Chapter 5
Sabrina spent all of Friday regretting her decisions.
By noon she had nearly texted Adrian three separate times to cancel everything. By three o'clock she'd convinced herself fake dating a celebrity was manageable. By five she was standing in her bedroom surrounded by discarded clothes having another minor breakdown.
"This is stupid," she announced, staring at herself in the mirror. "I look like I'm attending a funeral."
Chloe, sprawled across Sabrina's bed eating pretzels dramatically, looked up. "You are literally wearing black satin. Men collapse over black satin."
"I don't care about men collapsing."
"You will when Lucas Cooper sees you."
Sabrina rolled her eyes and disappeared back into the closet.
The past two days had been a blur of chaos.
Her follower count had somehow climbed past fifty thousand overnight.
Gossip accounts continued posting blurry edits of her and Lucas set to painfully emotional music.
Random strangers online had started referring to her as "champagne girl," which sounded less like a romantic nickname and more like a minor superhero.
She hated all of it.
Mostly.
Okay, maybe not all of it.
A tiny, embarrassing part of her was curious.
Not about the fame. That part already felt exhausting.
About Lucas.
Because after their conversation in the penthouse, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Not in a crush way. Absolutely not.
More in an I can't figure you out way.
One minute he was cold and detached, acting like human emotion personally inconvenienced him. The next he'd say something unexpectedly honest that made her feel like she was accidentally seeing behind a locked door.
It was confusing.
And annoying.
Mostly annoying.
Her phone buzzed against the bed.
Unknown Number.
Sabrina frowned before answering.
"Hello?"
"Your driver's outside."
Lucas.
No greeting.
No warning.
Just immediate business.
Sabrina leaned against the closet door. "Wow. You somehow made five words sound emotionally unavailable."
A pause.
Then, "Are you always like this?"
"Yes."
Another pause.
"...Good to know."
Something about the faint dryness in his voice made warmth creep unexpectedly into her chest.
Absolutely not.
She shut that down immediately.
"I'll be down in five minutes."
"Take ten."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're still deciding between outfits."
Sabrina blinked.
"How did you know that?"
"You seem indecisive."
"You've spoken to me twice."
"And yet."
Before she could respond, he hung up.
Sabrina stared at her phone.
"What did he say?" Chloe demanded immediately.
"He insulted my ability to dress myself."
"Ooh. Sexual tension."
"There is no sexual tension."
Chloe snorted loudly enough to qualify as violence.
Twenty minutes later Sabrina slid into the backseat of a sleek black SUV parked outside her apartment building.
Lucas sat across from her scrolling through his phone.
The first thing she noticed was that he looked exhausted again.
The second was that he looked unfairly good in a black suit.
It was honestly irritating at this point.
His gaze lifted briefly when she entered.
For half a second his eyes moved over her before he looked back at his phone.
"You're late."
"You told me to take ten minutes."
"You took twenty."
"You noticed?"
That got the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth before it vanished.
Victory.
Tiny, microscopic victory.
The car pulled smoothly away from the curb.
For several minutes silence filled the space between them while Manhattan blurred outside the windows.
Sabrina watched him discreetly.
Lucas's attention stayed fixed on his phone, jaw tight in a way that suggested he was either stressed or deeply irritated.
Possibly both.
"You know," she said eventually, "most people fake dating would probably attempt conversation."
"I am attempting conversation."
"No, you're sitting there like a divorced businessman."
"I've never been married."
"You have the energy of someone paying alimony."
That finally pulled a quiet laugh from him.
Short. Low.
Real.
Sabrina tried not to look too pleased with herself.
Lucas locked his phone and leaned back slightly.
"You clean up well."
The compliment sounded almost reluctant.
Like it escaped accidentally.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "You sound surprised."
"I am."
"Wow."
"You said no lying."
She stared at him for a second before laughing despite herself.
"There's definitely something wrong with you."
"I've heard that before."
The car slowed outside one of the most expensive restaurants Sabrina had ever seen.
Of course.
A crowd of photographers already waited outside behind metal barriers.
The second the SUV stopped, camera flashes exploded against the windows.
Sabrina's stomach dropped instantly.
"Oh my God."
Lucas looked toward her calmly.
"First lesson."
"There are lessons?"
"Don't react to cameras."
"Easy for you to say. You've probably evolved past fear."
"You'll survive."
She narrowed her eyes immediately. "If you say that one more time—"
His mouth twitched again.
Definitely amusement this time.
The driver opened the door before Sabrina could continue.
Noise hit instantly.
Photographers shouted over one another while flashes lit up the sidewalk like lightning.
"Lucas!"
"Who's the girl?"
"Sabrina, look this way!"
"How long have you been together?"
Sabrina froze for half a second.
This was insane.
Absolutely insane.
Lucas stepped out first, adjusting his jacket smoothly like this happened every day.
Which, for him, it probably did.
Then he turned slightly and held out a hand toward her.
The gesture caught her off guard.
So did the expression on his face.
Calm.
Patient.
Not cold for once.
Just waiting.
The flashes intensified around them.
Sabrina placed her hand in his before she could overthink it.
Warm.
That was the first thing she noticed.
The second was how naturally Lucas's fingers closed around hers.
Not intimate exactly.
Protective.
And suddenly the shouting cameras felt slightly less overwhelming.
"Relax," he murmured quietly as she stepped onto the sidewalk beside him.
Easy for him to say.
People screamed his name like he was royalty.
