Page 16 of Starrily

“But it can be deadly poisonous if not prepared right.”

“If.” He continued eating.

“Do you have a death wish?”

“None whatsoever.”

Now the zero-gravity flight made sense. And didn’t Jessica say he loved adrenaline-filled hobbies? “You do.”

“Sonowyou want to talk.”

“Do you have no regard for your own life?”

He laughed. “A life is meant to be lived. What’s the point if I don’t make the most of it?”

“You’re not going to live very long like this.”

Simon waved the piece of pufferfish between his chopsticks. “If this fish wants to kill me, so be it. I’ll assume this is how I was always meant to go.”

Callie could only stutter. The man was absolutely insane.

“Honestly, you could use some adventure in your life,” he said.

She huffed. “If I wanted adventure, I’d have become an astronaut.”

“Come, now. You’re not gonna say you were born cautious and scared to live.”

“I’m not afraid to live! I’mnormal.”

“You were a kid once. And if I know anything about kids, it’s that they have no sense of self-preservation.” He leaned in. “Or are you going to say little Calliope was also stuck in an office all day, doing homework?”

No. She wasn’t. He was probably an adventurous kid—and if he was, she’d been just like him. All the long days she spentoutside, running around, climbing up trees, playing explorers in the bayou, heedless of any dangers. She and Mila—

Her throat closed up, and her quickened heartbeat begged her to swerve off the topic.

“Phoenix?” Simon was looking at her, head tilted, eyes soft and free of any mockery.

She helped herself to her drink. “Whatever I used to do, it doesn’t matter. We’re adults now. We know better. Well,Ido. As for you …”

Simon put down the chopsticks and, for a few seconds, stared into a corner behind her, lost in thoughts.

“I had an accident three years ago,” he finally spoke. “A car crash. A terrible one.” He subconsciously scratched the back of his head.

“How—what happened?” She asked, quickly admonishing herself—that was probably not the right thing to say.

But Simon didn’t seem to mind; he only shrugged. “I don’t remember. They found my car off the road, squished like an overly curious kitchen bug. And me in it, of course. I was severely injured. Near-death kind of severely.”

She was too stunned to say something possibly inappropriate this time.

“But I didn’t die.” He frowned as if he himself was questioning it. “Whatever is directing all of this, it didn’t want me dead yet.”

She didn’t think there was any great force directing their lives. But it didn’t feel right to say it.

A bright flash made her blink.

“Perfect.” Jessica put down her phone and sat. “You two looked deep in thought.‘Was the new Nobel Prize born at this moment? We don’t know yet, but one thing is for sure—under the combined forces of business genius Simon Montague and the incredibly talented Dr. Guidry’—”

“Jessie, please,” Simon said, casting a quick glance at Callie.