2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Liam
H ow did it never occur to me that Surfside Haven is Sophie’s hometown?
She spent so much time talking about her town that no one in their right mind should have forgotten.
Well, back then, I spent the majority of our time together getting lost in her eyes.
That still hasn’t changed.
I’d thought after seven years, I wouldn’t be affected by her again. But her siren hazel eyes still have the same effect on me.
Just seeing that her wild brown curls are still as untamed as they used to be sent me back to just how passionate things had been between us. Her beauty is much more striking now, with an edge of maturity that nineteen-year-old Sophie Grant didn’t have.
And this is the exact reason things can’t work out between us. Sophie is just too much of everything I don’t need.
If I’d known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have taken the bait of that pesky journalist and just stayed back in LA. I mean, fine, I’m an actor who’s perfect for roles in mystery, thriller, crime, horror, and action movies, but has never acted in rom-coms.
But I’m good at what I do, and I’m well-paid and awarded for it.
Why on earth did I suddenly get the urge to prove a journalist wrong because she said I can’t play a rom-com lead?
Now I’m stuck in this small town for the next three months…the same town my ex-girlfriend happens to live in.
Things might get out of hand. If the media catches wind of the fact that I used to date Sophie, it would be a huge scandal.
Sure, I get into scandals with different women almost every other day, but those cases are different. Most are just casual flings, but Sophie…she’s different.
Pretending not to know her is the best thing I can do for both her and myself. If I’m lucky, I can get through the next three months without ever running into her again. It shouldn’t be too hard. After all, I’ll be too busy shooting to have time to explore the town.
I let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the back of my neck as I stretch out on the couch.
“This is the hundredth time you’ve sighed in the last five minutes.”
I sit up, jerking my head sideways. I gape at Julian. “When did you get here?”
Julian’s brows knit together as he strolls toward me and folds his arms across his chest. “Liam, I’ve been in your suite for the past five minutes. Are you saying you didn’t hear me come in and drop those scripts?”
I glance at the bundle of scripts on the coffee table and clear my throat. “I was sleeping.”
“With your eyes wide open?”
“Meditating, Julian.”
“Since when do you meditate?” He tilts his head to the side. “I’ve known you all my life, Liam. Even if we did spend our college years on different sides of the country, we’ve barely been apart these past seven years, and not once have I ever seen you meditate.”
I scoff. “You don’t know everything about me.”
“I do. I’m your best friend. Actually, I’m the only friend you have, you grumpy jerk.” He slides onto the other couch. “Which is why I’m stuck being your manager. No one else can put up with you.”
I chuckle as I pick up one of the scripts. “I thought you enjoyed managing talent. Isn’t that why you created your company? The one you practically begged me to join?”
“That was after your last manager dropped you because you made her life unbearable,” he retorts. “Wait, why am I arguing over this? You’ve successfully derailed me from what I actually want to talk about. Why were you so lost in thought?”
“Nothing,” I reply flatly. Under no circumstances will I tell him that the ex I had to let go of is in this town. “I haven’t seen the temp assistant all day. Are you sure you hired me one?”
“Oh, about that—”
“Don’t tell me this is a case of another runaway temp.”
“If you weren’t so impossible to work with, maybe they wouldn’t quit. They expect it to be fun to assist Liam Ryder, and then they meet the cold, rude, grumpy version, and run for the hills.”
That isn’t news to me, since I’ve heard it from so many people. Well, they don’t exactly say it to my face, but I’ve overheard a few conversations.
Frankly, I don’t care. It’s exhausting pretending to enjoy being around people unless I’m on set and acting. When I’m acting, I’m basically embodying another person’s life, but outside that, I just really want to be left alone.
“That doesn’t even make sense. I haven’t met this temp. Why would she accept the job only to drop it at the last minute?”
Julian chuckles, stretching his arms behind his neck. “Well, I guess she heard stories from the last temp and figured out she’s better off not showing up at all.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Can’t you just ask someone from production to fill in until this shoot is over?”
“That’s a bit tricky, since no one wants to deal with your grumpiness,” Julian says. “But you’re in luck. I found someone from the town to fill in for the next three months. She’ll be coming in tomorrow.”
