Chapter 4
Sabrina didn't answer immediately.
The silence stretched across the penthouse while Manhattan glittered beyond the windows behind her. Somewhere below, traffic moved through the city in endless streams of white and red lights, ordinary people heading home after ordinary nights. The normalcy of it felt strangely far away in here.
Lucas still watched her from across the room, expression unreadable. Adrian sat calmly on the couch like this was a standard business meeting instead of one of the weirdest conversations Sabrina had ever experienced.
Three months.
Fake relationship.
An amount of money large enough to change her life.
Every instinct told her this was a terrible idea.
Unfortunately, every unpaid bill sitting in her apartment agreed otherwise.
"I have rules," she said finally.
Adrian straightened slightly, clearly taking that as progress.
Lucas just looked tired.
"Okay," Adrian said carefully. "What kind of rules?"
Sabrina turned fully toward them and crossed her arms.
"First of all, no pretending to fall in love."
Adrian blinked.
Lucas looked genuinely unimpressed.
"I don't think that'll be an issue."
Sabrina narrowed her eyes immediately.
"Wow. You're somehow rude even when agreeing with me."
"I'm being realistic."
"You're being annoying."
"Those things overlap."
Adrian rubbed a hand over his face briefly like he already regretted both of them.
Sabrina continued before Lucas could respond.
"Second, I'm not quitting my job."
"That's fine," Adrian said.
"And I'm not changing my entire personality because your publicist wants me to act like some perfect celebrity girlfriend."
"We don't need perfect," Adrian replied smoothly. "We need believable."
"Comforting."
Lucas picked up his whiskey again and leaned back against the counter. "You already are believable. That's the whole reason we're here."
She looked at him suspiciously. "You say things that sound like compliments right before they become insulting."
"That one was neutral."
"Your personality is neutral."
Adrian coughed suddenly, hiding another laugh.
Lucas shot him a look before turning back toward Sabrina.
"You finished?"
"Not remotely."
For the first time all evening, she saw the faintest flicker of something in his eyes that looked dangerously close to amusement.
Tiny. Brief. Gone immediately.
Still, it was there.
Sabrina hated that she noticed.
"Third," she continued, "if this turns into public humiliation for me, I'm disappearing and changing my name."
"That's fair," Adrian admitted.
"And fourth..." She hesitated slightly. "No lying to me."
That one shifted the room a little.
Lucas's expression didn't change, but something sharpened in his gaze.
Adrian answered first. "About what exactly?"
"Anything important." Sabrina shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable under Lucas's attention. "I don't know how celebrity life works, but I'm not interested in getting blindsided by scandals or random women showing up claiming they're secretly engaged to him."
Lucas let out a quiet breath through his nose.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No, say it."
"You're entering a fake relationship with an actor and your concern is honesty."
Sabrina stared at him. "You really make it difficult to like you."
"Good."
The answer came too quickly.
Not joking. Not flirtatious.
Automatic.
Like he preferred it that way.
Something about that irritated her more than his coldness had earlier.
People who wanted to be disliked usually had a reason.
And Lucas Cooper looked like someone who'd spent years perfecting it.
Adrian stepped in before she could say something reckless.
"These arrangements stay clean when expectations stay clear," he said calmly. "You and Lucas don't owe each other anything beyond professionalism."
Professionalism.
Right.
That was all this was.
Not personal.
Not emotional.
A business deal.
So why did the thought suddenly bother her?
Sabrina looked toward Lucas again. "And what exactly do you get out of this?"
Adrian answered immediately. "Positive media attention."
"I asked him."
A brief silence followed.
Lucas rolled the glass slowly between his fingers before answering.
"I get people off my back for a while."
There was something empty about the way he said it.
Not dramatic.
Not self-pitying.
Just tired.
Sabrina frowned slightly. "That's it?"
"What else would there be?"
The thing was, she didn't think he was lying.
That was the strange part.
Lucas genuinely acted like relationships were temporary distractions people used to survive their schedules.
Like emotions belonged somewhere beneath contracts and publicity plans.
It should've made him seem shallow.
Instead it just made him seem lonely.
Which was worse somehow.
Adrian stood and walked toward the kitchen island, pulling another document from his tablet case.
"If you decide to do this, there are a few guidelines."
Sabrina sighed. "Of course there are."
"Public appearances together at least twice a week. You'll need media training before interviews become a possibility."
"Interviews?"
"Eventually."
"Absolutely not."
"You'll survive."
She looked toward Lucas immediately. "Why do you both say that like it's reassuring?"
"It usually is."
"It really isn't."
Adrian slid the document toward her.
There were actual bullet points.
Sabrina stared at them in disbelief.
Public interaction guidelines.
Physical boundaries in public.
Social media coordination.
"This feels weirdly dystopian."
"It's standard."
"That's somehow even more concerning."
Lucas moved away from the counter and sat in the armchair across from her, posture relaxed but distant.
Even sitting casually, he somehow still looked like someone photographers followed for a living.
Annoying.
"There's a charity dinner Friday night," Adrian said. "That'll probably be your first appearance together."
Sabrina blinked. "This Friday?"
"Yes."
"That's in two days."
"That's generally how time works."
She looked toward Lucas slowly. "Do you enjoy being irritating?"
"Not particularly. I'm just talented at it."
Adrian shook his head lightly. "Ignore him."
"Trust me," Sabrina muttered, "I'm trying."
Lucas leaned back slightly in the chair, studying her in a way she found increasingly unsettling. Not flirtatious exactly. More observant than that.
