“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Blake.”

  “Don’t you? You’ve moved on with your life, Caroline. Seems to me you’ve forgotten all about what we had.”

  “Oh. I’ve forgotten? Who left who? Who moved all the way to London without a word? Because that wasn’t me. And now you’re here asking me that question?”

  “I’m here because I’m Keith’s best friend. No other reason.”

  “Right,” the actress said. “Because you couldn’t be here for me. You never have been before. Why start now?”

  She started to walk away but Kane grabbed her wrist. “That’s not true and you know it.”

  “And, cut,” Alexis said. The actress threw her arms around Kane, who lifted her up and swung her around.

  Then recognition hit. That was Everly Sloane, the actress Mae had been standing in for.

  The woman was the same height and build as Mae, with the same dark hair. From the back she and Mae could almost be twins. No wonder they had asked her to be a backup for Everly.

  They were obviously busy and had a lot of scenes to catch up on, so Mae turned to leave.

  “Mae!”

  She stopped, pivoted and put on a smile as Kane—along with Everly—made his way toward her.

  “Sorry to disturb the filming. They didn’t tell me I wasn’t needed.”

  “It’s okay. And I’m sorry about that. Everly flew in yesterday and surprised all of us by showing up on set this morning. Everly Sloane, this is Mae Wallace. Mae has been working as your stand-in for some scenes while we were waiting on you.”

  Everly smiled brightly and shook Mae’s hand. “Thanks so much for doing that, Mae. I put the whole production in a bind while I finished up my last movie. I’m so glad they could count on you to help out.”

  “Me, too. And it was fun. I’m not in the movie business so it was kind of a blast. I’m very happy you’re here, though, so I can get back to my other job.”

  “Mae works for the wedding business here,” Kane said.

  “Oh, wow,” Everly said. “You’ve really been doubling up. I’m sorry we took up so much of your time on my account.”

  “It’s fine. It wasn’t a lot.”

  “Well, I still feel like I owe you.” She paused, then said, “Oh, we should have dinner. We’ll even let Kane come along.”

  Mae didn’t know what to say, so she looked at Kane, who grinned.

  “Sounds great,” he said. “Mae?”

  She shrugged. “Sure. Thanks.”

  “Awesome. Let me get your number and I’ll text you about a time.”

  They exchanged numbers, and then Mae excused herself to head back to work.

  Okay, that was weird. Everly was super friendly. Was that genuine? She had no idea. She supposed she’d find out tonight.

  In the meantime, she had work to do.

  * * *

  ••••••

  Kane had a great day of filming. It was awesome having Everly there. They had always worked well together, and she was always prepared, just like him, so they knocked out four scenes in perfect takes, which made Alexis super happy, especially since they were behind schedule due to Everly’s late arrival.

  The first thing she had done was apologize to the cast and crew for her delayed arrival and promised she’d work fast and make up the time. After she and Kane had worked their scenes, she did a couple more scenes with other actors.

  The one thing Kane had always known about Everly was that she worked hard. They’d be caught up in no time.

  Everly had texted both him and Mae after she finished filming to say she was ready to eat if they were, so Kane told her they could meet and pick up Mae. Mae texted back to let them know she was ready anytime.

  “I am so hungry,” Everly said, climbing into the front seat of his car. He hadn’t had a chance to tell Everly about his relationship with Mae, and asking her to sit in the back seat seemed rude, so he let it go, figuring Mae wouldn’t care.

  He pulled up in front of the main house.

  “Wow, this place is beautiful,” Everly said.

  “Yeah, it’s very cool. We’ll film some scenes in the barn and over at the arbor where they perform weddings.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  Mae came out and didn’t even pause when she saw Everly sitting in the front seat. She smiled, waved, then got into the back seat.

  “I hope everyone is as hungry as I am,” Everly said.

  “I’m always hungry,” Mae said.

  Everly laughed. “You and I are going to be best friends.”

  “What are you in the mood to eat, Everly?” Mae asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I like everything. And nothing fancy. Low profile suits me best.”

  “Perfect. How about burgers and beer in a very nondescript location?”

  “That sounds ideal.”

  Mae directed Kane to a place called the Garage, where there were all kinds of burgers, including vegetarian. They ordered their beers and burgers and grabbed a table. There were TVs placed all around, and even better—sports. Kane could eat here every day. Hopefully the food was good.

  “I can’t believe you never brought me here before,” he said to Mae.

  She shrugged. “We’ve eaten lots of places. I was getting around to it.”

  “You two have gone out a lot?” Everly asked as she took a sip of her beer.

  He could tell Mae was going to defer to Kane, who nodded. “Yeah, she’s been putting up with me.”

  Everly laughed. “He’s a hardship. I know. But he needs friends, so you’re a real sport.”

  “Mmm.” Mae nodded, taking a drink of beer. “He did look like a lonely kid in a corner. I took pity on him.”

  “Hey, now,” Kane said. “I can go sit at another table.”

  “But then you’d miss out on the company of two beautiful women,” Everly said. “And you wouldn’t want to do that, would you?”

  He shrugged. “I guess not.”

