Page 39 of Lost Love Found

I wake to Elaina sitting sideways in her seat, reading a book. When I grunt and stretch, I look up to find her smiling at me. “Who’s the Sleeping Beauty now?” She pokes me gently on the nose and now I know she's translated the Dutch nickname I gave her. Nicknames aren’t my thing, but I know my Gramps would have some sort of Dutch term of endearment for Lainey as soon as he met her.

“Still you, Tornerose.” I smile and stretch my legs, thankful I managed to sleep a bit. “Are we landing soon?” I honestly have no idea how long I’ve been asleep for.

“In about 30 minutes. You slept a while. Good luck getting to sleep tonight.” She chuckles, knowing the time difference is going to mess with me. She tucks her book away, giving me her attention.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you if you think you can come to a wedding with me. It’s a couple of weeks from now when we break from filming” I wipe my eyes and run a hand down my face, feeling more awake. “It’s my cousin’s wedding and Sandra asked me to see if you could go with me.” And I want to ask if you want to go as my date. For real. So, I can touch you and kiss you all I want. “The resort is very private, but there will definitely be photos of the event since the groom is a famous drummer. Sorry I haven’t asked sooner.” She’s grinning at me, probably because I’m stumbling all over my words. I’m asking to put her life on hold so I can attend a fucking wedding. This is so stupid.

I don’t want this to be weird for her. She’d have to meet my whole family and pretend to be my girlfriend in front of them too. They don’t know this isn’t real.

“I know. Sandra already asked me. And I already said yes. Hawaii! It’ll be fun!” Her eyebrows shoot up her face and her grin widens. Of course, Sandra already talked to her. “Kelly booked everything already. She called me yesterday to confirm our flight time. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you.” She’s completely unphased by the fact that my publicist and assistant have both called her about this. This girl. “And before you ask, yes, I’m sure. This isn’t messing with any of my previous plans. Also yes, I do want to go with you. So, you can stop thinking of questions to ask me about it.” She sits up and kisses my forehead then walks away completely unaware of the way my heart is beating violently against my ribs.

16

how smooth are your hardwood floors?

elaina

It feels great to be home. As soon as I step inside, I feel the weight of six weeks in London lift off my shoulders. I love London, but the chill was getting to me–and I’m from Massachusetts, for Pete’s sake. California winters have spoiled me.

Adam follows me into the living room, stopping every few steps to take in the details: the taupe velvet sofa, bookshelves stuffed with records and books, the soft vintage rug beneath our feet. He smiles and says, "I love your house" at least three times before we even make it out of the room to continue the tour.

“Lainey, this place is amazing. It’s exactly how a place would look if someone took all the best parts about you and made a house. It’s warm, inviting, insanely beautiful.” He’s running his hand over the fireplace as he says this and I feel myself blushing.

“Well, I take that as a compliment, especially as a Production Designer. Designing this house has taken some time, and it’s not quite done yet.” I smile, looking at the collected antiques mixed with new modern pieces that have taken me years to pull together.

“You’ve done this on your own?” he asks, incredulously, but there’s no ill-meaning behind it.

“Yeah. I decorated it on my own. Now come on, let’s go see the rest of the house.” I shove my hand into the crook of his elbow and take him through the kitchen and into his room, making sure to show him the side door again. We walk over to the other side of the house where I show him Maeve’s room and mine. He lingers in the doorway to my bedroom but doesn’t go inside.

The urge to pull him in, pull him close, is sitting right there on the surface of my absurdly brittle self-control.

Walking down the hall, I open up my would-be office and let him into the dusty space. “This is where my office will be.” I smile even as I look at the unpainted walls.

“Wow.” He walks straight towards the windows. “The view from here is amazing, L. Why didn’t you make this your bedroom?” He turns to look at me.

I shrug. “I didn’t see a point in my bedroom having the best view. I spend most of my time there with my eyes closed, anyway. I wanted my office to feel light and inspiring if it’s where I’ll be sketching and coming up with new ideas.” I walk over to the window he’s next to. “I want a big desk here, facing out.” I turn to the left, waving my arms up. “These bookshelves will be repainted to hold all my favorite things.” I head to the right now. “Here, there will be a couch. Something deep and comfortable, probably in creamy linen to keep everything light and bright. A vintage rug to warm things up. Plants by the window…” When I turn back to him, he’s standing in the middle of the room with his hands in his pockets, beaming at me, nodding. I feel a little flutter in my belly. I haven’t shown anyone this room, other than the girls. Sometimes I come in here and just stare at it, thinking about the day it’ll finally be finished.

Adam puts his arm around my shoulder and kisses my temple. “It’s going to be amazing, Lainey.” I smile up at him as we walk out, and that little flutter dances around my belly some more. We head back into the kitchen and I grab us some water before heading outside.

“We can order something for dinner if you’re hungry. There’s no food in the fridge, but I’ll go to the store tomorrow. If there’s anything special you want, just let me know.” I smile at him as I sit on the edge of the pool, folding the hem of my jeans so I can dip my toes in the water.

“I don’t need anything special, but please let me take care of groceries while I’m here.” He sits next to me, mimicking my earlier motions and folding his pants up to his calves.

I scoff and give him a sideways look. “Not a chance. You’re taking me to Hawaii, so I can handle groceries, thankyouverymuch. Plus, you’re my guest. Plus, it doesn’t matter because we’re friends and this is what friends do, Adam!” I cock my head to the side and stick my tongue out at him.

“There’s no arguing with you, is there?” He smiles and laughs, that gorgeous rumbly sound I love so much hitting me square in the center of my chest.

“Nope.” I flash him a wide smile. We sit, looking at each other for a few seconds. Adam reaches up and tucks a strand behind my ear, and I’m delighted. I lean into his touch and take a deep breath. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too, beauty.” All I want is to tell him that I hate this being friends bullshit, that I’ve wanted to kiss him every day since the day we met. But I don’t.

We end up moving to some loungers, eating sushi and drinking wine until it gets too cold and we head inside. Frankie is already snoring in his bed when we head in, and we both chuckle at how loud he is.

“Let me know if you need anything, OK?” I reach up with a hand on his shoulder and kiss his cheek. We both linger, noses nearly touching. “Goodnight, Adam,” I whisper.

“Night, Tornerose.” He places a kiss on my jaw, then my cheek. My grip on his shoulder tightens and my lips part as I hiss in a breath. Kiss me. Please, please, please kiss me. Then Frankie barks and comes barreling over towards us, immediately murdering the moment. Fuck you, Frankie!

We both force out a strained chuckle and I motion for Frankie to follow me. I won’t sleep for quite some time, so I am thankful I’m reunited with all my battery-operated friends.

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