Page 152 of The Sun & Her Burn

“Adam,” a smartly dressed man with deep auburn hair and perfectly preserved features greeted my date with a warm clap on the back. Ellis Foster had been the host ofEntertainment Extrasince I was a girl but he didn’t look a day over thirty. “And the lovely Linnea Kai.”

“Hullo,” Adam said in a cheerful British way that drew my skeptical gaze.

Why the hell was he so happy?

Of course, we had started the day with a brilliant play that I could still feel in my swollen pussy and the peaks of my sore breasts, but I was surprised it buoyed him enough to enjoy theevent. He had been his usual curmudgeon self at the CCA unless I was teasing him.

“I’m honored to be the first to interview you two,” Ellis continued. “First, tell me who you’re wearing.”

“Tom Ford,” Adam said, pulling me into his side. “But only because Linnea did not have time to create something for me herself.”

Ellis’s grey eyes widened comically as he took in my dress. “Are you implying she made this gown herself?”

“She did,” I quipped, smoothing a hand over the ruffled edges of the handsewn silk. “I’ve been making my own clothes since I was a girl.”

“It’s exquisite,” Ellis declared, still a little shocked. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen an actress wear one of her own creations on the red carpet.”

“Linnea is one of a kind,” Adam said proudly.

Warmth suffused my chest and stained my skin pink. “I have to be in order to beguile the Great Adam Meyers.”

Adam chuckled. “You could beguile me in a paper sack, and you know it.”

I shrugged one shoulder, winking at Ellis who watched the exchange with the eagerness of a reporter who knows he’s captured gold.

“How did you two meet?”

“Believe it or not, we’ve known each other for a long time. Her mother is an old family friend. But it was my good mate Sebastian Lombardi who set us up. I owe him an extravagant gift for that, remind me, will you, Sunbeam?”

I blinked at the intimate use of my nickname. “I think he mentioned wanting the original Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle from Marlon Brando’sThe Wild Onethe other day.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “Why that man feels the need to collect cinema paraphernalia is beyond me.”

“You are both obviously good friends with the Italian,” Ellis said, probing for more information. Adam and Seb hadn’t been seen together in the media since gossip stirred in the tabloids ten years ago, leading to their break-up. “I think I saw a photo of you and Seb on surfboards recently.”

“He’s more like family,” I said firmly, raising my brow like Adam to level Ellis with a cool look.

“I see,” he said, nodding slowly. “And do you think he has a chance to sweep award season by clinching the ultimate prize of Best Actor tonight?”

“Unequivocally,” Adam stated on top of my, “Of course.”

“Well then, I hope you’re right. I happened to loveWaking Nightmareeven though it gave me nightmares.” Ellis mock shivered and then turned over his shoulder to hold his hand out for something from one of his aides. “Before you move on, I believe Adam wanted to give you these.”

I frowned as Ellis handed me a huge bouquet of golden orchids. My gaze snapped up to Adam, who watched me with a self-satisfied smile.

“What are these?” I asked softly, sticking my nose in the petals.

“I simply wanted to surprise the love of my life with flowers,” he told me imperiously.

I had to grin at him. “So you had Ellis Foster deliver them on the red carpet.”

“When will you understand, Nea, that with me anything is possible,” he teased, leaning forward to brush his mouth over mine.

Even Sebastian’s impossible universe?I thought but didn’t say.

Instead, I followed him to the next reporter, a stunning woman in a vibrant fuchsia dress that made her dark skin glow.She asked us some standard questions before she got derailed by Adam’s unusually flirtatious banter with me.

“You seem happy, Adam,” she said, a little gently as if she couldn’t believe it.