Lucas Addison's life is all mapped out. A rising chess superstar, he is an orderly, fastidious kind of guy whose reputation as a jerk precedes him. He's resigned to a career–filled life until he spots fallen movie idol Kevin Morgan in the crowd watching him play chess in a tournament one cold, but sunny afternoon in Central Park. Kevin's exquisite good looks and haunting eyes tear at him. What happened to this guy and why did he walk away from the world? And why does Lucas think he can…and must save him?
Lucas becomes enthralled by the actor who walked off the stage in the middle of a benefit performance of his one-man show on Broadway the previous year. The one time million-dollar-a-movie man appears to be homeless and rebuffs Lucas's attempts at friendship, hurting Lucas's feelings. All Lucas cares about is that New York is still in the grip of fierce late winter storms and the nights are below freezing. Can he get Kevin inside, out of the cold? Could they possibly become lovers?
Things start to defrost between them when Kevin accepts his invitation to see a matinee performance of the classic play, Sunday in the Park with George…
Lucas didn’t dislike blitz games. He used each one as a good opportunity to test his speed and ability to overcome setbacks. Mr. Lovell was easy to confuse with a propensity to dither before making moves. He often left his king unguarded, making it easy to mate him. Lucas won each game. Blitzes were fun because they didn’t give you time to run over themes in your mind, but to him, it wasn’t chess.
Mr. Lovell didn’t look pleased as they took a short break before the main event.
“He hates me,” Lucas whispered to his father, who brought him a bottle of iced water.
“The crowd loves you,” Martin said. “You’re proving you’re a good sport.”
“You think?” Lucas worried as he scanned the faces. His gaze zeroed in on a man in a beanie. He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses now but had the same magic, million-kilowatt smile he’d seen outside Veniero’s. The man caught his glance and held it.
Lucas suddenly remembered who he was and his heart skipped a beat. The man was Kevin Morgan, one of Hollywood’s hottest movie stars, who’d dropped out of his brilliant career the previous year. The media had come up with all kinds of bizarre theories of suicide, drug addiction, rehab, even, God help them all, alien abduction. There had been sightings of him though, and Kevin Morgan had become an urban legend.
The former star dipped his head. Lucas blinked. And just like that, he disappeared.
Again…
People Also Bought:
