Free The Accidental Movie Star by Emily Evans Page B

she went through. “It’s not my trailer or a set sandwich. I’m thrilled.”
    Inside the restaurant, the aroma of tomatoes, Mexican spices, and a sizzling grill filled the room. Caz kept his head down and averted while following her to a back booth. He slid across the cracked, red vinyl first, and Ashley handed him a menu to hold in front of his face.
    “I’ll surprise you, unless you know what you want?”
    Caz shook his head and spoke with firm words, “Anything other than diet sandwich on wheat.”
    Ashley grinned. She’d made the wheat mistake once. The sawdust on set looked and probably tasted better than that meal. After ordering a variety, she slid in the booth beside him, providing more cover. “This is California Mexican. Be warned, the food’s not TexMex.”
    “Everything’s better in Texas?”
    “You know it. What would you really be eating if you were in London?”
    Caz told her a little about his favorite restaurants and she talked some more about home. After their buzzer went off, Ashley fetched their lunch and slid the heavy tray in front of him. “Don’t get used to being served. This is just so we don’t get stampeded.”
    “Thanks.” Caz offloaded the dishes and passed the tray across the table. He took a sip of his drink and carefully sampled the food.
    Ashley bit into a tortilla chip covered in salsa, happy to have Mexican food even if the recipes weren’t as good as home. “I’m so jealous of your architecture in Europe. After I graduate, I’m going to tour some of your European cities and stare. What do you recommend?”
    Caz told her stories, and she told him about her plans to major in architecture.
    Beep . The alarm on her phone signaled time to depart. “Wow, okay, we gotta go.”
    Caz glanced at his watch with a frown and nodded. When they reached the back exit, he leaned forward and pushed the metal bar in, holding the door for her.
    They got back without incident and Ashley pulled the car as close as she could get to the warehouse entrance, and put on her hazard lights. “I’ll drop you here.”
    “Go ahead and park. I’m British, we like to walk.”
    Ashley shook her head. “They’ll kill me if you’re late. You should go in.”
    Caz paused a moment, then got out.
    Ashley clicked off the hazard lights and put the car in gear. “That was fun though, thanks for joining me.”
    “It was quite good.”
    “You’ll have to go back when you get your car.”
    “We could go this weekend,” Caz said.
    “Can’t. Mom’s in town for a long weekend. I’m so psyched. We’re going to check out some universities.”
    Caz held onto the doorframe, and his eyes took on a distant expression. “Your mom’s staying with you and your dad?”
    “They get along great.” Ashley softened her voice. “Not all divorces are bad.”
    Caz tapped the side of his phone. His face blanked and he shut the door. “Tell that to my parents.”
    ***
    Ashley went over to Powder when she finally got a break. Mondays were killer.
    Powder said, “How was your weekend with your mom?”
    “Normal. Fun. Dad even showed up for dinner two nights in a row.”
    Powder shook her head and her giant hoop earrings swung, making tiny parrots do a 360-degree spin off the bottom of the hoops. “I don’t get divorced people who still like each other. I’ve had to get more than one restraining order against my exes. That’s passion.”
    Ashley didn’t respond to that theory. “How’d your weekend go?”
    “I got stood up. His buddies were in town and wanted to pull some all-night road trip to Vegas. But don’t worry; I’ll make him pay before I forgive him. ”
    “You should try dating normal sometime.”
    Ashley gestured to Boomer lugging a chair under each arm. He plopped them down side by side.
    “What’s that?”
    “A reporter’ll be here later,” Powder said.
    Ashley raised her eyebrows.
    “She’s going to interview Caz, Petra, and Lorene. They’re calling the segment Eternal Loss,