But then her phone lights up beside her and she reads the name on the screen. “Nina,” she mouths, eyes flicking to mine.
I nod once and give her a little shooing gesture, encouraging her to answer. It’ll be good for her to talk to her best friend.
She stands and grabs her phone, brushing past me with a whisper of citrus and vanilla. “I’ll be outside. I need to vent.”
She offers a tired smile before slipping out onto the patio.
I head to the couch and finally pull out my phone. Time to do some research for our engagement moon.
A vacation. That’s what we need. Or maybe just a chance to breathe. A place that’s ours—no cameras, no headlines, no kindergarten drama.
I sink into the cushions and start typing:romantic, private getaways near the coast.
She needs something good. Something quiet. And maybe if I can give her that… I can make up for the shitstorm I dragged her into.
I’m halfway through reading about a secluded vineyard when I shift to reach for my charger—and hear a softclunkbeside me.
I frown and lift the edge of the blanket she’d curled under earlier.
Her laptop.
It must’ve been buried under there, forgotten when she rushed off to take Nina’s call.
I go to close it. Just a simple flick of the lid, nothinginvasive.
But the screen lights up before I can.
A browser window is open. A blog post.
Drafted. Not published.
I stare and read the title that sounds familiar to me: “After the Photoshoot.”
And below it… the backend of a WordPress site.
Her blog. And the post is about us. I know it instantly.
I freeze. Olive’s new to all this—fame, media scrutiny. Did she use my name? If she did, it could undo everything. The PR strategy, the sponsors… my entire team would lose their minds.
I keep scrolling, heart pounding.
And then I exhale.
She changed the details—nothing in it could identify us.
Smart girl.
I click the laptop closed.
Sit back.
Stare at the ceiling, the words are still echoing in my head.
I decide to look up her blog on my phone. After all, everything she puts out there is there for everyone to read.
I’m only a few paragraphs in before I forget I’m not supposed to be reading it.
It’s that good.
