Page 38 of The Sun & Her Burn

@angelawhitt: Adam deserves happiness! He always looks so sad in his photos.

@bb48e: A brooding Adam is a hot Adam, but I admit I’d give anything for him to kiss my hand like that. Lucky B

@AdamMeyerzFandom: Anyone know who she is!? I need the deets of this love story!

@butterfliesbetty: He has literal hearts in his eyes! Squeee

“Adam Meyers’smystery girl is trending on socials,” Rachel added. “People are thirsty for more of this love story.”

“There is no love story,” I muttered, scrubbing my hands over my face.

“There will be,” Chaucer said sunnily, and when I looked at her, she only grinned. “Don’t be such a sourpuss, Adam. Clearly, Linnea grew into herself if these photos are to be believed.”

“She’s even lovelier in person,” I admitted darkly.

Chaucer and Rachel shared a look and then burst out laughing.

I looked at Bruce, who only shrugged. “Would it really be the end of the world to spend some time with a gorgeous girl?”

Something in my chest turned over at the thought.

Becauseyes, it just might.

I’d always had a weakness for beauty and those things in life that moved me even when I didn’t want to be moved.

Linnea seemed threateningly able to do both.

Especially if she brought Sebastian back into my life.

On cue, the doorbell chimed throughout the house.

Rachel perked up, tossing her grey-brown hair over her shoulder. “I’ll get it!”

“No way,” Chaucer protested, shoving Rachel back down in her seat. “I will.”

“Sit,” I ordered curtly. “This is my bloody house despite what you two may think. I will greet our…guests. Rachel, please meet me in the office. Chaucer, text Boone Decker to let him know to walk over for the meeting?”

Boone was my lawyer, but also a good mate I’d met when I was shooting a film in Boston. He spent most of his time on the East Coast, but he was the only man I trusted to represent me when the shit hit the fan.

Chaucer nodded, but Rach waved a hand at my outfit. “You’re really going to wear that?”

I was wearing a suit, which, granted, might have been a bit officious for a meeting in my home office, but it gave me the illusion of control in a situation that felt wildly outside of my comfort zone. Our lawyers and agents would be present, and Mi Cha Lee was due to arrive any moment. I wanted to strike the right chord so that everyone would understand exactly what this situation really was.

A business arrangement.

I chose to ignore Rachel, leaving her and Chaucer sniggering at my back as I stalked out of the kitchen through the living room and up the short flight of stairs to the entryway.

If I took a moment to breathe deeply a few times the way my therapist had taught me before I opened the door, no one was around to witness it.

My past and my future both stood together on the other side of the door, and truly, I had never seen a more terrifying sight.

“Adam,” Sebastian greeted with a chin dip as he pushed his sunglasses up into his shiny black hair, revealing those golden eyes that had always taken my breath away.

“Hey Grumpy,” Linnea teased as if we had been friends for years. She stepped forward without hesitation into my space, planting a hand on my sternum so she could rock to her tiptoes and brush a kiss across my stubbled cheek. She smelled of summer flowers and ocean air. “Nice place.”

I blinked as she stepped around me to walk inside, turning my head to follow her swaying hips in the short buttercup yellow T-shirt dress that hugged her pert arse almost obscenely.

When Sebastian cleared his throat, I snapped my gaze back to his, heat burning across my cheeks at being caught staring like a schoolboy.