Page 55 of Living Hell

EIGHTEEN

Iona

MEETING WITH TERRANCEAdamian. Location Fire Mountain Side Brewery. Third booth on left. Seven p.m.

I stared at the text Babette sent me an hour ago. Thankfully, Jake drove me and was out sweeping the parking lot. Most of the time he kept a low profile and I’d forget he was there half the time, but when we went out to crowded public places, like a restaurant, he had to make sure the place was safe.

I knew when he came in he’d sit quietly at the bar, watching to make sure I wasn’t harassed by an overly zealous fan or photographer.

As I scanned the brewery which looked more like a restaurant with rustic flare than an actual brewery, I kept my eye out for Terrance. The third booth was empty. Glancing at the time on the phone, I realized I was about five minutes early.

“Reservation?” the cute hostess with the blond ponytail asked as she approached me.

“I don’t know. Do you have anything under Adamian? Or Dell?”

She lifted the leather folder in front of her and scanned the page. “Nothing for those names.”

“Try Gotti.”

“Right here. It’s for a party of three.”

Three? Maybe Terrance was bringing his assistant or writer with him?

“Yes. Am I the first to arrive?”

“No, there’s one here.” She glanced back and then looked around the room. “He’s stepped away from the table. Would you like a seat at the bar until he returns or at the booth?”

“The booth, please.”

She led me there and I took my seat. My stomach grumbled as I perused the menu. I was going to chow down on their Fire Burger. It looked epic and I never could resist anything that had maple bacon on it.

“What looks good?”

I glanced up in surprise to find Tyler sliding into the booth across from me.

“What are you doing here? I’m about to have a meeting with a director.”

It had been over a week since he said the dreaded L-word. He was taking this I.T. Scheme way too seriously. I felt bad making him lie about our relationship, but I wasn’t about to fall for his claims of love again.

He could get away with it when we were teenagers, but I was an adult now. Life had happened in the last eleven years, a lot of it bad. If he believed I was still the same starry-eyed kid I was when we met, he was a fool. And I didn’t want fools in my life.

“Yes, I know. I have an idea I want to pitch him.”

My head shot back. “But you want nothing to do with Hollywood. You’re just a simple country vet.”

“Perhaps, but this simple vet got you a birthday gift.” He lifted a golden-wrapped box and slid it across the table.

“You remembered.”

I couldn’t help the little thrill I felt that he got me a present. Lifting the box, I did my best to hide the smile that tugged at my lips.

“Honestly, Olivia reminded me yesterday. I think with all that’s happened the past three weeks, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast.” He chuckled and his eyes crinkled with devastating effect on my heart. I wanted to be mad at Tyler. How could he throw the L-word around like it meant nothing? But my heart, and especially my girly bits, liked him a lot.

“It was an egg white veggie omelet with toast and cream cheese and some apple slices. Oh, and a glass of OJ.”

His smile faded as his mouth fell open. “You remembered.”

I rolled my eyes and got to work unwrapping the present. “It’s hard to forget someone eating something so gross. It probably tasted exactly like this paper.” I held up a ripped piece of the wrapping.

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