For the next two hours, she’d looked over her lines for the following shoot as they did their thing and got her ready.
She loved acting. From the moment she’d stepped onto the stage at age five after winning her very first lead in the Christmas Carol play at her school, she’d known what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Sure, at times it was hard work. The hours were long during the shooting, but there was never a dull moment. When she had downtime, she read, always on the lookout for her next project. Or she scoured magazines, looking for her next look or hairstyle, or a worthy cause to get behind.
Tonight’s event was for one of her favorite causes, and Amanda had reminded her to take a couple of pics for her to post on social media to highlight the foundation. Robin opted for a picture of her standing out on the balcony of her suite with the Colonne Vendôme in the background.
The cream of her dress contrasted nicely with the green color of the Colonne Vendôme. As she walked down the marble staircase to get into her waiting limo, Carmen took a few more shots of her. She sent the best to Amanda on the ride to the Musée de l’Homme, or the Museum of Mankind, where the party would be hosted. The museum sat directly across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower.
She’d spent three whole days enjoying all of the local museums, including the Louvre and the Homme, on her first trip to Paris almost eight years ago. Since that trip, she’d been back to the city of love more than a dozen times.
She loved Paris, she did, but she’d been in the city for over two months now shooting her latest movie, It Takes Two. She had less than a month to go in filming, and then she could take a break before the big push for the release started.
This time, she was thinking of a trip to Barbados. Or maybe she’d stay in Europe and head to Italy?
When the limo slowed, she pasted on her smile, checked her cleavage, since the dress hung a little lower than she liked, and stepped out to the many flashes from the paparazzi.
Being Robin Stein didn’t come as naturally as it used to. She used to be a long-legged quirky teenage girl. That had gained her the attention and eyes of television producer Jeff Hartland. For three years, Robin had been quirky teenager Molly McBride in the hit show Raising Molly.
She’d moved from television to film shortly after the show had ended with Molly going off to college, something Robin hadn’t done herself, at least not right away and then only online classes.
Instead, she’d gotten her first big movie role as Kim Lost, a sidekick to the superhero in a movie called Magnanimous.
For the next few years, she had played alongside some of the best actors and actresses in three more movies, including one where she had played opposite the lead as the villain. Finally, after the first couple of movies, she’d earned her first lead role.
It Takes Two was the third movie she was lead in and her first romantic comedy. She had fallen in love with the book the moment she’d picked a copy up at the airport. Amanda had hunted down the producers and the author and requested to audition for the lead in the upcoming movie.
She’d been happily surprised when she’d gotten the role. It had meant spending more time overseas and since she had been dealing with… issues in California, she’d needed a reason to stay out of the States.
Walking into a party alone had never really been an issue for her before. Now, however, she realized that she was the lone actress in a very political arena. There were so many politicians and activists in the room that she started believing it was a mistake for her to be there.
Tonight’s charity event was a fundraiser for Global Climate Awareness. GCA was raising funds for their newest project, which would pull plastics out of the world’s oceans and recycle it.
Robin was passionate about the project and had been following GCA’s progress around the globe so far. Still, she had hoped that there would be more actors and actresses in attendance. Instead, the room was filled with diplomats and politicians, none of whom she had anything in common with.
She’d strolled around the room once already and was thinking of sneaking out early. She was already on her second glass of champagne when she bumped into the back of a man in a black Armani suit. The first thing she noticed about him was his piercing blue eyes. The next was that he was easily the sexiest man in the room. Trust her, she’d been on the lookout for someone to flirt with.
“Sorry,” the man said as he took her arm gently so that she didn’t topple of the three-inch spiky heels that matched her dress.
“No, that was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she replied, not sure if she should tell him she’d been preoccupied with trying to find the door to leave. Since walking in, she’d heard lots of people talk about her, but so far no one had approached and struck up a conversation.
The man smiled, and her heart skipped a beat. “So, what is Robin Stein doing at a GCA event?” he asked her with a smile.
She shifted her weight and took a sip of her champagne. “Can’t actresses be involved in saving the planet?”
His smile doubled, and she thought he looked very familiar. “Not the actors and actresses I know…” He shook his head. “Other than the handful that are considered major activists.” The man was flirting with her, and she found it utterly delightful. He was a sexy package complete with looks, charm, and mystery. Part of her wished to keep flirting without knowing who he was. The way he moved and talked hinted that he came from money.
She’d known many people who had come into money by one means or another. They usually stood out from the ones who’d had wealth their entire lives.
Not that she had been raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she was a damn good actress and could easily fake it around the right people. The ones she needed to influence.
“You must not know a lot of actors,” she teased.
“Not the right ones.” He held out his hand for her. “Blake Rhodes.”
“Robin.” She took his hand, but then stilled when his name struck her, and it dawned on her who he was. “Senator Rhodes?” She blinked and suddenly she knew exactly where she’d seen the man before. He was currently the youngest senator in the States. He’d been dubbed the sexiest man alive last year and it was obvious why now that she was face-to-face with the man. He oozed sex appeal.
“Guilty,” he replied.
“I hadn’t heard you were in Paris or that you’d be attending this event,” she said. In truth, she hadn’t even had time to research who was attending tonight’s event.
“I hadn’t planned on it. I just arrived in Paris earlier today for another meeting.” He shrugged slightly. “I decided to get out for the night. Besides, it’s a worthy cause. I’ve been following the project for a while now.” His smile grew as he lowered his voice. “I’ve been following your career as well. You’re taking Hollywood by storm, or so the media says.”
She smiled. “Do you believe everything the media writes?”
He laughed. “Hell no.”
She remembered there had been some rumors in the tabloids about his personal life not too long ago.
“Good.” She smiled. “Neither do I.” She saw him relax slightly as she ran her eyes up and down his suit. “Sexiest man alive?” She shook her head in disbelief and had him laughing.