Why am I even thinking about this? Ben shook the thought from his head, unsure when the last time was that he'd ever felt this foggy-headed over a woman.
Aria's laughter peeled through the air just then, melodic and joyous. Ben swallowed hard, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading for the door. He had to get out of there. Now.
He wouldn't let himself fall for another actress, not even one as beautiful as Aria Rose.
Chapter Two
"Congratulations, sweetie!" Betty Reynolds, Aria's mother, rushed over to her and threw her arms around her neck. "You were amazing. There was no doubt, of course, but my God, sweetheart! You're a star!"
"Ma! Too tight!" Aria gasped, but hugged her mother back.
Her mother held her at arm's length. "Look at you." She exhaled loudly, smiling dreamily at her. "Seriously, Aria. You are so talented."
Aria felt her cheeks heat and looked away, never one to be very comfortable with praise. "Ma..."
"I'm serious, baby girl. The most talented actress I've ever seen."
Aria laughed, but welcomed her mother's input anyway. At times, Betty Reynolds may be overly involved in her life, but she'd prefer that than to not have her at all. In fact, Betty was not only her mother but her manager. She'd hired her years ago and hadn't regretted it for a second, probably because no one would ever work as hard or fight as fiercely for her. Aria credited a lot of her own success to her mother for that. "Thank you, Ma. I'm happy we're wrapped, though."
"Well, given your history on set..." Betty glanced toward the director, Russell Rains, who was currently talking to one of the cameramen. "It's understandable that you'd want to be out of here."
Aria pulled her gaze from Russ, her stomach turning at the thought. No one else in her family but her mother knew that she'd dated Russell for the first three months of filming. He was brilliant and intense, and she'd gotten swept up in the passion of it all, mixing her real emotions into the scripted life he led. She'd been so naive—a harsh fact she'd learned when she'd found him with an intern's head bobbing up and down in his lap.
Since breaking things off with Russell, she’d found him unbelievably difficult to work with. He'd made it very clear he resented the fact that she'd initiated their end—as if she was the first woman to ever reject him. It had made for an uncomfortable last few months of filming, but she'd done her best to ignore his passive aggressive barbs and blatant advances.
All things considered, she was really happy with her own performance, even if she hadn't seen the final product yet.
"This movie is going to be big, Aria. I can feel it."
Aria wrapped an arm around her mother's shoulders as they walked in the direction of the dressing rooms. "From your lips to God's ears."
When they arrived at her room, a small room with no windows on the second floor of a long row of dressing rooms, Aria dropped down on the couch with a big sigh. "I could sleep forever."
"Why don't you take a nap before heading home?" Betty asked, her eyes on her watch. "I've got to get home to relieve your father's nurse for the evening."
"Oh, go, go. Don't let me keep you." Aria pulled her feet onto the couch and pushed a pillow under her head, curling up for a nap. "I probably will rest my eyes for a minute."
Betty grabbed a throw blanket off a nearby chair and draped it over her. "Okay, sweetheart. I love you."
"Love you, Ma," Aria said, already drifting off to sleep. They'd been filming since four in the morning today, trying to finish the last scene. Now that it was over, she felt like she could sleep for days.
Darkness fell over the room, and Aria felt her body relax, slipping out of consciousness. Minutes, hours, she wasn't sure how long she'd slept before she was jolted awake.
"Oh, shit. Were you sleeping?"
Sitting up, Aria blinked and rubbed her eyes. Russell was standing in the doorway of her dressing room, a wicked grin on his face.
"What do you want, Russ?" She kept her tone flat, her teeth clenched.
"You coming to the wrap party tonight?"
Aria yawned, checking the clock on the wall. She'd apparently been sleeping for three hours—much longer than a nap. "Yeah, I'm going."
She was feeling refreshed after the extra hours of rest, and she did want to celebrate with the crew—even if that meant enduring another few hours of her ex-boyfriend.
Russ glanced up and down the hallway outside the room, then stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Hey, maybe we should have a celebration of our own..."
Aria immediately got to her feet. "Get. Out."
"Come on, baby," he cooed, crossing the room. "Don't you miss us? The film's wrapped, and we can get back to being us outside of work."
"Us was over the moment I caught you fooling around with an intern," she seethed, instantly angry that he still couldn't take a hint.
Russ's face glowered, going from sexual to angry. "Whatever. I’ve got a good memory." He winked at her and gestured first to his head, and then to his crotch as if he was jerking off.
Aria's stomach turned. "You're disgusting."
He shrugged while he walked back to the door, nonchalantly. Looking back over his shoulder, his face split into a wicked smile. "You'll be back. D-List actresses always come back for this dick when they realize I'm the best they'll ever have."
"Fuck you," Aria shot out, crossing her arms over her chest.
With his signature sinister smile, he walked out of the dressing room.
Aria's insides boiled. Slime. He was complete and utter slime. Clearly, she'd lost her damn mind when she'd briefly dated him. She'd been so easily mesmerized by his talent as a director, and he'd taught her so much. She'd thought it was just innocent, but all those extra late night lessons had turned into him hitting on her and her...just going with it.
Groaning, Aria dropped back onto the couch. God, I'm so stupid. She couldn't believe she'd been fooled by someone as blatantly slimy as him.
"Hey, Aria!" A silver-haired beauty bounced into the room through the doorway Russ had just exited.
"Hi, Steele," Aria greeted her makeup artist and hair stylist, who was really more like her best friend after spending every day together over the past few months of filming. Steele was her full name—or so she insisted—like Cher, she always said.
Steele collapsed onto the couch next to her, leaving a puff of glitter in the air. "Today is the absolute worst."
"What? Why?" Aria turned to her friend, pulling her legs up on the couch to face her.
Steele was uniquely gorgeous, the kind of beauty that was all personality, too. Brightly dyed silver hair, colorful makeup, ears lined with half a dozen earrings each, and vibrantly colored clothes made her stand out in any room. Her always exuberant attitude matched her style, and the two had quickly grown close.
"It's our last day," Steele said, her voice exaggeratedly whining. "Friendship over!"
Aria laughed, tipping her head back at her friend's dramatics. "Our friendship is not over! It's the last day of filming, but you know I'm going to need you again. There's still the photo shoot for promos for the film. There's the red carpet look. Press events. There's a ton of things I still need you for."