“It’s grainy—probably a cell phone picture.”
“Yeah.”
“Still, she could be working you. Paparazzi were waiting outside her apartment.”
“If she is, then she’s a better actor than I am.” Mark shoved his feet into the pants and buttoned them.
“Then who?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was just dumb luck.”
“Ha! I’m going to do some digging. Lay low today, would you?” “I have plans to see Allie. We’re going to go to church with Chloe.” Not that he’d told Allie that bit of information. He’d kind of just come up with the idea. But it sounded good to him.
“Geez.” There was a heavy pause while Kate worked over their options in her head.
Mark let her ponder the situation while he found a nice shirt and slipped into the crisp fabric. This is what he hired Kate for, and she was good at managing his image. Fake-dating Aspen was Kate’s idea, and their lack of drama had kept him under the radar for several years while Beau struggled to leave his house without being attacked by cameramen.
“Shoot—I should call Aspen and warn her.” Mark made a face. After spending the day with Allie, speaking with Aspen was like taffy that had been left in the sun—clingy and not at all appetizing.
“I already shot her an email when the first image came in. I’m supposed to meet with her agent for coffee.”
“Have I told you how wonderful you are?”
“I’d love to hear it again.”
“You’re amazing.”
“Yep. I’m going to write a press release to explain what really happened with the hotel. I’ll take the blame for that one. I still feel bad. You’ve got
the annual dinner for Waters without Borders next week, and we don’t want all this drama to take away from that.”
“Got it,” replied Mark with a firm nod.
“Mark?”
“Yeah?” He grabbed his keys.
“You’re right about Allie—she’s not the type to stir this up.” “No, she’s not.”
“You’ve got to help her—she’ll drown in all this.”
“I’m on my way to pick her up right now.”
“You can’t go there right now. I’m sure there’s press all over the place.” Mark groaned. If he went charging in like a bull with a burr in its tail, he’d only feed the sharks. “What are we going to do?”
“Meet me at the office.”
“I’m saying it again—you’re wonderful.”
“Well, up until now, you’ve been an ideal boss. If you stir up much more trouble I may have to quit.”
“Empty threats.”
She laughed and they said goodbye.
The pictures were bad, a small scandal he could do without for Chloe’s sake, but nothing they couldn’t contain. Except that he really needed to not just seem stable, but really be that kind of a dad for his daughter. Was he putting his own desires before the welfare of his child? The thought plagued him as he drove through Atlanta towards Kate’s office. If this was going to blow over, he’d need to handle the press just right or the whole situation could blow up in his face. Not only would the paparazzi poison his relationship with Allie, they’d ensure that he never got full custody of his daughter.
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