Hey, fruitcake, you got this. No sweat.

I do have this. That’s true.

I glanced down at the stack of magazines next to me, grinning when I saw my boy on almost all the covers, smiling rakishly into the camera, casting that pure sex vibe across the entire country. Jack was on location out in the Mojave with the rest of the cast for his movie. The paparazzi had been relentless since the accident, catching him at all hours of the night and day. The green eyes, the closely cropped hair, his deadly grin—yep, he was a movie star now, pure and simple. He’d finally been officially anointed the Sexiest Man Alive, even after the terrible haircut I gave him. Oh, well, duh I’d known this for a while now. As always, when my thoughts drifted to Jack, a little flutter ran through my tummy on its way to setting up shop somewhere decidedly south. Before my thoughts could go full gutter, I heard a loud knock on the door, and my heart once more began to pound.

“Ms. Sheridan, you’re wanted on set,” the second AD called through the door.

First day on the set of my new series. No big thing.

Really big thing.

That’s what she said.

I grabbed my script, gave a final tousle to my curls, and thunked down the steps of my trailer, giving a big smile to the woman who knocked on the door. “No Ms. Sheridan. Call me Grace.”

As I made my way to the set, I saw Michael waving me over. Winking at the assistant director, I made a beeline for him, grasping his hand and squeezing it tightly. “I see you’re not wearing Adidas today. Good call.” I laughed, looking down.

“No way. I know how you like to puke on them.” He laughed as well as we looked at each other nervously. Years of history, months of rekindled friendship, and weeks of frenzied work had brought us to this moment. We were about to start shooting our TV series, and it was a little surreal.

“Can I tell you something?” I whispered as we walked toward the set.

“Sure,” he whispered back, nodding at PAs as they scurried by.

It was a hot set, and there was activity everywhere. I’d been there since early this morning, getting hair and makeup just so. This was the world I’d been dreaming of since I was little, and it was all here now, right in front of me. Since we’d shot the pilot and everyone finally figured out how green I was, I’d been sent to “acting for the camera” class. I finally knew how much work went into television production, after taking it for granted all those years as a viewer.

“I kind of can’t believe this!” I quietly squealed, resisting the urge to shout and scream. I was here! I was doing this! Holy Lord, I was doing this!

“I kind of can’t believe it either, but we’re cool. We’re cool. Nothing to see here, just two industry professionals.” He squeezed my hand even harder as we caught sight of a chair with my name on the back.

“Wow,” I said, dropping his hand to run my fingers along the back, tracing the letters in my name. “I have to take a picture of this. I don’t care how dorky it is.” I snapped a quick shot with my phone and immediately texted Jack.

Look look! They gave me my own chair!

“Did you send that to Jack?” Michael asked as I settled in my chair. My chair!

“I did. I wanted to document the beginning of the diva.” I laughed, posing as he took a picture as well.

“Oh, please. I think I have an actual Polaroid of that moment somewhere in my parents’ basement.” He snorted as he texted furiously. “How’s he doing, by the way? That accident with the photographers looked intense.”

“Who are you sending that to?”

“Holly. She has to see this too.”

“Of course. You know, he’s doing okay. We circled the wagons a bit. We had Bryan come to the house and check things out, increased the security system, that kind of thing.”

“He’s okay then?”

“He’s as well as can be expected. Normally when someone has a little car accident, it doesn’t end up on the nightly news.” I sighed, looking down as my phone chirped.

Looks great, Crazy! As long as you’re taking pictures, I need a new one of you. Sparkly boobies?

I smiled. He was pretty freaked out after everything that had happened, to say nothing of the accident I almost caused trying to get to him. When his phone went dead I had damn near come out of my skin. My mind went through the worst possibilities, calming only when Holly was able to get through to Bryan and find out where he was. Bryan was able to track him with his cell phone—how weird was this world? When your boyfriend’s bodyguard could find him just by tapping a few buttons on his phone?

As weird as a world where you have your name on a chair and people asking you if the right kind of bottled water is in your trailer.

Touché.

Jack had been glad to get out of town and to the desert for this new film. His mind was already in character, and he’d been working closely with the other guys in the cast. They had a week of boot camp before they started shooting, and he was really getting into it. Boys. They liked to run and jump in the mud. They just don’t always look so good doing it . . .

My own boot camp had consisted of cucumber and air, twice daily workouts, new hair extensions, a deeper shade of red, and a spray tan or two. I was down nine pounds, but luckily I had kept the girls. Jack would be grateful.

I may have also bought new boots for the boot camp.

“Hey, how’s the new house, by the way?” I asked Michael.

“It’s great. Moving in next week. That Holly, she really has this town on lockdown, doesn’t she? She found that house in one afternoon. Everything I wanted, she found it.”

“I’m glad she’s on our team. She is not someone I’d want to mess with.” I laughed, straightening in my chair as David, the director, approached. David Lancaster was known for being hard on newcomers. So far he’d been easygoing, nice . . . funny even. But I knew he’d had something to do with the notes the producers had given about my weight, and I hadn’t been able to get a good read on him yet.

“Grace, you ready to shoot?”

You got this; you got this; you got this. You. Got. This.

“Good to go, David,” I answered, my voice coming out in a squeak, which quickly turned into nervous giggles. “Might be a little nervous.”

“No problem. We’re going to start off slow today. We’re set up to start with the kitchen scene: your ex has papers for you to sign, and he brings along his new girlfriend. You got the rewrites last night, right?”

“Yep. They’re great,” I answered, winking at Michael.

“Okay, let’s get set up on your first mark. We changed the blocking a bit. We’re going to have you behind this potted plant to start with, okay?”

Behind a potted plant, huh?

My first day on the set of my own series I learned that craft services can do a lot with cucumbers and air.

That night I went to bed early. Being a TV star was hard work.

Did you really just say that out loud in your own head?

Totally. Danced around a bit too.

Before bed I walked through the house, closing blinds and double-checking the locks. I always did, but now I was extra careful. As I was sliding between the sheets, Jack called.

“Hey, sweet girl, how was your first day?”

“It was exhausting! But awesome. How was the mud run?”

“Also exhausting, but awesome. But really, how did it go?”

“What do you know about potted plants?”

“What?”

He laughed as I flipped out the light and snuggled down to recap my day with my Sweet Nuts. I talked shop, and he wisely let me fumble when trying to explain what a key grip was. As we were winding down, I heard someone in the background.

“Who’s that I hear? Another one of the grunts?” I yawned. He and the other guys in the cast called one another grunts. It was so hard for me to control my eye rolling.