“Austin!” Priya said, covering her alarm quickly. She caught Cass’s eye in the mirror, and Cass knew she should just let Priya handle this one. “What are you doing back here?”

“Really? I’m back for a second powder. You know how shiny my nose gets just before the camera rolls.” Cass stiffened her shoulders, hoping Austin would get the picture, but he just rubbed harder. “You’re super tense today, Charlie.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Cass said through gritted teeth. It bothered her that Austin clearly felt he could treat her sister however he wanted, touch her whenever he wanted. She had imagined Charlie on set in L.A. as someone who was completely confident and in charge—Austin’s brash, towering presence was really messing with that.

“But I can wait until you’re done with Charlie, who looks like she needs more work than usual this morning.” He smirked and dropped his hands, and Cass felt an angry flush move up her neck and into her cheeks. Austin held her gaze in the mirror. “You feeling better after yesterday, Char? How’s the noggin?”

Cass opened her mouth to speak, but Priya jumped in. “Why don’t you sit in the other chair, Austin? Don’t want you to overexert yourself. Your nose is getting shinier by the second, and powder can only do so much.”

Austin kept his eyes on Cass, watching her face as closely as Sasha had in the lobby earlier. Then his gaze swept over the rest of her, and he smiled approvingly. Wardrobe had put her in a ruby-red jumpsuit with a tie neck, and Cass, already uncomfortable with the jumpsuit’s revealing neckline, crossed her arms over her chest and stared back at him.

“Good work, Priya. Charlie made you work for it today.” Cass glowered at him, but he kept his cocksure smile pasted on, even though he had just passively insulted her. “Anyway, I’ll come back when I can be the center of attention.” He sauntered from the room, leaving behind the too-strong scent of his aftershave.

Priya rolled her eyes. “What a pompous jerk,” she muttered.

“ ‘Pompous’ ” is one word for it.” Cass’s eyes stayed on the now-empty doorway. “Is that what he’s going to be wearing? Those chef’s whites?”

“Yep. He wears the same thing every episode.”

Cass looked down at herself. “Why am I in this, and he’s in that?”

Priya picked up a small canister with a label that read “Stardust” and brushed some of the powder onto Cass’s shoulders. “Because you’re the star of the show,” she said, smiling at Cass.

Cass frowned at her reflection. “Yeah, but so is he.” She knew she looked good, but what she did not look like was a chef. “And, baking is messy.” Cass thought about her usual outfit: yoga pants, a T-shirt, and her favorite white apron with “Woodburn Breads” embroidered in navy blue on the front pocket. She had seven exact replicas of this uniform—one for every day of the week—along with a pair of plastic clogs that were hideously unfashionable but quite comfortable for the hours she spent on her feet.