Page 189 of Ashley & the A-Listers

Casual. Act casual.

Ashley stayed in the chair, though she felt weird about it because it faced the door, which made it seem like she was a testy parent waiting for her teenager to return home after staying out past curfew.

Instead, at the last minute, Ashley busied herself at the tiny coffee bar, pretending she’d been doctoring the stale coffee in a foam cup.

The door rattled before it opened, and she glanced over as she emptied one too many sugar packets in her drink.

“Hey,” Cameron greeted, dressed once more in that fluffy white robe, followed by her alpha. “Dylan said you left set. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Ashley said, and waved the hand with a half-empty packet, accidentally sending a spray of sugar through the air. Dylan snorted and she shot him a glare. “Just felt weird listening to that,” she tried, but it fell flat like the sugar did.

“Mmhmm,” Cam hummed, eying her. “Is that… all?”

“Yep,” she agreed—too quickly—and caught Dylan rolling his eyes. Through the bond she felt his amusement, and wondered what the hell he found so funny.

“So you’re not… jealous?” Cam asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

Ashley’s gaze caught on the splash of red across his neck, the actor’s lipstick left behind.

“Nope,” she lied.

Cameron shrugged, and she watched him toss a—what the hell was that, a deflated ball?—toward the small couch bed.

“Great,” he drawled. “Oh, did you make some coffee?” he asked, squeezing past her to access the pot.

She stepped out of the way, but not before catching the scent of that betaallover him.

A growl slipped out, and before she knew it she had a hand against his shoulder and pushed him against the wall to their left.

Cameronsmirkedup at her. “There it is.”

Realizing what she’d done, she shook her head and moved back, but not fast enough. Cam’s finger slipped into her belt loop, holding her close.

Not that she fought that hard.

“Sorry,” she whispered, hands balling into fists. She glanced over her shoulder at Dylan for help, but the fucker justshrugged.

Lot of help you are,she thought at him.

“There’s no need to be jealous,” Cameron said softly, catching her attention once more. “It’s acting.”

“I know that,” Ashley hissed, but refrained from admitting she’d spent the last two hours trying to convince herself of it, too.

“It’s not even sexy,” Cameron tried.

Ashley arched a brow at that.

“We aren’t naked. There’s coverings. And the ball,” he explained, waving a hand at the couch bed.

“What does the ball do?” she asked, curiosity overriding everything else.

“We put it between us,” Cameron said. “So there’s no touching. I can’t begin to tell you how unsexy it is. Plus there’s all the people, and the lights, and the intimacy coordinator.”

“It’s acting,” Ashley repeated.

Cameron nodded. “It’s just acting.”

“She’s still conflicted,” Dylan called out.

---