Like he was trying to figure her out and wasn't entirely succeeding.
Most people probably acted differently around him.
Nicer.
More eager.
More impressed.
Sabrina couldn't imagine anything more exhausting.
"You don't seem excited about this at all," she said suddenly.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Should I be?"
"You're fake dating a random girl the internet already likes."
"I'm aware."
"So why do you look like someone forced you into community service?"
Adrian made another suspicious coughing sound that definitely covered laughter.
Lucas ignored him.
"I don't enjoy turning my personal life into entertainment."
"Then why keep doing it?"
Something shifted faintly in his expression then.
Not anger.
Just a wall sliding quietly back into place.
"Because eventually people stop asking questions."
The answer hung oddly in the air.
Sabrina looked at him for a second longer than intended.
Again, that strange contradiction.
Lucas Cooper was one of the most famous men in the world. Rich, attractive, constantly surrounded by attention.
And somehow he still seemed detached from his own life.
Before she could think too hard about it, Adrian clapped his hands once.
"Good. We're making progress."
"We are?"
"You haven't left yet."
"Tempting though."
Adrian smiled easily. "You'll need a publicist contact, security information, and media prep before Friday."
Sabrina stared at him. "Security information?"
"People online already found your Instagram in under twelve hours."
Her stomach dropped.
"What?"
Lucas looked annoyed immediately. "Adrian."
"What? She should know."
Sabrina grabbed her phone from her pocket and opened Instagram.
Her private account follower count had jumped from three hundred people to nearly twenty thousand overnight.
Messages flooded her inbox.
Most were harmless.
Some absolutely were not.
Gold digger.
You'll disappear in a month.
She's too normal for him.
A few made her chest tighten uncomfortably.
Stay away from Lucas.
Girls like you always ruin everything.
"What the hell..."
Lucas stood and crossed the room before she fully realized he'd moved.
"Let me see."
His voice had changed slightly.
Sharper now.
Sabrina handed him the phone automatically.
He scrolled silently for several seconds, jaw tightening faintly.
Then he handed it back.
"Turn your comments off for now."
The calmness in his tone somehow made it worse.
"You're acting like this is normal."
"It is normal."
"That's insane."
"No argument there."
For the first time since arriving, Lucas actually sounded sincere.
Not detached.
Not sarcastic.
Just exhausted by it.
Sabrina looked down at the screen again.
Thousands of strangers suddenly discussing her face, her clothes, her life like she wasn't even a real person.
And this was only day one.
A knot formed slowly in her stomach.
"I don't think I can do this."
The room quieted immediately.
Adrian's expression tightened slightly, but Lucas answered first.
"Then don't."
She looked up.
His face remained unreadable, but there was no manipulation there. No convincing. No pressure.
Just honesty.
And weirdly, that made the decision harder.
Because if he'd pushed her, she could've walked away angry.
Instead he looked almost resigned already, like he expected people to leave eventually.
Sabrina hated that expression more than his coldness.
"Do you want me to say no?" she asked before thinking.
Lucas held her gaze evenly.
"I don't care what you decide."
The answer shouldn't have bothered her.
It absolutely did.
Adrian clearly noticed because he cut in quickly.
"What Lucas means is that he doesn't want you feeling trapped into something uncomfortable."
"No," Lucas said calmly, not looking away from Sabrina, "I mean exactly what I said."
There it was again.
That emotional distance.
That refusal to let anything sound too real.
Sabrina suddenly understood why tabloids constantly photographed him with different women.
It probably wasn't because he fell easily.
It was because he never fell at all.
The thought landed strangely heavier than it should have.
She looked back down at the contract.
Three months.
Enough money to solve nearly every problem currently ruining her life.
And honestly?
Part of her was curious.
Not about the fame.
Definitely not about paparazzi.
About him.
About why someone with everything looked so disconnected from his own existence.
"That dinner on Friday," she said slowly. "What exactly happens there?"
Adrian relaxed slightly, sensing victory.
"You arrive together. Smile for photos. Sit through dinner. Pretend you enjoy each other's company."
"Pretend might be difficult."
Lucas finally looked faintly amused again. "You're doing okay so far."
"Careful. That almost sounded friendly."
"It wasn't."
Adrian stood quickly before they could continue.
"I'll have clothes sent over tomorrow."
Sabrina frowned immediately. "Absolutely not."
"You'll need something appropriate."
"I own appropriate things."
Adrian looked at her worn sneakers.
Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "Say it and die."
To his credit, Adrian managed to keep a straight face.
"Fine. Bring your own outfit."
Lucas stood and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair.
The movement surprised her slightly.
"You're leaving?"
"I have an early shoot."
"At midnight?"
He shrugged lightly. "Welcome to my glamorous life."
The sarcasm caught her off guard.
Before she could respond, his phone buzzed against the counter.
Lucas glanced down at the screen.
Something in his expression cooled instantly.
Not dramatically.
Just closed.
A blonde woman's name flashed briefly across the screen before disappearing.
Vivienne.
He ignored the call.
Interesting.
Adrian noticed Sabrina noticing and smoothly stepped between them conversationally.
"I'll have a car pick you up Friday at seven."
Sabrina looked between both men.
This was insane.
Completely insane.
But somehow, against all common sense, she heard herself say:
"...Fine."
Adrian smiled immediately.
Lucas just nodded once like he'd expected it eventually.
No excitement.
No relief.
Just acceptance.
And for some reason, that bothered Sabrina more than anything else all night.