Page 28 of Stay for Forever

“I’ve never had a famous person to dinner before.”

“Hey!” Ashlyn huffs. “Rowan’s famous.”

Mom ignores her. “Besides, he’s your secret admirer. Why wouldn’t I invite him?”

I throw my hands in the air. “Maybe because he stuck his tongue down another woman’s throat when we were dating.”

Mav clears his throat. “No tongue was involved.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” I screech. Yes, screech. My annoyance has reached the danger levels. “You’re quibbling over how deep the kiss was?”

“If you’d let me explain…”

I am done with this. He wants to explain? I’ll let him and once he’s fallen into the hole he’s dug, we’ll be done with this stupid song and dance routine we’ve got going on.

I cross my arms over my chest and lift my chin. “Go ahead. Explain to everyone how you thought it was okay to kiss another woman the day after you left me in your bed.”

“Can I record this?” Ashlyn asks with her phone already aimed at Mav.

“Dream girl.” Rowan nabs the phone from her. “Privacy.”

Ashlyn sticks out her bottom lip. “But imagine the kind of cash I could make from selling the video.”

“Because you don’t make enough money narrating erotic romances and owning a recording studio?” She shrugs at her husband’s question. “What about being married to a millionaire?”

Her shoulders slump. “Oh, yeah. I forgot.” She nods to Mav. “Go ahead. I won’t record.”

“Quinn Wilder means nothing to me.”

I roll my eyes. “Which is why you were kissing her for the entire world to see.”

“It was a publicity stunt.”

A publicity stunt? “You kissed someone in public and let the world believe you’re involved with her for publicity?” I seethe.

His cheeks darken and I do not pay attention to how adorable he is when he blushes. Nope. Not I.

He shrugs. “It’s part of the whole Hollywood gig. The producer of my latest project wanted to create more interest in the film. Her idea was to make it appear as if the two lead actors fell in love during the filming.”

“It worked,” Ashlyn says, and I growl at her. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I can’t change the facts.” She wiggles her phone at me. “The box office revenue the weekend after the incident was twice the weekend before.”

“Let me get this straight.” I pause to gather my thoughts. “You kissed another woman in public to make it appear as if you’re in a relationship with her when you were supposed to be in a relationship with me because it helped increase the box office revenue?”

Mav’s shoulders hunch forward. “I feel like this is a trick question.”

Rowan sighs. “Because it is, dude. It is.”

“Can I decline to answer?”

“There’s no reason to answer,” I tell him. “You’ve said enough.”

“Out of curiosity what exactly did I say?”

I sum it up for him because I want this done once and for all. Also, men are idiots. You can’t assume they understand their own idiocy.

“You said I’m not as important as making a boatload of money. You said my feelings were immaterial. You said what we had wasn’t important to you. You said our relationship was worth throwing away for money.”

He blanches and gulps a few times before speaking, “I didn’t say any of those things.”

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