Page 36 of Midnight Sun

Chapter 9

Jamie

It’shardtobelievethat this is his life now. They are sitting outside on the terrace of Bev’s hotel, eating breakfast and enjoying the sunny weather. It’s not even 20 degrees, but the Icelanders seem to think it’s high summer, while Bev is wrapped in an oversized cardigan. Jamie wishes he’d brought something warmer, too. Finn gives him a sideways glance, leans back in his chair, and tilts his face toward the sun.

Bev follows Jamie’s gaze and smiles knowingly at him. He returns her smile ruefully. After the nasty quarrel they had on the phone, Jamie would’ve never expected that their friendship would recover. But Bev obviously had taken one look at Finn and decided that she would rather be friends than rip his throat out, and somehow this entails forgiving Jamie as well. He’d always liked that about her; her fiery temper and her ability to rein it in again and make the best out of a new situation.

“I’ve a few free days to spend. Do you have some sightseeing tips for me?” Bev twirls a curl of hair around her finger, the perfect picture of Southern charm. She smiles at Finn. Jamie loves how Finn is comfortable with her flirty attitude, neither annoyed nor intimidated by her. He shudders as a cold breeze washes over them. Fuck these temperatures!

“You can rent a car and do the Golden Circle,” Finn says. He shrugs out of his black hoodie, showing the logo of a sword fighting school and passes the garment to Jamie. “Here you go,” he says, leaning back again, sitting there in his t-shirt like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Then he turns his attention back to Bev. “Skip the Blue Lagoon and go to the geothermal baths in Laugarvatn instead, they’re much less crowded.”

Jamie sends Finn a dirty look, but puts the hoodie on, nonetheless. He doesn’t want to freeze out here, and the hoodie is comfortably warmed by Finn’s body heat. Bev grins and ogles Finn’s biceps none too subtly. Jamie ponders killing them both.

“James, hello!” someone shrieks. Jamie looks up and sees a group of three people entering the terrace. His mood immediately sours. The one screeching and waving is Audrey, his personal stylist, with Peter in tow. After them saunters Blair Edmonton, the second male lead in Hrafna’s movie. Jamie scowls at him. When Hrafna cast him, she probably had in mind that Finn could act as his stunt double, but Blair looks bad by direct comparison. Shouldn’t the actor be more attractive than the stuntman? But he looks like a badly made-up double.

Bev plasters a fake smile on her face and Finn tenses next to him. So much for their relaxed breakfast.

“Hey, so good to see you all!” Blair exclaims. He kisses Bev on the cheeks and does the same with Jamie, before he waves a dismissive hand at Finn. He zeros in on Jamie. “It’s so good to work with you again, James!”

Jamie narrows his eyes. Something nasty is churning in his gut because Blair treats Finn as if he weren’t there. Blair doesn’t even register his ire.

“We have a driver who’ll bring us to the Blue Lagoon. Why don’t you join us? We can shoot some good promo pictures.”

Jamie reclines in his seat, sending Blair a bored gaze.

“Who are you again?”

Blair falters. He can’t conceal the angry twist of his lips.

“I’m Blair. Blair Edmonton. We worked together on the set ofBloodlust.”

Jamie pretends to try and remember.

“Sorry, were you one of the extras?”

“I played the villain!” Blair cries, unable to hide his indignation anymore.

“No, that was Martha Moreau. But I remember you. You played one of her minions who died in the first thirty minutes,” Bev chimes in, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Oh, I see.” Jamie turns away from him dismissively.

“By the way, James’ boyfriend knows a lesstouristyplace where we want to go,” Bev continues. “We don’t want to push our way through crowds of people.”

Jamie feels something disentangle in his gut as Bev refers to Finn as his boyfriend, and he absolutely revels in Audrey and Peter’s shocked glances. He leans into Finn the tiniest bit, finding his shoulder nearer than he expected, a solid, grounding presence at his side.

“Yeah, whatever. Don’t you two have work to do?” Jamie asks and pointedly looks at Peter and Audrey, who return his gaze like scolded teenagers.

“Do you want us to accompany you, sir?” Peter asks, face turning pale at being the focus of attention. “Audrey could still take pictures if you want her to.”

“No need to. I want a bit of privacy. Prepare my wardrobe for the start of the movie shoot, Audrey. And you, Peter, pack a suitcase for me. I’m staying at Finn’s apartment, and I want my things there. Also, email me the schedule for the next few days.”

The trio scatters after his dismissal, and Jamie still feels a bit on edge. God, he hates the business sometimes.

“Oh my gosh, did you see his face?” Bev giggles behind her palm as soon as Blair is out of earshot. “He’s such an ass.”

Finn looks after them thoughtfully, then he turns towards Jamie, a smile lighting up his features. Jamie’s breath catches as he is the sole focus of Finn’s attention. Finn takes Jamie’s hand and kisses his knuckles as soon as Bev pretends to be busy checking her phone.

“What?” Jamie squeaks, taken by surprise by how much the simple gesture makes his insides flutter, as if he’d swallowed a hundred crazy butterflies.