“It’s about time!” Alison got up from the narrow settee situated between the windows in the small waiting room outside Isabel’s studio. “What was so important you kept me here for hours? More of your flea-bitten friends? I’m not the kind of person you blow off, Izzy.” The woman sniffed, crossing her arms in a huff.

“That’s enough, Alison,” Candice replied from the small sofa, casually stowing her phone in her purse. “If you bothered with more than gossip magazines, you’d know animal cruelty is championed by the Hollywood elite. It’s one of their pet causes. Drop the right names and stats and it might separate you from every other actress vying for their attention. You might try telling people you volunteer.” She closed her purse with a snap, and then looked at Izzy. “Tell us what you do at the shelters. Alison’s clever. I’m sure she can imagine herself in the humanitarian role.”

Isabel snorted. “Not a chance. If your pet princess wants to know what happens at an animal shelter, she has to get her hands dirty and actually volunteer.”

“Eew. As if.” Alison uncrossed her arms and reached for the plastic garment bag draped over one of the chairs. “Can we finish my dress, please?” She shoved the plastic carrier toward Isabel. “And make it snappy. I’m having cocktails before dinner and then heading out from there.”

“No, you’re not.” Candice sniffed. “You have lines to memorize, or did you forget you have an audition tomorrow?” She raised an eyebrow, almost daring Ally to argue. “You’ve been out every night this week and your partying is taking its toll on your face.” She shook her head. “No, Alison. You are staying in tonight. You’ll do a hydrating mask and get to bed at a decent time. I’m all for networking, but I’m not calling in favors all over town to get you auditions just to have you show up hungover and haggish.” She sniffed again. “Isabel can run your lines with you.”

Candice eyed them both and then flounced out, not waiting for a reply. Isabel shook her head, unlocking the inner door to her studio. “I need to pin you for length, so hang the garment bag in the closet once you slip on the dress. Knowing you, you’ll want the waist taken in and the bust tightened. It shouldn’t take long, but I am not running lines with you.”

Alison followed her inside and hung the garment bag in the studio closet, but she didn’t get undressed.

“What are you doing?” Isabel asked, pin box in hand.

“I need a favor, Izzy—”

Isabel cut her off with a wave. “Absolutely not.”

“Iz, c’mon! I can’t miss this hook-up tonight. I need to borrow your car.” Alison pouted.

“No, Ally. I have plans.”

“Plans?” She snorted. “You never go out. Where could you possibly have to be that’s so important?”

Isabel put the pins back in her sewing box and closed the tufted lid. “None of your business.”

Hip out, Ally crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Hanging out with that dried up old hippie again? Why do you constantly waste time with people who can do nothing for you? Then you wonder why you’re stuck in this hovel.” She threw an arm out. “Tessa Martin is a nobody, Isabel. She has no connections.”

Izzy applauded slowly, a deadpan expression on her face. “And Olympic gold for digging her own grave goes to Alison Steele.”

“Iz! Please—”

Irked, Isabel shot her a look. “Forget it, Ally. I’m not lending you my car.”

Alison picked up a lint brush and threw it against the wall. “Fine! I’ll just Uber it.”

Isabel laughed off the tantrum. “Suit yourself. You always do. But I’m not covering for you when Candice gets a ping on her cellphone that you used her account. You are on your own.”

“Doesn’t matter. She’ll blame you anyway,” Alison looked up from her cellphone, already calling for a car.

“Probably, but I don’t really care. Not anymore.”

Alison’s eyes narrowed and she lowered her phone. “Something’s up or you wouldn’t be so mouthy.”

Izzy shrugged. “Let’s just say I have a whole new perspective on things. I have options, and whether you believe it or not, you are not the only person who has someone to meet tonight.”

“Who?” Ally snorted a laugh. “Some pathetic button salesman or a crunchy socks and sandals type from the shelter?” She lifted one palm. “Yeah, have fun with that.”

“Alison, you really are a piece of work. Why do you care who I go out with?”

She sniffed. “I don’t.”

“Good, and since we’re not working on your dress tonight, there’s the door. Don’t let it hit you in the ass on the way out.” Izzy moved to the studio door and swung her arm out. “Bye, Felicia.”

With a glare, Alison left and Izzy locked the front door behind her. Glancing at the clock, she had just enough time to pull herself together and meet Zander. Her hand went to her stomach.

Tess said be ready and willing when the magic swirled. She stripped, picturing Zander’s gorgeous face and the feel of his lips on hers and her stomach jumped. She was more than ready. She was ripe. A single touch from him and her body would go off like a rocket.

His scent made her mouth water, and the thought of him naked made her breath catch as she stood in front of her closet in her underwear. She smirked, shrugging out of the rest of her clothes. “And from the way Zander filled out his jeans, the man certainly had a rocket in his pocket.”

What would he feel like beneath her hands? Was his chest as hard as it looked? What about the rest of him? She closed her eyes, imagining her fingers over his skin, raking lower until his naked waist tapered to a rock-hard erection.

Isabel sucked in a breath and snapped her eyes open. She glanced toward her bathroom and licked her lips. “Maybe a quick shower before I go,” she mumbled, nodding her head. “Yep, definitely a shower. The colder the better.” The magic was positively swirling.