Page 50

“Hey, Maggie. What’s up?”

There was a measured sigh before she asked,“I take it you haven’t heard the news?”

I groaned, unable to keep the sound from escaping my throat, as I wondered what made-up story the press or someone from my past had spun about me this time.

Ever since meeting Ollie last May, over eight months previous, I’d only had eyes for him. Soon after we started dating, I realized Ollie was the man for me and would be for the rest of my days. And when I committed myself to him, there was no doubt in my mind I would stay faithful, especially since temporary flings didn’t even come close to the happiness and contentment I felt with the man.

I would never hurt Ollie.

And despite us being photographed at the triplet’s school and the paps hanging out in front of the gate of the house for a couple of days, we gave them no news to share, and the media soon gave up.

When the Black Rock Productions PR team, which was part of Maggie’s agency, announced I was directing my first feature film, no one connected the announcement to Ollie as the script supervisor. Everyone on the set learned who Ollie was to me, since we’d never hidden our relationship. And because myboyfriend was as genuine a person as they’d ever met, our close knit crew and the assembly of actors on set were protective of him.

“No. I’m too busy to deal with rumors about my life. What am I being accused of now?”

Because Ollie was a wonderful boyfriend and in tune with me, he sensed something off about my demeanor and broke away from the group gathering around Lewis, who started cooking breakfast. He snagged a cup of coffee, smiled at the gentle giant who cooked almost as well as my mama, which I would never admit aloud even on the promise of great bodily harm, and strode over to me, his brows furrowing in worry.

I laced my fingers with his when he was close and encouraged him to listen in on the strange conversation.

“Remember the tour in Korea almost three years ago?”

“Yes.” I elongated the word, thinking back to the raucous night with the couple visiting Korea from New York. They approached me at the airport and that night I was lonely, so when they propositioned me, I took them back to the hotel with me. It satisfied a physical itch, but I pushed my emotional dissatisfaction aside enough to tough it through the rest of the press tour.

“Well, she has a two and a half-year-old she’s claiming is your son.”

I huffed out a laugh and shook my head. “That would be impossible and quite a miraculous feat.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to be blunt here and sorry if it’s too detailed an explanation.”

Not everyone needed the details of my sex life, but because I needed Maggie’s help, I had to tell her everything.

“No, don’t apologize. If I’m going to get to the truth, I need as much information as I can get to fight back.”

“The couple came up to me at the airport. They were talking about me being their hall pass and the boyfriend wanted to be fucked while he took his girlfriend bare. Besides kissing the woman outside the hotel room, my focus was on the man, and I used a condom from the moment we were naked until they left, two hours after they arrived. I’ve never lied about my past or even hid my indiscretions, and I wouldn’t start now. After, I escorted them out of the room and slept that night alone.”

I glanced up and studied Ollie’s face. There was an expression I couldn’t decipher, but after I got off the phone with Maggie, Ollie and I would talk. There wouldn’t be any miscommunication on my part since I hid nothing from him once I decided on us being boyfriends and he agreed. But I could admit the look on his face worried me.

Something I said triggered Maggie’s anger, and she let out an indignant huff.

“I fucking dislike liars, and she has to know we could prove the baby isn’t yours. But she went to the press, and they are digging up all of your past photos with different people and they are wondering how many babies you fathered throughout your career. Sometimes, this business disgusts me.”

For a long minute, we didn’t speak as the work continued on set.

“Maggie, what if we do a tell-all interview, sort of like Spencer and Lee did several years ago? Would that help?” Ollie asked.

There was a long pause before she said,“It would have to be soon. Do you need me to get a list of questions to approve?”

I glanced at Ollie, curious about his thought process. I raised my eyebrow, and he gave me his reassuring smile.

“No, but if you could set it up with someone trustworthy, and not just someone who wants to make a name for themselves.And they have to accept I’d be at his side when they are interviewing him.”

“A TV interview would be best. Would you mind being interviewed on film, Ollie?”

He shrugged. “No, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Good.”