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Adam blinked at her. “Well someone has to because you sure as hell never do. Shaun, why can’t you see that you’re a fucking badass?”

“I’m only 5’7”.  There’s no way Dolce and Gabbana are going to let me walk in their show.  They would have to hem every piece of clothing they put on me by several, several inches.”

“Have you ever heard of Kate Moss?  Devon Aoki?  Your height is only as detrimental as you allow it to be.”

Shaun could only shake her head in disbelief.  She couldn’t wrap her head around what this man saw in her and why he was so willing to put his own ass on the line for her time and time again.  Was it just because he felt guilty about all of the shitty things he’d said?  Or did he really think that highly of her?  She couldn’t decide.

“You’ll be great.” Adam placed a hand on the small of her back.

“We’ll see if you’re still saying that when I completely blow this audition.”

“You’re not going to blow it.  And even if you did blow it—which you won’t—this friend of mine really does owe me a huge favor.”  His eyes widened. “I mean huge.”

Shaun stared blankly.

“
Huge.
”

Shaun blinked eyes big.

Adam lost all patience. “You’re going to get the gig.  You just have to show up.”

Shaun was in utter shock.  The plan she’d been rapidly concocting in her head—to purposely blow the audition—was clearly not an option.  Adam had set her up with a sure thing.   There was no way she could blow off the audition, either, because it would blow her cover.  What aspiring model would ever miss the chance to walk for Dolce and Gabbana?  She would have to do it but she was not ready for it.  There was no way she’d be able to pull it off.

“Look, I have an idea,” he said. “Meet me at the beach at five. Bring your highest heels.”

“I can’t meet you at the beach at five. You have a show at eight. You have sound check. You have important things to do.”

“You have got to relax, Shaun.” Adam turned to face her completely and grabbed her waist, forcing her to face him.  He leaned down until they were eye to eye, quickly becoming transfixed by her wide brown orbs.  “Beach.  Five.  Conversation over.”

“I--”

“OVER.”

--

Adam met Shaun on the beach at five sharp, having hurried down to the sand directly after giving a press conference in one of the hotel’s conference rooms.  Answering question after question, Adam had found himself distracted by thoughts of Shaun.  There had even been a few questions he’d had to have repeated because he hadn’t been paying attention.  It just boggled his mind how a woman so amazing could be so unwilling to better herself, accept a heartfelt gift or take her life to the next level when the opportunity was right in front of her face.  Shaun was such a far cry from any model he'd ever known just for the simple fact that she wasn’t just a beautiful, shallow shell. There was something that ran deeper with her, much deeper, and he was now, more than ever, hungry to dive in.

Ten minutes later, he was holding Shaun steady in her heels.

“Okay just walk.” He let go of Shaun’s hand slowly, the same way he would a kid who was just learning to ride a bike without training wheels.  Holding a safety hand out right next to her, he laughed when Shaun began strutting across the sand in her heels, teetering with every step.  “If you can walk in heels in sand you can walk in heels anywhere.  Trust.   After dealing with this sand that runway will be a piece of cake.”

Shaun struggled to lift her leg out of the sand with every step, feeling like there were two-ton boulders attached to her legs.  Every time she was sure she had her foot down in the sand and had gained some leverage, another pile seemed to give way underneath her, making her stumble.  “This is exhausting!” 

“Just picture yourself on the runway.”

Adam stayed with Shaun for the better part of the hour, until she was walking across that sand like she owned the place.

“See?” he asked, nearly an hour later, from where he was sitting in the sand.  “It helps right?”

“Actually yeah,” Shaun said, making her way over to him. “I understand why you brought me out here now.  I feel a little bit better about tomorrow.”

Adam jumped up from the sand and came to face her, taking her waist. “Listen Shaun.  I know all about the fear you’re feeling.”

Shaun rolled her eyes.  “What have you ever feared in your life, Adam?  You’re a wildly successful musician, you’re rich as hell, you’re handsome, and you’re about to have an arena full of screaming people desperate to worship the ground you walk on.  What in the world does a guy like you have to fear?”  She tilted her head at him. “Hmmm?”

Adam silently reeled at the tug he’d immediately felt when she’d called him handsome.  He realized that, right at that moment, he would give this woman anything she asked.

“What do I have to fear? Where the hell do I begin?”  A smile spread across his face, but faded just as quickly as it came. “You think it doesn’t scare me that my record label wants a new album from me in the next year when I don’t have a single piece of new material written?  Huh?  You think it doesn’t scare me that I have a meeting with the head of my label in
one
week and I have absolutely nothing to show him?  You think it doesn’t scare the
shit
out of me that I feel like I’ve lost my passion for music?  The same passion that has driven me all the way up to this point, this moment, this second? I don’t know who I am without music, and I feel like I’m losing that part of me.  It’s scary as hell Shaun, and I get it, but if we allow fear to consume us it
will
.  It won’t hesitate.”

Shaun gripped his arms and nodded, running her fingers over is taut muscles. “Okay.  So what do you do?  What do you do when you feel like the fear could just eat you alive?”

Adam’s eyes gleamed an almost emerald green under the lights of the bridge. “I power through.”

“And that works for you?”

“Every single time.  Then I look back and wonder what the hell there was to be afraid of in the first place.”

“So why can’t you write?” she asked, looking back to him.

Adam took a deep breath, and then laughed, but it wasn’t kind of laughter she was used to hearing from him.  There was no joy or even irony behind it, but rather a hint of defeat.  She wasn’t sure what a man as accomplished as Adam had to feel defeated about. Suddenly she was the one who wanted to remind him of how special he was, of all the gifts he possessed. 

“I don’t know,” he finally answered.

