Hot as Heller (Aster Valley 3)

“Iris called and said you might like having me here for the next few days because of your call schedule.”

I stared at her, unblinking. My agent was behind this? “Why would I need you here?”

She waved a hand in the air. “I didn’t say need, honey. I said want. You know how you get when the call schedule gets demanding. I guess she was a little worried you’re not taking good care of yourself. And I can see now she was right. You look like you’ve barely slept. Have you lost weight?”

I was suddenly unreasonably angry. When Declan had gotten close to the subject of my mother last night, I’d felt defensive. My mom had busted her ass to get us away from her toxic parents. She’d done everything she could to support and protect me from people in the industry who might have taken advantage of me along the way. In fact, she’d spent my very first paycheck on a lawyer to protect me, to protect us, from predators in the business.

But now that she was here, I saw so much of her through a new light. I was twenty-four years old and my mommy had just shown up at my workplace to “manage” me. It was untenable. I was horrified.

For some reason, I wanted to call Declan and ask him how I should handle it, but that only made me feel less in control of my own life. I didn’t need anyone. I needed to handle my own shit.

“Kix, Tomo, would you mind giving us a few minutes, please?”

After they left the trailer, I turned to my mom. “I can’t have you here. Thank you for your concern, but you have to see how inappropriate this is. I’m no longer a child actor, Mom. You can’t just show up on set when I’m working.”

“Iris told me you’d refused to bring Alix to Colorado with you. Why?”

I pictured my personal assistant, a young woman I couldn’t imagine living without most of the time. She’d become one of my closest friends over the three years she’d been working for me. But I hated being seen as a diva on set. I didn’t like showing up with “people.”

“I gave her a few weeks off,” I explained. “She went to Maine with her parents and siblings. I guess they have a house there or something.”

She frowned. “Honey, you can’t expect to be able to manage a starring role like this without some support.”

“I’ve done it before.” I didn’t add that I’d done it many times before. “Also, I have plenty of support on set, and I have Kix here for moral support.”

It sounded as lame out loud as it had sounded in my head. Besides, I still needed to ask Kix about the house party at New Year’s.

“I’d feel more comfortable if I stayed at least for a few days. We can catch up and have a few nice meals. I’m sure you aren’t eating well. You always forget meals when you’re filming.”

She wasn’t wrong, but I’d made a strong effort to manage my nutrition this time around since so many of the scenes involved physical exertion. Plus, I had a trainer working me out every day to keep my physique in top form for the shirtless climbing scenes.

I knew asking my mother to leave would be akin to waving a red flag in front of her, so I tried another tack. “Mom, I think a nice dinner out sounds great. There’s an upscale steak place in Steamboat Springs. It’ll take us less than an hour to drive there, and you can check out the shopping.”

Her face relaxed into a smile. “That sounds perfect. Ken Whittier has a place in Steamboat. I’ve always wanted to check it out.”

I gestured toward the door of the trailer. “I’m going to have someone show you to my chalet so you can relax until I’m done with the shoot today, alright? Get some rest and take your time getting ready. I’ll be there to change clothes after five.”

She nodded and leaned in for a kiss to my cheek. “I missed you. Thank you for not telling your old mother to get lost.”

I couldn’t hold back a snort. “You’re the last person I’d describe as an old mother, and you know it.”

She grinned. “You fell for my trap. You’re so easy.”

I laughed and told her to stop fishing for compliments. When she finally left, Kix and Tomo came back in. Tomo got right to work, preparing me for the first shoot while Kix asked me what was up with my mom showing up on set.

“You know how she is,” I said without elaborating. “I’m going to take her out to a nice dinner tonight and hope she gets bored enough to leave tomorrow.”

Kix made himself comfortable on the sofa while I sat in the straight-backed makeup chair by the kitchen counter where Tomo’s kit was laid out.