  Mae laughed, then engaged in conversation with Everly about her films and where she traveled. Kane sat back, sipped his beer and focused on the sports update on the TV until their burgers arrived. He took a bite of the juicy burger, then shoved fries in his mouth, nodding.

  “Oh, yeah,” he said. “These are good burgers.”

  “Right?” Mae asked. “Kind of perfect.”

  “This veggie burger is tasty,” Everly said. “And the spicy sweet potato fries are to die for. Good choice, Mae.”

  “I’m so glad you like it.”

  After she finished her burger, Everly wiped her hands with the napkin, then took a long swallow of beer. “So, Mae, tell me about yourself. Have you always been in the wedding business?”

  “Not always. I got involved with the Bellinis a couple of years ago. Before that I was in marketing and management for a bridal dress company.”

  “Ooh. That sounds fun.”

  “It was. But the owner and I had different ideas on how to promote the company and we clashed—often. When Honor Bellini asked me to come on board and help them manage their wedding business, I jumped at the opportunity. The three sisters along with their parents have a beautiful wedding and winery operation, and I knew my style and theirs would mesh.”

  “Isn’t it awesome to know where you fit?”

  “It is. How did you decide to get into acting?”

  “Oh, well, I fell into it, actually. I did plays in school and I was pretty good at it, and since we lived in L.A. I was scouted by an agent who signed me. I ended up on some teen show—that’s where Kane and I met, actually.”

  Mae looked over at Kane. “You and Everly have known each other since you were teens?”

  “Yup. We go way back.”

  “We do. Our paths seem to have crossed a lot, both in television and film. I think it was the chemistry thing, which is why we often end up doing movies together. It’s been fun, hasn’t it, Kane?”

  He gave Everly a smile. “Sure has.”

  Kane watched a range of emotions cross Mae’s face, and hoped she understood that there was absolutely nothing going on between Everly and him. He’d explain it to her when they had some alone time.

  After dinner they headed back to the Bellini property.

  “Could you drop me off at the house?” Mae asked. “I have tons of paperwork to prep for tomorrow. We have some couples coming in to tour the wedding venue.”

  “How fun,” Everly said as Kane pulled up to the house. She turned around to look at Mae. “It was great to spend some time with you, Mae. We’ll definitely have to do it again.”

  Mae laid her hand on Everly’s. “It was so fun. I can’t wait to see you again. Thanks, Kane. I’ll see you both later.”

  “Wait,” Kane said. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

  She shrugged and got out.

  Kane walked her up. “Are you sure you can’t come by the trailer tonight?”

  “No, I really do have a lot to do.”

  He stopped at the door, wanting to kiss her, but she took a step back, a clear signal that she wasn’t comfortable with that with Everly watching them, so he shoved his hands in his pockets.

  “Talk to you tomorrow?” he asked.

  She gave a quick nod. “Absolutely. Night, Kane.”

  “Good night, Mae.”

  He waited for her to go inside, then walked down the steps and got back into the car, feeling wholly unsatisfied with how that had gone down.

  “So,” Everly said as Kane turned around and drove toward their trailers. “You and Mae, huh?”

  He shot her a look. “How did you know?”

  She laughed. “You were antsy and I could tell you wanted to touch her or kiss her and I can tell when I’m a third wheel, dude. Why didn’t you just say something? It would have been a lot more comfortable for all of us.”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t want Mae to feel weird. I didn’t want you to feel weird.”

  “Well, now we all feel weird, jackass.”

  He sighed. “Sorry.”

  She punched his arm. “You better talk to your woman and fix things.”

  “I will.”

  They got out of the car and he walked her to her trailer. She pulled him into a tight hug. “Love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “I’m going to go to my trailer, call Ethan and then face-plant on my bed. We have five thirty makeup tomorrow.”

  He grimaced. “Yeah, yeah. Good night.”

  As soon as he got back to his trailer, he took out his phone and called Mae. She didn’t answer, which made him frown, so he sent a text.

  Are you busy? I tried calling you.

  He waited, watching his phone for a reply, then got tired of waiting, so he opened his game console to play some games. About thirty minutes later his phone pinged. He grabbed it to see Mae had replied.

  Sorry. Was taking a bath and reading a book. What’s up?

  At the moment, he was thinking about her naked in the tub, bubbles up to her neck while she relaxed and read. But that wasn’t supposed to be his focus, so he typed a reply.

  Sorry about tonight. Everly knows about us.

  She replied with a ?

  He wasn’t going to do this with a text, so he FaceTimed her. She answered right away this time.

  “Hey,” she said, looking beautiful with her hair in a bun, sitting on her bed wearing a tank top.

  “Hey. Everly said I made tonight weird when it didn’t have to be because I didn’t tell her about us. I was trying to be sensitive.”

  “Because…”

  He dragged his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. I didn’t want you to feel weird. I didn’t want her to feel weird.”

  “So instead you made us all feel weird.”

  “That’s exactly what she said.”

  Mae smiled. “I knew I liked her. Look, it’s fine. I understand why. She’s your friend and you wanted her to be comfortable with us. Next time, just make her feel comfortable—like your friend. Because I really like her, Kane.”

