Page 45 of The Moon & His Tides
Love?
The eighteen-year-old sitting before me with scads of talent and beauty on the cusp of recognition and acclaim wanted something so transient and intangible aslove?
What happened to teenage boys wanting to shag anything in a skirt and eschew all sense of emotion and responsibility?
His chuckle was sad and a little bitter. “I can see you judging me, Adam.”
“Processing,” I corrected, but I felt off-balance and a little defensive.
If he wanted that kind of emotion, why was he with Savannah and me? He had to know there was no way we could ever give him…that.
I wasn’t sure we could even give him enough emotion to move a bloody paper clip, let alone a fucking galaxy.
“Don’t worry,” he said, staring off over the gardens as if he was looking into a kind of future where that love awaited him. I tried not to feel irrationally and unfairly envious. “I know this isn’t that.”
I wanted to argue at the very same time that I wanted to bury this conversation six feet deep in an unmarked grave so we’d never stumble upon it again.
So, like the emotional coward I was, I tossed out, “You mentioned a twin sister.”
“I did,” he said, and everything melancholic in his demeanor evaporated in the heat of that bright smile. “Cosima. She’s my best friend, but then, that’s probably not surprising.”
“Do you read each other’s minds or anything?”
He laughed and I had the thought that if I died with that sound ringing in my ears, I’d be happy to go. “Not quite. But we know each other in a way that’s hard to explain. Not telepathy exactly, but, hmm, I think it’s like reading braille, maybe? I canfeelher thoughts and emotions. Even now with her back in Milan, I can feel her sometimes. A kind of premonition if she’s having a good or bad day.” A frown flittered across his face. “I’ve had some bad feelings lately, but she’s assured me everything is going swimmingly. And it seems to be, financially at least. I wish I could do more, but for now, she’s our family’s primary breadwinner.”
“Well, if she looks a thing like you, I’ve no doubt she’s in high demand in the model industry.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes, but the quirk of his full mouth, shadowed by the beginning of an inky five-o’clock shadow I wanted to scrape with my teeth, gave him away. “I told you flattery wouldn’t get you anywhere.”
“I beg to differ.” I opened my hands to indicate our setting, quite romantic, and our closeness, his knee knocking companionably into mine. “It got me in this lovely garden with an even lovelier man.”
“Touché,” he conceded gracefully. “You know, speaking of my sister, I think she’d like you. She always preferred British cinema and actors best. Our father is Irish, you know, so maybe it’s in our blood.”
“Irish and Italian?” I whistled. “That explains some things. Quite a volatile combination of cultures.”
He punched me playfully, but that little grin broke open into a full-fledged smile, and honest to Christ, it made my breath stop in my throat.
“It’s made me doubly passionate, maybe, and it definitely helped me learn English. Even though he was an Italophile, he made sure to educate us in all things British. Cosima and I took to it best, though.”
“You have barely a trace of an accent most of the time. It’s quite remarkable given you’ve only been here, what, a handful of months?”
“Half a year. I was fluent before moving, but I’ve picked up some Britishisms, I think.”
“Well, you’ve certainly picked up one Brit,” I teased, putting my finished plate aside to angle my knees into his, pressing between one of them so I caged a strong thigh between my own.
“Have I?” he asked, his gaze warm on my mouth.
I licked my lips just to watch that golden gaze darken to syrup. “Truthfully, I didn’t expect to like you this much.”
His lips twisted into a wry smile. “Don’t tell me I’m the first man you’ve taken on a date.”
I reeled back just a bit, struck by the realization that this did, in fact, seem like a date. It hadn’t been my intention at all. The venture to Pinewood was meant to be about business. Sebastian had more than just talent on stage; his screenplay was truly magnificent, and I was excited to have a hand in getting it to the silver screen. Andrea was a natural fit, and he happened to be filming in the country.
But no, looking at this frankly stunning man sitting beside me, caged between my thighs like I couldn’t be without his touch, I had to re-evaluate.
Of course, it had been more than business from the start.
Savannah and I had agreed to no more lovers for a while. Not after what happened with Oscar. Not with what was happening to our marriage, crumbling at the edges like an old painting.
