Adiel had never truly been in love before. He thought that he had, but he knew that he hadn’t because nothing compared to the happiness that he felt when he was with Rachel. They spent all day Sunday together and went hiking again and to the Italian restaurant that they both loved so much.

Tony the bartender scolded him at first for not coming in as often, but forgave him when Rachel joined him. They ate dinner at the bar and chatted with Tony, and Carlos the cook popped his head out of the kitchen to say hello. They went back to Adiel’s cottage after that and watched another movie and cuddled and kissed for hours.

Monday morning, Adiel called Bryan and told him that he wanted to take the bigger house with the finished basement. It was more house than he needed but it felt like the right place for him and he knew Rachel really liked it too. They spent almost every night together after that. Either going out to eat somewhere or sharing takeout at his place. And of course trivia on Thursday. Neither one of them was thinking about what they were doing or where it was going, they were just enjoying every moment together.

The cast and crew quickly realized what was going on, but they gave them their privacy and seemed to approve. Adiel was so caught up in Rachel and his infatuation with her that when an invitation to his college roommate Blair’s surprise thirty-fifth birthday party came, he thought it might be a fun weekend trip for Rachel. A chance to show her what his world in L.A. Was like. Blair Sprinkle was one of Hollywood’s hottest directors and Adiel knew his party was likely to be a Hollywood ‘who’s who’ list.

He floated the idea to Rachel and her eyes lit up.

“Are you kidding? How fun! And you know I’ve always wanted to see L. A.”

They left Friday as soon as shooting ended and flew out of the Lewiston airport. They took an Uber to his condo in L.A. and Rachel was suitably impressed. His place was smallish, but the location was excellent and it was all that he needed. With real estate prices the way they were, she wasn’t surprised to learn that his small condo was nearly double the price of the four bedroom lake house in Riston.

He took Rachel to Spago for dinner and they shared one of their famous spicy chicken pizzas.

“It’s really good. Almost as good as the ones we get on trivia night,” she teased.

Spago’s pizzas were legendary. But he had to admit, he liked the ones on the ranch almost as much. Or maybe he just liked sharing pizza with his friends there and playing trivia.

They went shopping the next day on rodeo drive and he insisted that Rachel pick out any dress that she wanted.

“This feels very Pretty Woman to me. Except the sales people are all being really nice.”

He couldn’t help but pull her in for a kiss when she said that. She really had no idea what a big deal she’d become.

“They recognize you,” he said.

Her eyes grew wide. “Are you sure? You really think so?”

He laughed. “What, you think only people in Riston watch your show?”

“I never really thought about it, I guess.” She looked skeptical and he just shook his head. She found a dress that took his breath away, a navy cocktail dress that fell just below her knees and had a halter style top. It hugged her slim curves and made her pale skin look creamy and smooth. He told the sales girl that they’d take it and when they were wrapping it up and running his credit card, one of the other sales girls came over to Rachel.

“I just wanted to tell you how much we all love your show. It’s really fantastic.”

Rachel looked at them in surprise. “Really? You both watch?”

They nodded happily.

“Wow, thank you so much.”

Adiel handed her the pretty bag that held her dress and she looked at him with wonder in her eyes. “They really recognized me. Here in Hollywood.”

He smiled and put his arm around her. “Of course they did.”

They went back to his place to get ready for the party and while Rachel was in the shower, Adiel went online to check his email and then wished that he hadn’t. He and Rachel had been so caught up in each other that they didn’t notice the paparazzi outside of Spago’s the night before. There was a picture with his arm around Rachel and the imprint of her lips on his cheek where she’d given a sweet kiss before they walked inside.

The headlines were damning and designed to get attention.

“Is showrunner Adiel Bozeman taking advantage of his innocent young star?” “Barely Legal, breakout new star seems to be dating her boss!”

The rest of the headlines were even uglier variations of the same theme and it shook Adiel to his core. It was his worst fear, realized. What was he thinking? Rachel was young and beautiful. She had her whole life ahead of her. Why would she want to waste it with him? He was almost thirty-six. A confirmed bachelor, and he should know better.

This wasn’t Pretty Woman and he’d never had the happy ending before, why should this be any different? He could save Rachel by backing away slowly before they got in too deep. He closed his laptop as Rachel walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in two towels. One around her head like a turban and the other wrapped snugly around her slim figure.

She walked over and gave him a quick kiss.

“What are you thinking about? You look so serious. Is everything okay?”

He took a deep breath and forced himself to smile. “Everything’s fine.”

“Okay then, it’s your turn for the shower.”

Rachel sensed that Adiel was worried about something, but he insisted that everything was fine, so she let it go and focused on having a good time. She loved the dress they’d picked out and she felt good in it. It gave her confidence when they walked into the party and she saw a sea of familiar faces. Familiar only because they were famous. It was a little overwhelming. And they all seemed to know Adiel and stranger still, most of them recognized her and were familiar with the show. It was so new that she didn’t expect that.

She liked his friend Blair and his wife Sheila a lot. They seemed madly in love and Sheila explained that they’d met in college and married soon after, long before Blair found any kind of success. So, they had plenty of time to get used to it.

