For the first time—perhaps in his entire life—Mark felt real. This moment, this kiss, was as real as it got in this world of public personas, photoshopped pictures, and stage lighting. Allie was the real deal and he knew he needed her in his life. She was the anchor he’d been searching for. Before he got carried away, he slowed the kiss, hating to bring their time together to an end but knowing that there was a deeper connection growing bonding them together.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Allie’s fingers went to her lips as if she couldn’t quite believe what had transpired between them. For Mark, the contact was so much more than an end-of-date kiss. It was a kiss that spoke of beginnings.
“Night.” He let his hands slide down her back as he pulled away, needing to touch her until the last possible second.
“Night.” Her eyes crinkled at the corners.
She stayed there and waved as Mark pulled away, and he had to force his concentration into driving. He coasted home, unable to get Allie out of his head.
Not that he tried. As far as he was concerned, today was the first day of the best part of his life.
Sunday morning Mark was awakened by his assistant’s ring tone. He grabbed the phone off his nightstand and pulled himself up on one elbow. He’d get to seeAllie today even if he had to follow her to church. Smiling, he answered with a light, “I thought I told you to take the weekend off, Kate.”
“Google alerts are blowing up my phone.”
“About me?” Mark blinked.
“No, they’re excited about Black Friday deals in April. I’m sending you links.” She stayed on the line.
Mark barely had time to scrub his cheeks awake before his phone beeped again.
He clicked on the link, and images of him kissing Allie in front of her building filled his phone. He swiped through them, his anger growing, before he found the one of him pulling her out of the dive motel in her pajamas.
Curses!
“This is why I don’t take days off,” said Kate.
Mark groaned. “This is the local paper, right? Nothing too damaging.” He caught the headline: MYSTERY WOMAN SNEAKS OFF WITH HOLLYWOOD DO-GOOD, MARK DUBOIS.
Son of a biscuit.
“You’re being naive on purpose,” Kate reprimanded him. “Was Allie in on this?”
“No way.” Mark shoved the covers aside and searched for a pair of jeans.
“How did they get these shots of her in pajamas?”
“There were three guys outside the hotel when I picked her up. One of them must have recognized me.”
“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.