“Just like that. You won’t even be interviewing her?”
Julian throws his head back in laughter as he stands up. He walks toward the door, picks up an apple from the bowl of fruit on the counter, and bites into it.
“You get someone who’s willing to work for you, and you still want to interview her? How cute.” Julian scoffs and struts out the door.
“At least tell me who it is and if they have any experience,” I yell, but Julian is already out of the suite.
I groan, rolling my eyes.
There’s every possibility whoever he’s hiring won’t have any experience working in the film industry or even working as a personal assistant at all.
I’m definitely going to have a harder time doing this project than I expected.
I glare at the script in my hand, my eyes burning holes into the front page. Even the title makes me want to puke.
Baked With Love , really? Could it be any more obvious that this rom-com is about bakers and they’re going to fall in love while baking together?
Romance movies are predictable, yet people still enjoy them for some reason. I flip through the script, and just like my first read-through, I can’t stop myself from cringing at every cliché word and action.
What makes this even more annoying is how unrealistic it is. No one actually falls in love this way in the real world. What rom-coms package as love is just lust that’ll eventually wear off.
Well, not every desire dissipates, considering I still find myself attracted to Sophie even after all these years. However, Sophie is the exception, and even that isn’t love.
And that’s the real reason I avoid cheesy movies like this. They’re the reason a lot of women are so delusional they expect love from a man who just wants to have a good time.
After much effort on my part to understand the story better despite the script’s refusal to make sense, I give up and retire for the night.
***
I slap my hand over my phone to switch off the blaring alarm. I glare at my phone, hoping that it was acting up and it isn’t actually morning yet.
I barely had any sleep last night. And there’s no one to blame for that except Sophie.
She wouldn’t leave my mind, so I spent the majority of the night reliving the brief moment we met again outside the bakery.
It was a pretty torturous experience because I know seeing her again can’t change anything, but it’s like my mind refuses to acknowledge that.
I let out a yawn as I stretch my arms overhead. Without wasting any more time, I slip out of bed and enter the adjoining bathroom.
I have to be on set this morning for the first on-scene reading before we officially start shooting at noon.
Even though I’ve done this several times already, the prospect of becoming a new character still excites me. Even if it’s a character I’d punch in the face in real life.
Once I wash my face and brush my teeth, I step out of the room. Clattering sounds from the kitchen reach my ears, and I smile.
The resort staff must be here to prepare breakfast. Julian was right; Royal Crest Hotels & Resorts is definitely the best.
As I turn the corner into the open kitchen, I stop dead in my tracks.
My eyes glide over the small frame of the woman by the coffee machine as my heart beats wildly. Brown curls tied together at the nape of her neck slip down her slender back. My palm itches as memories of my hands digging into those curls fill my mind.
The reaction that consumes me is primal and natural as every fiber of my being rises to attention.
She’s here in my kitchen pouring a cup of coffee. Or am I hallucinating right now?
I wouldn’t put it past me, since all I did was think about her all night long.
However, there’s no way I could be hallucinating so vividly. My eyes catch on the slope of her hips. The dark blue jeans she’s wearing hug her curves so perfectly that I forget how to breathe.
Images of her curled up beside me flicker through my mind, and suddenly, the room feels way too warm. I scrub my hand down my face, trying to pull myself together before I make a complete fool of myself.
What am I doing right now? I should be trying to figure out what she’s doing here and what she wants.
I move closer to her. “Why are you here?”
She gasps loudly, snapping her head around. The action is so quick that the warm liquid splashing across my bare torso doesn’t register until she winces.
“I’m so sorry,” she says hastily, the now empty cup of coffee dangling from her fingertips. She quickly drops the cup onto a table and picks up a napkin. “I didn’t mean to do that and—”
“Answer my question,” I snap, capturing her hand in mine before she can touch me. “Why are you here?”
Sophie’s breath catches, and so does mine. Heat springs through my entire body from the place where my hand holds hers.
This pull between us shouldn’t still be happening. I shouldn’t feel this drawn to her, no matter how persistent it is.
What is it about Sophie Grant that makes her so impossible to ignore?