The wind from the surf began to pick up, making her curls dance.  “You’re a brilliant man, Adam.  You make beautiful music that makes people feel things.  You make music that makes people love you without ever having met you.  That is so special.  That is so rare.”  She covered her hand with her heart.  “You are a brilliant man. A good man,” she said, again, nodding.

Adam’s fingers tightened at her waist.

“I have to admit, it makes me feel a little better that someone as incredibly accomplished as you could still feel inadequate.”

“Incredible, huh?” he asked, his eyes gleaming.

“I said incredibly accomplished, not incredible.  Rein in that ego a little.”

Adam pulled away from her, watching as she laughed softly, before giving her shoulder a gentle push.  Shaun stumbled on her heels, still laughing, before tumbling into a heap in the sand with a scream.

“You bastard!” she cried, kicking a wad of sand at him.

Adam fell next to her, knees in the sand.  Watching Shaun doubled over in laugher, sand sneaking into her heels, he hated the idea of leaving that spot to go put on a show.  He hated the idea of leaving her for even a second.  Without another thought, he leaned into her, his eyes riveted to her smiling lips as he parted his own over hers.

Shaun immediately pulled away when she saw Adam coming in to kiss her, placing a hand on his chest. 

“Adam…”  Her heart broke at the look on his face. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head.

Adam didn’t move.  His lips remained just inches from hers and his stomach heaved in time with his racing heart.  Jamming his eyes shut he reached up and covered Shaun’s hand with his own, feeling his pounding heart through both their hands.

They sat silently in the sand, watching each other, both wondering how the hell they were going to pull all of this off, when each passing day proved tougher than the last.

--

Later that night Shaun was introduced to Paul, an older balding man with serious blue eyes and the head of Adam’s security team, just outside the doors of the arena.  She crossed her arms over her chest as the cold night air seeped into her thin jacket, nodding as Paul gave her a rundown of what was going to happen.

“I’m going to walk you into these doors and to your seat. We’re going to walk in, immediately turn left, walk to the top of the staircase and turn right. You’re going to be in the VIP box in the middle of the arena so it’s going to be a bit of a hike. We’re going to move fast so you can’t stop and talk, just keep moving.  Understand?”

Shaun nodded her understanding, wondering who in the world she would talk to in an arena full of strangers. Paul opened one of the doors, revealing a massive concert arena that was wall to wall with screaming fans, all staring at the empty stage in anticipation.  Shaun’s eyes flew to the stage, as well, and she realized she was just as eager to get a glimpse of Adam as all of his doe-eyed admirers.

She followed Paul into the arena as the door slammed shut and hundreds of people were already looking at her, some even recognized her.

Paul took her arm and pulled her to the left. “This way, keep moving.”

Instinctively, Shaun took Paul’s hand, which he accepted, before pulling her after him and up the massive steps.  She heard her name being called by a few unfamiliar voices and, before she knew it, people were screaming her name.  With each passing second and each staircase she and Paul cleared more and more heads turned her way.  Camera flashes began going off and more people called out to her, gasping, gaping, some even leaving their seats to get a glimpse of Adam’s new girlfriend.

“That’s her, that’s Shaun—“

“That’s Adam’s girlfriend—“

“Shaun—“

“Shaun!”

“SHAUN!”

Shaun found herself staring at the floor, having been completely unprepared for all of this attention.  As Paul pulled her to the right she could see the VIP box in sight, but her eyes went wide as word of her presence seemed to spread like wildfire and fans began leaving their seats ahead of she and Paul.

“Move!”  Paul pulled Shaun closer and held a large hand out, pushing away any person who attempted to block his path. “Out of the way!”

“Good god.” Shaun mumbled, squinting as the camera flashes and screams intensified.  She was truly shocked.  One would think that she was the celebrity in here by the reaction that these people were having to her.  She wanted to scream that she was just like them--but she wasn’t normal to these people.  She was someone who was now on the cover of magazines and on the arm of a man who they were willing to pay good money to see performing live.  She wasn’t normal to them.

A wave of relief gripped her when she and Paul finally made it to the VIP box and, to her dismay, the screaming of her name and camera flashes didn’t subside until The White Keys finally took the stage.

--

After the show, Paul led an amazed Shaun backstage.  Adam and his band mates had put on an incredible, passionate show and Shaun would be lying if she said that watching him up there hadn’t turned her on in ways she’d never experienced before.  To know that the man on that stage, one that thousands of people had paid good money to see, was the same man she’d be sharing a hotel room with that night made her feel extremely special--and frightened.  She was now crouched next to a vending machine backstage attempting to be discreet while listening to her voicemail messages.  Celia had called her at least a dozen times that night but she hadn’t been able to get to the phone until that moment.

“Dolce and Gabbana?” Celia screamed from the other line for what had to be the hundredth time since Shaun had called her. “Holy shit!”

“I know,” Shaun said. “But that’s not why I called.  I’m backstage right now and Adam is going to be here any minute.  I need to know what to do when we get back upstairs to the room.”

“He tried to kiss you on the beach where there were no cameras or paparazzi around to document the event.  It’s clear that he wants to get it in.”

“Do you think that’s all he wants?”  Shaun asked. “Do you think he just wants sex?”

A long silence followed on Celia’s end.  “That doesn’t matter, and that’s not something that you can allow to matter in your head or your heart if you plan on coming out of this alive.  This is
business,
Shaun.”

Shaun was beginning to grow frustrated at the thin line between Adam and
business. 
It seemed to be growing thinner by the second.  “Okay… okay you’re right.”

“And it also doesn’t matter because you are not going to have sex with him,” Celia said. “Not just because you’re a virgin but because you’re not a slut.  Adam has probably never had a woman next to him in bed who’s turned him down.  You’re going to be that woman tonight.”