  “I like her, too. She’s been like a sister to me ever since we first met as teens. And, trust me, that’s all we are to each other.”

  “I believe you.”

  Now that he’d gotten things straightened out with Mae, he felt the fatigue overwhelm him. “I’ve got to be in makeup at five thirty tomorrow.”

  “Ugh. Go to bed.”

  “Yeah, I will. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow, okay?”

  “It’s Friday and we have a wedding, so I’ll be busy most of the day—and night. And we have two weddings on Saturday.”

  “Hey, we’ll figure something out.”

  “Yeah, we will.”

  “Don’t work too hard, Kane.”

  “You, either.”

  They clicked off. Kane turned his game off and went into the bedroom. By the time he climbed into bed he was more than ready to sleep.

  He couldn’t wait to see Mae again. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

  Chapter

  thirty-one

  It had been a long weekend. The wedding on Friday went off without any complications, and fortunately it had ended by eleven, which meant they had all the guests out and were done cleaning up by midnight.

  Weddings always hyped Mae up and it was hard to come down from that. She wished she could have hung out with Kane, but he’d texted her earlier in the day and told her they were filming all through the day on Saturday, and she figured he’d gone to bed already. So she’d done the same thing, though it had taken her a while to go to sleep. They had two weddings on Saturday so she’d been busy the entire day and night without a break, and she hadn’t seen Kane at all. She’d barely had time to eat. By the time the evening wedding had finished she’d been so exhausted she’d gone right to bed.

  On Sunday, she slept in. When she woke there was a text message from Kane saying he was catching up on filming with Everly and he’d be tied up the entire day.

  Well, damn. They had planned to spend Sunday together, but now that wasn’t going to happen. But, whatever. She spent the day cleaning her room—which, technically wasn’t really hers. In fact, now that she wasn’t filming anymore, she could move back to her apartment. She’d deal with that later, though. Instead, she did all her laundry and made some notes for the meeting tomorrow. The family was coming over for dinner, so she took a shower and put on leggings and a sweater, heading downstairs when she heard voices.

  Brenna and Finn had come in at the same time as Honor and Owen.

  “Hey, everyone,” she said. “How’s it going?”

  “I don’t know about you,” Brenna said as she poured herself a glass of wine. “But this weekend was intense and I’m exhausted.”

  “Me, too,” Honor said. “I slept hard last night.”

  “Same,” Mae said.

  Erin and Jason came in, and Maureen ran over to take JJ from them and disappeared into the living room.

  “Hi to you, too, Mom,” Erin said, shaking her head. “It’s like I don’t even exist anymore since I had JJ.”

  “Yeah, you really don’t,” Jason said, earning a jab in his middle from Erin.

  Mae smiled at how much Maureen was enjoying being a grandma.

  Erin took a seat at the dining room table and started scrolling through her phone, obviously deciding to ignore her family.

  “Hey, I saw that the dress you liked was on sale,” Honor said to Mae as they made their way to the table.

  “Oh. The red one?”

  “Yes. The one you said you wanted to get for Christmas.”

  “Send me a link?”

  “I will.”

  “Whoa,” Erin said, looking over her. “Mae. Did you see this?”

  “See what?” Hopefully another sale. She did love to shop.

  “There’s a story on the gossip sites about Kane.”

  She gave Erin a wry smile. “I’m pretty sure there’s always a story on the gossip sites about Kane.”

  “No. This one is about him and his co-star. With pictures.”

  “Yeah, Everly finally showed up. They’ve been filming all weekend. The paparazzi probably got pics of the two of them doing a scene together.”

  “From the looks of it, that’s not all they’ve been doing. I’ll send you the link.”

  Her phone pinged with the link, so Mae clicked on it. Frowning, she studied the pic. It definitely wasn’t taken on the property, but rather somewhere in the city. She wished she could figure out where but it was outside some restaurant. And Kane—was it Kane? It had to be him, though it was a view of the back of his head. But same height, same dark hair, dark jeans, and he had Everly in his arms, kissing her.

  Her stomach knotted.

  “I’m sure he can explain this,” Brenna said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  She laid her phone down and put on a smile. “I’m not worried. Not at all.”

  She was worried plenty, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it until she talked to Kane.

  * * *

  ••••••

  Kane had just finished a scene with Everly. It had gone well. They were catching up in a hurry and this was one of the many times he was damn happy she was his co-star. She grabbed her phone off a nearby table and started scrolling, stopping suddenly and grabbing his arm. “Oh no. This is not good.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  She handed her phone to him. The first thing he saw was a picture. It was from a distance, but it was clearly Everly, kissing some guy in front of a restaurant. But the headline was what really caught his attention. Everly Sloane Hot and Heavy on Location with Kane August. He looked up at her. “Oh, shit.”

  “Yes. I’m so sorry.” She pulled him around the corner so they were alone. “Ethan flew in yesterday and we met in the city, snuck out for a late dinner. He grabbed me and kissed me and I guess there were paps around that I didn’t see. I had no idea. And now this.”