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“Cool. Thanks, Jake.”

“Elle, good to see you,” he said, dashing over and kissing hercheek.

She beamed. “Always a good day when I get to work with you, Jake.”They’d done a handful of shoots together in the past, and he was easily one ofher favorite LA photographers.

Elle walked all the way onto set, now that it wasn’t in use,refocusing on her conversation with Gia. It wasn’t like she had much else todo. “It’s all in how you approach the day.”

Gia eyed her skeptically but seemed intrigued, as if she could usea lifeline, even if it did come from Elle. “What does that mean?”

“You just tell yourself that you own the room.”

She laughed. “Yeah, but I don’t.”

“No one does. But that projected confidence helps you get throughit.”

“That’s what you do?”

“Always.”

Gia smiled and glanced away. “Well, that explains a lot.”

Elle laughed, and accepted the barb. “There’s nothing wrong withplaying to the crowd. I’m not sure why you look down on it.”

Gia took only a moment to answer. She smelled like fresh cotton.“I would just rather focus on the surfing.”

“Yet here you stand.”

Gia offered a nod in surrender. Elle had her there and knew it.“Are we gonna get through this together?” Gia asked, her guard coming down.Thank God for that, because going toe-to-toe every time they worked togetherwas going to get old. She hated conflict and would go out of her way to avoidit.

“I think we’ll be fine.”

“Good,” Gia said. “Me, too.”

Jake clapped behind them and joined them on set. “Okay, we needsome rivalry shots for the chip folks to choose from. The slogan for phase oneof the campaign is apparently ‘There’s only room for one at the top.’ I don’tknow if you’ve met the ad exec on the project, but—”

“Mallory Spencer,” a striking brunette said, joining theconversation. She wore a tailored business suit, and came with a kind smile.“Pleasure to meet you both. I’m an admirer of your work.” They said theirhellos and Mallory detailed the goals for the campaign. “So essentially, phaseone is all about the competition, the rivalry between the two of you.Hard-core, intense, the battle for the number one spot. Theo’s got it allworked out. We’re simply implementing his vision.”

Elle chuckled quietly, but Gia caught it and raised a questioningeyebrow.

“What?” Elle said in response. “I just don’t really feel thetitle’s up for grabs.”

Gia held her gaze. “You won’t. Until the moment I take it fromyou.”

The banter was lighthearted but laced with an undercurrent oftruth that Mallory clearly picked up on. She pointed at them. “Use that in thatshoot. It’s golden.”

“Shouldn’t be hard,” Elle said with a grin.

“Let’s do it, Britton.”

She was surprised Gia didn’t shoulder check her as they turned toposition themselves on set according to Jake’s instructions. For the firstround of shots, they faced each other as if advertising a Saturday night fight.What that meant was that they were forced to stand face-to-face in challenge.She attempted the glare Mallory had asked for, but it was hard to sustain andshe felt the edges of her mouth turn up. “I’m sorry,” she called out andreadjusted, giving her arms a shake. “You’re a badass,” she told herself outloud. “Look at what a badass you are.”

Gia laughed. “How am I supposed to keep a straight face with yousaying stuff like that?”

Elle looked at her innocently. “That part’s on you.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“As a badass.”