Still, she straightened her shoulders and followed his lead toward the restaurant entrance.
Questions flew at them nonstop.
"Lucas, is this your new girlfriend?"
"Sabrina, how did you meet?"
"Are you official?"
Lucas didn't answer any of them.
He simply kept walking beside her with one hand lightly against her back, expression perfectly composed.
The weirdest part?
The second cameras appeared, he changed.
Not personality exactly.
Presence.
Every movement became smoother.
Sharper.
Effortless.
Like he instinctively understood exactly how to exist in front of people.
It should've looked fake.
Instead it looked practiced.
Which somehow felt sadder.
Inside the restaurant, noise disappeared almost instantly behind them.
Sabrina exhaled hard. "That was horrifying."
"You did fine."
"I think I blacked out halfway through."
"You only looked terrified for the first thirty seconds."
She looked at him suspiciously. "Was that supposed to comfort me?"
"A little."
The hostess practically tripped over herself leading them toward a private table near the back.
Every person they passed stared openly.
Sabrina hated it immediately.
Lucas didn't seem to notice anymore.
Or maybe he just pretended not to.
The second they sat down, Sabrina grabbed the water glass in front of her.
"How do you live like this?"
Lucas loosened his cuffs slightly. "You get numb to it."
"That sounds unhealthy."
"It probably is."
Again with the honesty.
It kept catching her off guard.
A waiter appeared instantly to take their orders before disappearing just as quickly.
The second they were alone again, Lucas leaned back in his chair.
"Adrian says we should look comfortable together."
Sabrina snorted. "Adrian talks like a man planning a hostage negotiation."
"That's because he basically is."
"So what exactly counts as comfortable?"
Lucas studied her for a second.
"You don't have to force anything."
"That's reassuring considering I have no idea what I'm doing."
"You'll learn."
"Again with the threatening life advice."
A faint smile appeared briefly before fading again.
There it was.
That tiny shift she'd started noticing.
Around cameras, Lucas became polished perfection.
Alone with her, little cracks appeared in the performance.
Not enough to fully understand him.
Just enough to make her curious.
Which was dangerous.
"So," Sabrina said carefully, "how many fake girlfriends have there been before me?"
Lucas took a sip of water.
"You really ask questions like there's no survival instinct involved."
"That's not an answer."
His expression flattened slightly.
"There haven't been fake girlfriends."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Huh."
He raised an eyebrow. "You sound disappointed."
"I'm deciding whether to believe you."
"That's fair."
The waiter returned with drinks.
As soon as he left again, Sabrina leaned forward slightly.
"So what's the deal with Vivienne?"
Lucas's gaze lifted slowly toward hers.
There was a pause long enough to feel deliberate.
Then:
"What about her?"
"She looked like she wanted me removed from the planet."
"She looks at most people that way."
"Comforting."
Lucas glanced briefly toward the restaurant windows where flashes still occasionally lit the glass outside.
"She's not important."
The answer felt final.
Closed.
Sabrina noticed the shift immediately.
Another wall back in place.
Interesting.
Before she could decide whether to push further, movement near the entrance caught her attention.
A group of girls around her age had entered the restaurant and immediately spotted Lucas.
One of them grabbed her friend's arm so hard she nearly dropped her purse.
"Oh my God," Sabrina heard faintly. "That's literally him."
Lucas noticed too.
And sighed.
Not dramatically.
Just tired.
One girl approached their table hesitantly.
"Sorry," she said breathlessly, looking directly at Lucas. "Could we maybe get a picture?"
Instantly his entire expression changed again.
Warm smile.
Easy charm.
Effortless attention.
"Of course."
Sabrina watched the transformation carefully while the girls crowded beside him excitedly.
Lucas stood for photos without hesitation, speaking kindly, asking their names, laughing at something one of them said.
Perfect celebrity behavior.
Perfectly believable.
And yet Sabrina had seen the exhaustion on his face two seconds earlier.
The contrast unsettled her.
When the girls finally left practically shaking with excitement, Lucas sat back down again.
The smile disappeared immediately.
"You really hate this," Sabrina said quietly.
His gaze flicked toward her.
"You keep saying that."
"Because you keep proving it."
Lucas looked down at the table for a second before answering.
"People see what they want to see."
The answer lingered strangely between them.
Before Sabrina could respond, his phone buzzed against the table.
A woman's name lit the screen.
Camille.
Lucas declined the call without hesitation.
Sabrina noticed.
And for some reason, disappointment twisted unexpectedly in her chest.
Right.
Of course.
Men like Lucas Cooper didn't exactly live like monks.
This was fake.
Temporary.
Professional.
He'd made that very clear.
Still, something about seeing another woman's name on his screen bothered her more than it should have.
Lucas seemed to notice the slight shift in her expression.
His eyes narrowed faintly.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"That sounded convincing."
Sabrina grabbed her drink. "I'm just realizing how weird this whole situation actually is."
"It gets weirder."
"Oh good."
His phone buzzed again.
Same name.
This time he silenced it completely.
Then he looked directly at Sabrina.
"You don't need to worry about stuff like that."
The comment caught her off guard.
"I wasn't worried."
"You looked annoyed."
"I looked observant."
"Sure."
There it was again.
That almost-smile.
God, he was irritating.
Mostly because she was starting to realize Lucas Cooper might actually be funny underneath all the emotional repression and celebrity exhaustion.
Which felt like dangerous information to learn.