Mae was going to freak out. “Yeah.”

  “The last thing I want is for my relationship with Ethan to get out. You know how the tabloids are. They’ll ruin things between us before we have a chance to get on a solid footing.”

  “So what do you want me to do?”

  “Let it play out. Rumors die down and we’ll deny them. I just can’t have anyone knowing about this.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Everly. What am I supposed to tell Mae?”

  Her eyes widened. “I completely didn’t think…Oh, Kane. I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, me, too.” He dragged his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out what he was going to stay to her.

  “Tell her…tell her it was nothing. Please, Kane. Just for a while.”

  “You’re asking me to lie to her.”

  She paced back and forth around him. “I know, I know. I hate this as much as you do. But I really like him, Kane. This might be love. When was the last time I really cared about someone? Really trusted someone? He’s good for me and I need someone good in my life.”

  Well, hell. Everly had been burned badly in the past. And Ethan was a good guy. They deserved a chance. “Okay. We’ll hope this is a one-off and it’ll die down. But you and I need to keep our distance so this rumor evaporates. On set, during scenes, and that’s it. After that we go our separate ways so if cameras are lurking, they get nothing.”

  She gave a quick nod. “Got it. Promise. Thank you.”

  She moved in to hug him, but he took a step back. “I mean it, Everly. I have something—someone—important to lose, and I can’t risk it.”

  “I understand.”

  He walked away, figuring that if this was on the tabloid sites, Mae had probably already seen it, which meant he was going to have to talk to her. He pulled out his phone to see if she had texted. She hadn’t, so he pressed the button on her number to call her.

  She didn’t answer.

  Shit.

  He sent her a text: If you saw the gossip sites, it’s not true. Let’s talk.

  All he could do now was hope that she believed him.

  Chapter

  thirty-two

  “He sent you a text?” Brenna asked. “What did it say?”

  Mae swept one hand to the side, trying to act nonchalant when she was anything but. “He sent a lot of texts, all basically saying the same thing. That it wasn’t what it looked like. He doesn’t have anything going on with Everly. That we need to talk.”

  “Do you believe him?” Erin asked.

  “No. I’ve been down this road before. Cheaters lie.”

  “Oh, honey,” Honor said. “Do you really think Kane is the same as your ex?”

  “I don’t know. But the one hard lesson I learned with Isaac is that where there’s smoke, generally there’s a big ole fire. I won’t be made a fool of again. It’s best to just end things before someone gets hurt.”

  Brenna gave her a sympathetic look. “You’re already hurt. You love him.”

  She casually lifted one shoulder, trying to show that she didn’t care. “Yeah. Well, I’ve been here before. I got through it. I’ll do it again.”

  “No.” Honor got up and pulled Mae from her chair.

  “What are you doing?”

  “It’s not me who’s going to do anything. But you are. You’re going to go talk to him. If this is truly over, then you need to get the truth from him face-to-face, not this whole text messaging thing.”

  “I don’t see the point.”

  “The point is that sometimes feelings get lost in text messages, and you two have things to say to each other. Talk to him, Mae. In person. Then you’ll know for sure if it’s really over or not.”

  She did not want to do that. She looked over at Erin and Brenna, hoping they would see her side of the situation.

  Erin shrugged. “I have to agree with Honor on this. If this ends you should do it face-to-face.”

  Brenna nodded. “I’m with them. Don’t run when you can face it. And if he is a cheating asshole, you’ll get the satisfaction of punching his face before you walk out on him.”

  She held her hands up. “Fine. I’ll go see him. But if I crumple into the fetal position after, I’m counting on all of you to put me back together.”

  “We’ll be here with margaritas and nachos,” Honor said.

  “Or pizza and beer,” Erin said.

  “Pfft.” Brenna shook her head. “It’ll be wine and brie.”

  Mae offered up a sigh. “Maybe all the above.”

  They took care of Monday morning business and everyone dispersed to their offices. Mae was going to dig into the calls she had to make, but she had promised the girls, so she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Kane.

  I want to talk to you. Can we meet tonight?

  She laid the phone down, figuring he was filming and it would take him a while to answer. She was surprised when she got a reply almost right away.

  I’d like that. What time?

  She replied with: Seven. I’ll meet you at your trailer.

  He came back with: Can’t wait to see you.

  Her heart did a little leap, which only irritated her, so she shoved her phone to the side and concentrated on work. After a full day of calls, tours and meetings, she realized it was after six and the entire day had zoomed by. She went upstairs and brushed her hair and her teeth, though she had no idea why. It wasn’t like Kane was going to get anywhere close enough to her to even notice her breath, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to be kissing her.

  She changed from her flats into boots because it was cold outside at night, then went back in the bathroom to brush her hair—again—before coming out to look in the mirror again.

  “Ugh. This is ridiculous.” She went downstairs and grabbed her coat and walked outside, following the path she knew so well toward the production area. Security was like family now, smiling and waving her through as she made her way toward Kane’s trailer. She knocked on the door and he answered right away.