“Do you ever really get used to it though?” Rachel wondered.

“You do. You just have to realize that it’s not really about you. It’s the story and the fantasy that you create. Or the characters that you play. You make people feel something and they love you for it.”

“You’re right.” Sheila’s words hit home for her and she relaxed. “Thank you. You have no idea how much that helped. It’s been a little overwhelming to be honest.”

“I can imagine. The show is really special. Adiel, well he has a gift. He always has, but he never realized it. And you do too. I can see why people are falling in love with Susan, and with you. And I like the two of you together. You look like you’ve been together forever. I’m a big fan of Adiel’s in case you can’t tell. But I’ve known him and Blair for the same amount of time. Adiel is like a brother to me.”

“I’m so glad that we got the chance to meet. He’s really special to me too. He’s quickly become my best friend, and more.”

Sheila gave her a hug. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

“Honey, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Blair pulled his wife away and Rachel watched them go and looked around for Adiel. He was deep in conversation with two people that she didn’t recognize. She took a sip of her wine and surveyed the room, happy to people watch and she was amazed at how many famous people were here.

“You’re Rachel, right?” She looked up and couldn’t believe who was talking to her. Billy Barr, the famous action movie star and he recognized her. What kind of alternate universe had she stumbled into? She’d long admired Billy’s work and he was drop dead gorgeous to boot. He stood about six four or five and obviously worked out at least once a day.

“Yes, I’m Rachel. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Are you with him?” Billy pointed to Adiel and Rachel stood up tall and smiled proudly. “I am.”

“That’s too bad. I thought maybe we could hang out.”

“Hang out?”

“Yeah, you know. You could come to my place and we’d hang out. Spend the night. Keep in touch, maybe.”

“Right. That’s so tempting. If I wasn’t with Adiel that would be an offer it would be hard to refuse.” Her new friend completely missed the sarcasm and took her words as a compliment.

“That’s kind of you to say so. Great meeting you.” And he was off to talk to the next single girl. Rachel shook her head in amusement and disbelief. Adiel was certainly right when he said that L.A. was a strange place.

“What are you laughing at?”

She turned at the familiar voice and Adiel was by her side. She took his arm and leaned into him.

“I love Blair’s wife, Sheila. We were chatting for a while.”

“Oh, Sheila’s great. What do you think of this party? Are you ready to get out of here? Or do you want to stay and star gaze for a while? There’s a lot of famous here.”

Rachel laughed. “A little too much famous for me. Let’s go back to your place where it’s just us.”

“Are you sure? There’s more people here you could meet.”

“I’m all peopled out. Take me home.”

They said their goodbyes and were back at Adiel’s condo in about forty-five minutes. Rachel couldn’t get over how bad the traffic was, even at night. Adiel seemed oddly quiet and she had this weird prickly sense that something was wrong, though when she asked if he was okay, he insisted that he was fine, just tired.

When then were inside, he gave her a quick kiss goodnight and then yawned dramatically and said that he was ready to fall into bed. It didn’t quite ring true to Rachel, but she simply said goodnight, changed into her comfy pajamas and settled into his plush queen bed in his guest bedroom. She felt an aching sadness as she drifted off to sleep and an unsettling feeling that something had gone very, very wrong.

Adiel was quiet the next day too and it wasn’t until they were back in Riston and sitting in the car outside her house that he finally told her what was bothering him.

“I think this was a mistake. I’m too old for you. It’s not fair to you. People are already talking and I don’t want to put you in that position. This is already so much for you, being in the spotlight. I don’t want to make it worse. I….I really care for you and want what’s best for you and I think we should just go back to being friends and colleagues.” He looked as miserable he sounded and Rachel was furious with him.

“What about what I want? Doesn’t that matter? What if I want to be with you?”

But Adiel shook his head. “I knew this was a mistake. I never should have let it go this far. I’m sorry Rachel. I never meant to hurt you. Please believe me.”

Rachel was dying inside. She knew that as soon as she went in she was going to dissolve into a pile of hot tears. She tried to hold herself together until then.

“Adiel, I’m going to give this a week. And then I’m going to come to you and tell you how I’m feeling and then we’ll see. Will you agree to that?”

He nodded. “I think it’s probably best that I skip trivia this week.”

“Suit yourself.” She got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Her mother’s car was in the driveway and she knew her whole family was home. She took a deep breath and walked through the door.

“Honey, you’re home! I have some exciting news to share!”

Emma came running over. “Mom’s engaged!”

“What?” her knees felt weak and she quickly grabbed hold of a kitchen chair and sat down. “You’re engaged?”

Her mother was beaming and came over to show her the ring. It was a beautiful sparkler, but it didn’t match the light shining from her mother’s eyes. Rachel had never seen her like this. She stood and gave her a hug as the tears spilled over. “I’m so happy for you Mom. Norm is a really great guy.”

“He is isn’t he?” Her mother agreed.

Rachel smiled through her tears and her mother looked at her closely.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just so happy for you both.” The last thing Rachel wanted to do was ruin her mother’s happy moment. She’d waited a lifetime for this.

“Thanks honey. I have a good feeling about your Adiel too. He’s a keeper.”