don’t think we can be friends, either.”

      Finn’s face was impassive, but she recognized the look in those green eyes. She hadn’t hurt him with her words—past experience had proved he was impossible to hurt—but he was disappointed. Whether in her or her words or his own inability to charm her, she didn’t know. She’d last seen that look three years ago as she’d walked out his door.

      “I’m going to go get something to eat before I have to get back to Wardrobe. I’ll see you around.”

      With that, she left him in her trailer and forced herself to walk calmly across the lot with a smile on her face. She even managed to make small talk with the crew as she grabbed a sandwich. She was proud of herself. Not for the way she’d left things with Finn—that had actually left a strange hollow feeling in her stomach—but for the fact she’d held her ground and set her boundaries.

      But now that he wasn’t right in front of her, all the old confusion and hurt—and, okay, she’d admit there was some residual desire and memories of good times and old feelings mixed in there as well—were rolling around inside.

      So while she’d claimed hunger, she couldn’t find her appetite.

      As she sat in the makeup chair, she closed her eyes and tried to connect to the feelings so she could channel them into Rebecca later. When Martha started on her hair she opened her eyes and concentrated on acting as if everything was just fine. Normal. Same as yesterday.

      Martha chatted and told jokes and Caitlyn laughed in all the right places.

      Maybe she was a good actress, after all.