Page 17 of The Sun & Her Burn (Impossible Universe Trilogy #2)

ADAM

I t was all over the media outlets by the following morning.

Adam Meyers has a new mystery woman .

No one had the time to figure out her identity, which I was grateful for, if only because Linnea had not yet actually signed the papers. We would discuss the particulars and our game plan when she arrived in an hour, accompanied by her lawyer.

And Sebastian.

My gut had been in knots since the moment I saw Linnea in Affaire last night. She looked nothing like the tall, gangly girl with bushy brows I remembered from a decade ago.

I had stood at the entrance while the host fetched the manager for me and watched Linnea Kai as she swept through her section with unconscious grace and a sway to her hips.

She smiled easily and often, the expression bright enough to make me blink even from where I stood across the vast space from her.

I watched as she laughed with an elderly couple, her thick mass of honeyed waves spilling down her back to the small of her tiny waist, her hands moving fluidly as she spoke.

It wasn’t merely her beauty that arrested me, but her animation, those large, expressive eyes and mobile mouth, the way she seemed committed to every emotion that churned through her.

Sebastian had a similar quality, a catching kind of passion that infected the most reluctant soul.

By the end of the night, after surviving Linnea’s sass and assertiveness, I knew it wasn’t quite the same magic that our Italian friend possessed.

In Linnea, it was expressed as enthusiasm.

A bright, effervescent curiosity about the world and everything in it.

After she playfully agreed never to fall in love with me, Linnea had insisted she get back to work even though the manager had assured me it was fine if she took the rest of the evening off.

So I’d remained at the table to eat dinner alone and watch her interact with customers as they filled her section once more.

I couldn’t remember a thing about what I’d eaten even though Chef Devereaux was one of the best in the country, but I was left with a lasting impression of Linnea’s laugh as she chatted easily with her guests.

A frothy giggle like uncorked champagne spilled from the bottle.

I wondered what might have happened if I had run into her organically. Maybe one morning when I was jogging on the beach and she was out surfing, or a night at Affaire when I went for dinner with Chaucer and Rachel.

But the train of thought hit an abrupt dead end. The brutal truth was that I had lost interest in romance long ago, and one look into those vivid violet-blue eyes would have been enough to tell me this woman deserved a love for the ages.

I had already let down someone like that once in my life, and I wouldn’t survive if I did it again.

Despite all of that, I could not stop thinking about Linnea as I paced the kitchen, waiting for my ex-lover and future faux-lover to arrive. I had the terrible premonition that this arrangement was a truly disastrous idea.

“This is a fool’s scheme,” I declared for maybe the third time that day. “She’ll be eaten alive in the press, and I’ll be left worse off than I already am.”

Chaucer sighed. “It’s really not. And I hate to break it to you, Adam, but I’m not sure it can get worse than Oscar actually releasing the tape.”

“I still can’t believe you were stupid enough to make a sex tape,” Rachel, my agent, said with a shake of her head.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, I didn’t,” I snapped. “If there is a tape, he filmed it without my consent.”

“Let’s get back on track. Linnea Kai is not some thirsty socialite or greedy actress desperate for fame,” Rachel had said in her blunt way while spooning a ridiculous amount of beef and broccoli into her mouth direct from the carton.

“You already shot down the three actresses Mi Cha suggested for exactly those reasons.”

“Sebastian said she wants to be an actress,” I argued. “Apparently, she’s done a few guest appearances on television series and did a commercial for a soda brand.”

Rachel rolled her eyes behind her thick-framed glasses. “Sure, but she’s from celebrity. She knows what’s up.”

Chaucer pointed her chopsticks at me when I opened my mouth to argue again.

“You know Rach is right. Linnea spent more than a year with Miranda Hildebrand in London, and she was a frequent guest at your parties. I never once saw her swoon over any of the famous and fabulous visitors. She’s not fame-struck, and she knows how the industry works. ”

“Miranda was never exactly an A-lister,” I countered, bracing my hands on the countertop to level both women with a cool look. “She might have a sense of things, but going from relative obscurity to being my girlfriend is a bloody huge leap.”

“Agreed,” Bruce said, the only one eating from a plate like he wasn’t an absolute heathen.

I’d hired Bruce Chan when I first bought the Malibu house eight years ago, after coming across his account on social media.

He’d blown up for the recipes he shared in short videos and his no-nonsense attitude around life and food.

I’d messaged him directly, without passing it by any of my team, and offered him a job as my live-in chef.

