Page 37 of Lucky Star

“I was going to make the announcement later this week, but Aerin has forced my hand to do it early. No one can deny how valuable Sarah has been since I stole her away from my wife.” He grinned, which pulled a smile from me as well. His wife Shanna still cursed the day he’d persuaded her to have me come work for him instead. “Every task I give her, Sarah does with aplomb, even when it’s not technically part of her job description.” He shot a look at Aerin that dared her to countermand the statement. “In fact, I couldn’t do my job nearly as well if it weren’t for her. So, effective immediately, I’m promoting her to Associate Producer.”He sat back with a satisfied smirk as silent shock passed through the room.

I should have been happy, but I couldn’t find it within myself to muster the emotion. Perhaps if the announcement had come after I’d done something noteworthy, but I was instantly suspicious. Was this my payment for having talked Cameron into the distasteful PR bargain? And if I accepted the promotion, was I complicit in the bribe?

I was good at my job, yes, but Associate Producer good? I didn’t think so. Then again, I didn’t actually know what the job entailed since no one at Grimalkin actually had that title. Not to undermine the value I brought to the team, but if Aerin could crow about my lack of PR qualifications, others in the company could just as easily say I wasn’t qualified to do this job either. Since Broderick was part owner of the studio, no one would question him publicly, and as the majority shareholder, he could pretty much do what he wanted, but this was a bold maneuver—even for him.

I looked to Cameron, wanting so badly to drag him from the room and share these thoughts with him. I tried to communicate with my eyes how confusing this all was, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. Instead, he stared down at the paper triangle in his hands as he rotated it end over end in an endless circle, a cynical tilt of his lips telling me he was angry.

At first, I was confused, but all too soon I realized what he must have thought. While I’d simply wondered if this promotion was payment for my role in Broderick’s plan, Cameron believed it was. He truly thought I’d exchanged our relationship for my career. My heart sank to my stomach, and then plunged to somewhere around my ankles.

I’d tried to do right by Cameron, but now I’d inadvertently been made to look like a scheming bitch. How he could think that I’d be party to something so mercenary was a mystery to me. He knew how I felt about him; how painful this situation was for both of us.

But then another thought popped into my head. Was Broderick trying to make Cameron hate me? Was he trying to get Cameron to break off our engagement? If we weren’t together anymore, there wouldn’t be a relationship to hide.

Eventually, the congratulations died away, and Broderick turned the meeting back over to Aerin.

“Thank you. As I was saying before we were sidetracked, the PR team has created a plan to ratchet up interest in both our stars here.” Her voice warmed as she looked between Cameron and Jillian; the woman really got off on working with celebrities.“There’s no denying they are two of the most gorgeous people you’ll ever meet, which bodes well for us. They’re also scandal-free and don’t have any skeletons in their closets we have to work around. Not that that would have been a problem, mind you. We’ve got the best team in town.” She paused, expecting someone to agree. When no one did, she coughed into her hand and continued. “Anyway, this is very exciting. For us all.”

Julie touched Cameron’s arm, and he looked up to see Aerin staring at him. Holding his gaze for a few moments, she smiled, then turned to Jillian and did the same. With her focus shifted to his co-star, Cameron slouched low in his seat again.

“As the stars of this movie,” Aerin continued, “you two are in for a wild ride. People are going to want to know everything about you: who you are, your likes and dislikes, who you’re with.”

Jillian’s eyes caught mine and she smiled benignly.

“Which brings me to my next point,” Aerin droned on, pulling me back to her monologue. “We’ve all discussed it, and the best thing to do before jumping into production is to get the public used to seeing our two stars together. Frequently. The more this happens, the easier it will be to accept them as Xander St. John and Arabella Wilson.

My stomach clenched. I knew what was coming next, and for as prepared as I thought I’d been, it took everything in my power not to vomit up my coffee as she continued speaking.

“As you all know, there was tremendous speculation about the cast, and while the fans of the book had their hearts set on a different actor, they don’t know what we do: that Cameron is fantastic. He is Xander St. John. And Jillian, of course, is his perfect Arabella. The two of you are electric together. Both on screen and off,” she finished pointedly.

With that one sentence, she’d already set the stage for their fauxmance. With the exception of a few people, everyone else in the room would assume that Cameron and Jillian were already a couple and that them being cast together wasn’t a mistake.

My eyes flicked to Broderick, who refused to engage with me. What had happened to giving Cameron a choice during the meeting? Aerin hadn’t even mentioned the other option he’d laid out this morning and had me present to Cameron. So many questions ran through my head, and as I felt the weight of each one of them pressing down on me, my face grew hot with anger and my eyes burned with unshed tears.

Cameron glanced my way, his eyes flat, before his gaze bounced to Jillian. As if on cue, he smiled at her—that million-dollar smile that I loved so much—and suddenly it hit me: Aerin hadn’t presented the other option because everything had already been decided. When we’d parted ways earlier, there’d still been an hour before this meeting. During that time, Cameron must have talked with Broderick—or, more likely, had Julie call Aerin—to set the wheels in motion.

If Cameron thought I’d betrayed him, this was just as bad. Maybe worse, since we’d agreed on one thing and now they were doing something different.

The longer Aerin spoke, the clearer everything became. They weren’t going to wait for Vancouver to put the plan into action; it would start immediately. I had a difficult time hearing some of the details over the ringing in my ears, but Cameron’s body language wasn’t hard to misinterpret. In a matter of moments, he’d done a complete one-eighty. He was a damn fine actor, but this was unlike anything I’d ever seen from him before. If I wasn’t wearing his grandmother’s damn ring, I’d believe the tale Aerin was spinning too.

It took everything I had in me not to jump out of my chair and run out of the room. As it was, my hands had gone numb and sweat dripped down my spine. On a dime, he’d gone from being mine to being theirs.

And he hadn’t even prepped me.

I watched in mute horror as Cameron rose, walked around the table, and sat down next to his co-star. He smiled at her, and Jillian’s eyes sparkled. When he leaned close and whispered something in her ear, she let out a light, tinkling laugh and touched his forearm, letting her fingers linger. Cameron turned and said something to Broderick, and our boss nodded. All around the table, people were smiling and congratulating the new couple, commenting on how they hadn’t known Broderick had managed to find a real-life couple. The two stars laughed, their faces falsely bashful over the praise coming their way.

Watching them pretend to be in love, there was no doubt in my mind the fandom would eat them up with a spoon. Separately, they were gorgeous creatures, but together they were stunning. Even under false pretenses, if they smiled at each other like they were doing now for the paparazzi, in no time flat everyone would believe the hype.

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