Miami newspaper ran a story on neighborhoods where telenovela stars lived. Ashton hadn’t even been that famous then, living in a modest residential neighborhood on a typical telenovela actor’s salary, which wasn’t as high as people thought. But that had been enough for the man to find his home.
Even though Ashton moved his son to Puerto Rico after the Incident, as he called it, it had taken a long time to feel safe again. Ashton still pursued his career, but he did it with his walls up. The Latin American media could be merciless, so he did everything in his power to keep his son safe and hidden. Even if it meant spending time away from him.
Even if it meant closing himself off from everything and everyone else. Including his new costars.
Just thinking about the Incident made him antsy, and being far away from home didn’t help.
He drank a big gulp of coffee, then picked up his phone and shot another check-in text to Ignacio.
Chapter 7
CARMEN IN CHARGE
EPISODE 2
Scene: Carmen and Victor attend a red-carpet event.
EXT: Red carpet—NIGHT
At the edge of the red carpet, Carmen adjusted the bodice of her dress, making a show of looking uncomfortable in the strapless blue-sequined getup. “I still don’t understand why I have to be in the photos with you.”
Victor grinned down at her, and butterflies fluttered in her belly, spurred to action by the full, stunning force of his attention. “Because you’re my date.”
“No, I’m not.” Go back to sleep, butterflies. This isn’t real. “I’m your publicist. Babysitter even. Not your date.”
Victor lowered his head and his voice. The dulcet tones shivered over her skin. “Once upon a time, you loved being on my arm on the red carpet.”
“Yeah, well, once upon a time I was your wife,” Carmen retorted, the words coming out harsh as she tried to ignore the delicious things his voice was doing to her. “And now I’m not.”
Victor straightened, his expression hardening. Carmen tried to ignore the prick of her conscience, letting her gaze drift over to the carpet, where other beautifully dressed people posed for pictures while flashbulbs popped. The lighting and set designers had outdone themselves with this one.
“We’re next,” Victor said, his voice cold.
Yep. She’d hurt his feelings. But he’d hurt her too. There were lots of reasons why they’d gotten divorced, and one of them was that they just couldn’t stop hurting each other.
Or at least, that was the back story she’d come up with on her own while reading the script.
Carmen took a deep breath, fixed a smile on her face, and stepped out onto the carpet, clinging to Victor’s arm.
Lights flashed. Extras milled around silently. The hum of the crowd would be added in later. Carmen smiled, awash in nerves and the need to appear professional. She wasn’t here as his date, but his publicist. Her only goal was to help repair Victor’s image so she could save the family business. She was not here to have fun, or to enjoy being close to him.
Even though she did enjoy it.
As they moved to their mark, Victor spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “This isn’t so bad, is it?”
“It’s terrible,” Carmen said through a tight smile. But she didn’t mean the lights or the people. She meant the closeness, the scent of his cologne wrapping around her like a comforting cloud, his hard body warm at her side.
It was all so terribly . . . wonderful. She wanted to shift closer, to lean into him, to wrap herself in his warmth and the feel of his skin against hers.
Focus, Jasmine.
“Cut!”
Oh, thank god.
Chapter 8
Despite his bone-deep exhaustion, Ashton caught a late flight to San Juan after the second episode wrapped. The final scenes had called not just for physicality, thanks to Victor’s drunken outburst and shoving match with a rival singer, but emotion, as the complications of Victor and Carmen’s relationship reached a new low.
The fight had required multiple takes to film, to the point where Ashton regretted insisting that sure, he could absolutely do his own stunts. Not that the actual stunt guy he acted opposite had hurt him, but stage combat could be grueling work. Another concern had been Jasmine’s presence in the scene, since Carmen’s character was called upon to break up the fight. The last thing he’d wanted to do was accidentally hurt her, so Ashton had been aware of her every second, from the moments she was glued to his side on the red carpet, to the