  “Hey,” he said, moving out of the way so she could come inside.

  She walked in, feeling more uncomfortable than she ever had around him.

  This had been a mistake. If she had just avoided all his calls and texts, he’d eventually have gotten the hint that it was over between them. But seeing him made her ache all over. And knowing what she knew about him made the hurt all the more powerful.

  “I didn’t kiss Everly. I have never kissed Everly outside of a film scene. You have to believe me.”

  She cocked her head to the side. “Then what was that picture?”

  “I…can’t explain it. But it wasn’t what it looked like.”

  Rolling her eyes, she said, “It’s exactly what it looked like. You and Everly embracing. Kissing.”

  He blew out a heavy breath. “No, it’s not.”

  “Then if it isn’t that, tell me what it is.”

  “I can’t.”

  And this was exactly what she’d expected from him. Lies. “This argument isn’t going anywhere, Kane. You don’t even have a legitimate explanation other than ‘I can’t.’ At least be decent enough to tell me that you and Everly have a thing, and now that she’s here, whatever you and I had going on is over.”

  “But that’s not what’s happening here. Everly and I are not a thing. We’ve never been a thing. She…”

  Mae waited for him to finish his sentence, for him to give her anything in terms of a reasonable explanation that she could grab on to so she could believe in him.

  But he only stood there, fumbling for words that wouldn’t come.

  “I’m out of here.” She turned and walked away, hoping like hell that he would stop her, that the truth would spill out, even if it wasn’t the truth she wanted to hear.

  All she heard was painful, heartbreaking silence.

  Chapter

  thirty-three

  “Cut. For the third time.” Kane winced at the frustration in Alexis’s voice. “Okay, everyone, we’ll break for lunch and try this again after.”

  Before Alexis could lay into him about his shitty performance, he walked off the set and headed for his trailer.

  “Kane. Kane, wait.”

  He heard Everly calling him, but he didn’t want to talk to her. To anyone. He just wanted to be alone.

  “I’m not going to let you walk away from me,” Everly said, following him up the steps and into his trailer before he could shut and lock the door.

  “Leave me alone, Everly.”

  “Not until you tell me what’s going on. I’ve never seen you blow a scene over and over again like you did today.”

  He went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, opened it and took several long swallows. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Everly plopped down on his sofa. “Well, you’re going to because I’m not leaving until we talk.”

  The last thing he wanted to do was make Everly feel responsible for his breakup with Mae. “It’s nothing. I’m just in a mood.”

  “I’ll say. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing I want to talk about.” He tipped the bottle to his lips, taking several more gulps, wishing it were beer, wishing he could drown out the pain swirling through his body like a plague.

  “You know I’m your friend, right? That you can trust me with anything. That I’ll always keep your secrets like you’ve always kept mine.”

  “Yeah.”

  She patted the sofa cushion next to her. “Come, sit down and talk to me.”

  He shook his head. “I’ve already hurt one woman I care about. I won’t hurt another.”

  She frowned, then her eyes widened. “Mae. You and Mae? This is about the photo in the tabloids, isn’t it?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “She thinks it really was you and me, doesn’t she? You didn’t tell her?”

  He gave her a straight look. “I don’t betray my friends.”

  “Oh, Kane, I’m so sorry I put you in that position. This is such an awful situation.” Everly pondered. “You told her it wasn’t you, didn’t you?”

  “No. I just said it wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “That’s not the same thing.”

  He shrugged. “It’s not my story to tell and you know that.”

  Everly inhaled and let out a deep sigh before standing up. “What a mess. I’m sorry. I’ll fix this.”

  “How are you going to fix it?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll think of something.”

  She started to walk out.

  “Everly.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t do anything you’ll regret. It’s bad enough one of us is hurt. Don’t hurt yourself trying to make things right for me, okay?”

  She smiled at him. “I won’t. Just get your head together so we can get that scene knocked out today, okay?”

  “You got it.”

  She walked out and left him alone with his thoughts.

  Everly wouldn’t be able to fix this, because what he’d done was irreparable. Mae didn’t trust him anymore, and that was everything to her. It was everything to him, too, only he’d realized it too late.

  And now he’d lost her.

  Chapter

  thirty-four

  Mae had spent the past couple of days moving back into her apartment. She’d like to say she was happy having her own space back, but she honestly missed living with the Bellinis. Having missed out on a strong family unit as a kid, she’d reveled in waking up every morning to the cheery sound of Maureen’s and Johnny’s voices, and Louise fixing her breakfast every day.

  This morning she rolled out of bed and shoved bread in the toaster, wondering why she hadn’t taken the Bellinis up on their offer of staying at the house longer. No doubt because she wanted to be alone with her heartbreak. And why not make herself even more miserable by moving back to her not-so-glamorous apartment?