He’d agreed immediately, only twenty-six at the time, but already annoyed with his flash-in-the-pan fame.

He still made videos, and sometimes I was even a guest star, but he never interacted with his fans and didn’t give a fuck about being popular.

He was just a bloke who loved food and wanted to share his passion.

Hiring him was one of the best decisions I’d ever made. He might have been younger than me, but he was essentially misanthropic and grumpy, which suited me just fine. I liked having him around for his quiet energy and stalwart loyalty.

“So we’ll teach her,” Rachel concluded with an eye roll.

She may have been in her early fifties, but she acted like a snarky teen, which shouldn’t have been half so charming as it was.

“Why else did we hire Mi Cha Lee? We show her the ropes, meticulously plan your relationship timeline, and Bob’s your uncle. ”

“You don’t think people would see it as me practically robbing the cradle?” I asked. “She’s twelve years my junior, for fuck’s sake.”

“Welcome to Hollywood,” Rachel said with a wide grin, broccoli stuck in her braces.

She was an absolute mess in her personal life, but Rachel Hoffman was one of the best agents in the business, with only the elite of the elite in her clientele. I wouldn’t have traded her for anything.

“It’s bloody depressing that my life has been reduced to this…faking a relationship,” I grumbled, pushing off the counter to continue pacing. I had already worked out for three hours that morning, and I knew Chaucer would literally throw herself across the treadmill if I tried to take another jog.

“Adam,” Chaucer said softly, reaching over to take my hand in both of hers.

Her riot of red curls was barely tamed by a huge teal clip at the top of her head, and her wide eyes were soft with sympathy for me.

She was what I imagined having a sister might feel like, albeit a younger, annoyingly bossy one.

“This doesn’t have to be forever. You don’t even need to marry the girl.

A long-term relationship would work just as well. ”

“It wouldn’t,” Rachel rebutted instantly. “Weddings in Hollywood are like Get Out Of Jail Free cards. C’mon, people, if we’re going to the trouble of staging this play, let’s make it an award winner, huh?”

“You want me to actually marry a stranger,” I deadpanned, my stomach roiling at the thought.

I had lived without a partner since Savannah left almost ten years ago, and the idea of living with someone now was repugnant.

Being the solitary king of my own castle had made it easy to isolate myself from the world.

Other than filming and press circuits, I didn’t engage in socializing with my peers in Hollywood.

Or anyone, really, for that matter.

“You know Linnea, Adam, don’t be dramatic,” Chaucer scoffed.

“She was the teenage daughter of my ex-wife’s best friend,” I corrected. “I hardly knew her.”

“She was there that day, though, wasn’t she?” she pushed, as she always fucking did. “On the beach in Cornwall with you and Sebastian.”

Silence descended at the table.

Rachel and Bruce didn’t know the details of my past with Savannah or Sebastian, but they knew I shut down all conversation anytime they were brought up, and that only Chaucer dared to do so.

“She was,” I allowed reluctantly, because I had not stopped thinking of that afternoon since I saw Linnea last night.

The awkward girl had grown into a gorgeous woman, but that effortless humour and joy for life had remained.

I kept wondering if Sebastian and I would have embraced the easy loveliness of that day without her there to facilitate it.

Rachel shoved her tablet across the counter so that Chaucer, Bruce, and I could see the image on her screen.

It was a photo of Linnea and I from the restaurant, our clasped hands raised to my mouth for a kiss.

Linnea’s expression was soft with tender shock, and though the lower half of my face was obscured, my eyes looked kinder than they had in a very long time.

“If you need any proof that this will work, just look at the comments,” Rachel suggested, flicking a nail-bitten finger across the screen.

@AdamMeyerzFandom: Finally, he dates someone almost as beautiful as him.

@lowrider98: He can do better than some server *smh*

@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’s mystery 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.

Because yes , 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.

A small smile played at his mouth, but he rubbed it away with his hand as if he didn’t want to embarrass me.

“May I?” he asked, gesturing with his hand.

I nodded, but didn’t step back as he walked through the doorframe into the house. It was a large opening, but Sebastian and I were large men, so our shoulders brushed as he moved by, and electric sparks erupted through me at the contact.

I followed them inside, closing the door so I could take a moment to ensure all my walls were sealed shut and my hatches were battened down.

I would not be charmed by the fresh blitheness of Linnea Kai.

I would not be drawn in by the nostalgia and charm of Sebastian Lombardi.