Page 68 of The Backup Bride Proposal

He dragged a hand through his hair. “Mae, you don’t know what kind of ruckus one picture can cause, the amount of negative press.”

She laughed. “You sure think highly of yourself.”

She didn’t get it. She would, though, and she’d blame him. Rightly so. “I’m sorry. All I can say is I’m sorry.”

“Look. Am I into this whole celebrity thing? Absolutely not. You’re just a person, and having people follow you just to take your picture and invade your personal life is ludicrous. But I knew going in that this was a possibility. I’ve accepted it. And, like I said, I can take care of myself.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence. She was already angry with him, which would only get worse. He figured he might as well support her level of irritation.

He pulled up in front of the house and went around to open her car door. She slid out and turned to face him, placing her palms on his chest.

“Kane, listen. I’m a strong, independent woman who is perfectly capable of making her own decisions.”

“I’m aware of that. But, if you’ll allow, this isn’t something you’ve been through before and I was trying my best to shield you from the effects of my…my…”

She arched a brow. “Epic stardom?”

He scratched the side of his nose. “Not the words I’d choose. I just want to prepare you for what’s coming.”

“I can take it. And I’m sorry if you think I’m some kind of emotional wreck who’s going to crumple because a picture of us is going to show up on the gossip sites tomorrow. No one even knows who I am. Unless…you think it’s because I’m a nobody and your legions of admirers will wonder what the hell you’re doing with me.”

He frowned. “What? No. I never said that.”

“You implied. Good night, Kane.”

“Mae, come on.”

“Good night.”

Before he could argue further, she turned and walked up the porch steps, disappeared inside and turned off the porch light.

Well, hell. That was a pretty definite Go the Fuck Away. So he got into his car and drove back over to the production site. He went inside, stripped out of his clothes, slid into sweats and grabbed a beer from the fridge, plopped down on the sofa and grabbed his phone, scrolling through the gossip sites to see if any pics had hit yet.

Not yet.

But they would, and as angry as Mae was tonight, it was only going to get worse.

Chapter

twenty

It had beentwo days of nonstop stalking by photographers. The phones were ringing off the hook, everyone was showing up here and Mae wanted nothing more than to go back to her apartment and hide, possibly for the rest of her life. She was appalled by all the attention one ridiculous photo of Kane and her kissing had caused. Now she had to sit in a meeting with the entire Bellini family, and she was certain this wasn’t going to be good.

She should have known better than to get involved with a popular actor.

Nothing good ever came from dating men. They were just a catastrophe in the making.

Gathering up her notebook, pen and laptop, she made the slow walk to the meeting, hoping like hell that they weren’t going to fire her.

Of course they were all there, staring at her as she made her way to her spot at the table. She decided the best defense would be a good offense. She laid her stuff down on the table and addressed the family.

“I’m so sorry about all of this. I’m going to do whatever I can to fix it.”

Erin frowned. “Fix…Mae, you do realize this is all good for our business, right?”

Mae didn’t understand. “Good for business? How?”

“I know you’ve been buried in your office the past couple of days,” Honor said. “But the phone’s been ringing ever since the gossip sites printed those photos of Kane and you.”

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