  She made herself a cup of coffee, grabbed her toast and went into the living room to sit, sip and read the morning news.

  A text message immediately popped up from Honor: Omg read the gossip sites right now!

  Before she could do that, another text popped up, this time from Brenna: Wake up and read the gossip!

  And then another from Erin: Are you awake? Read the gossip sites as soon as you get this text!

  Okay, then. Lots of exclamation points, so it must be important. She scrolled over to one of the more prominent sites to see a big headline.

  Everly Sloane and Ethan Rogers spotted at an Oklahoma restaurant!

  She frowned. Wait. What? She scrolled through the article that said “sources” informed them that the two actors had been seeing each other exclusively for a couple of months now, and that the picture previously posted of Everly and Kane had actually been Everly and Ethan out on a clandestine date.

  He had told her he’d never kissed Everly outside of acting.

  Kane hadn’t been lying. He’d been protecting Everly.

  She was more confused than ever. Relieved that he hadn’t cheated on her, but why hadn’t he just told her about Everly’s relationship with Ethan? That didn’t make sense. Didn’t he trust her not to share that information? Because she never would have done that.

  So while she appreciated that he didn’t cheat on her, he still didn’t trust her. Which meant they still weren’t meant to be together.

  It was still over between them.

  And her heart still hurt.

  * * *

  ••••••

  After the news broke about Everly and Ethan on all the gossip sites, Kane figured he’d hear from Mae.

  He didn’t. Not that day, and not the day after. Sure, she might be a little upset that he hadn’t just told her, but he’d explain that when he saw her. But she hadn’t contacted him, and by the third day he’d started to worry.

  He texted her, asking if they could meet.

  She didn’t reply to his text so he called. She didn’t answer.

  He went by the house one night after he finished filming. Maureen answered, smiling at him but informing him that Mae had moved back to her apartment. He asked if she would tell him where that was but Maureen politely declined, telling him that if Mae wanted him to know where she lived, then she’d tell him.

  Well, hell.

  In a couple of days the production would break for the Christmas holidays. He wasn’t about to leave without working out his relationship with Mae. Which meant he needed to talk to her. And he couldn’t do that where she lived because he had no idea where that was.

  Everly had scenes with one of the other actors this morning, so he made his way to the house, hoping like hell Mae was working.

  It was shaping up to be a really nice day. The sun was out and it was already warm outside. If he weren’t in his head he would have enjoyed the walk over, but as it was, all he could do was think about what he was going to say to Mae—if she let him talk to her.

  When he got to the house he rang the bell and waited. The door opened and Johnny Bellini smiled at him.

  “Oh, Kane August. Come on inside.”

  “Thank you. I was wondering if Mae was available.”

  “They’re all in the dining room talking before the meeting. Would you like coffee?”

  “Oh, no, sir, I’m fine, but thank you.”

  He followed Johnny down the hall and into the dining room. Everyone was in there—Mae, Erin, Brenna, Honor and Maureen. It looked like they were having a meeting, because the table was filled with laptops and papers.

  “Look who showed up,” Johnny said, beaming a smile.

  There was a chorus of hellos, but he noticed that Mae refused to look at him.

  “Kane,” Maureen said. “What brings you here today? How’s filming going?”

  “It’s going great, thanks,” he said. “I’d like to talk to Mae for a few minutes if she’s free.”

  “I am not,” Mae said. “As you can see, we’re in a meeting.”

  “Oh, I think we can spare you, Mae,” Erin said.

  Mae shot Erin a glare. “I have important agenda items.”

  “They’ll hold,” Brenna said.

  “Yes, we’ll table them until tomorrow,” Honor said.

  With a disgusted sigh, Mae got up. “Fine. But I’ll be back before the meeting ends. This won’t take long.”

  Relieved she hadn’t shut him out completely, he followed her to the front door. She grabbed her jacket and they stepped outside.

  “Want to walk or sit on the bench here?” he asked.

  “I don’t intend for this conversation to last long, so here is fine.”

  Okay, so this was going to be a hard sell. He accepted that.

  “I didn’t tell you about Everly’s relationship with Ethan because it wasn’t my story to tell. I had promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone about it.”

  “I appreciate that. I also appreciate what a good friend you are for keeping Everly’s confidence. But when faced with the situation where I thought it was you kissing Everly, did it ever occur to you to set the record straight instead of letting me believe that you cheated on me? You could have just said it was some other guy, and not you.”

  “I could have, yeah, but then it would have made Everly vulnerable. It was a hard place to be, Mae. I was asked not to tell anyone about her relationship with Ethan. When someone asks me to keep a secret, that’s what I do. And I know that hurt you, but I was hoping when I told you that I didn’t kiss Everly, you’d believe me.”

  “I can appreciate that, but it hurt that you didn’t trust me enough to think I wouldn’t immediately go tell everyone about Everly. I can keep secrets, too, Kane.”