Page 42 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

Chapter One

EVERLAND

“Everland!”

“Over here! Smile for us!”

“Everland, is it true that you signed onto the latest thriller movie?”

“Everland, have you signed the deal for your myopic yet?”

“Everland, why did you and Dean break up?”

“Everland, did you hear that Dean is engaged? Rumor is that he was with Rosalie for your entire relationship. Do you have any thoughts on that?”

“Everland? Do you think your current relationship troubles are why your recent releases have flopped?”

“Everland! Is it true that you had a secret love child with Harry, and gave it up for adoption? And that is why Dean cheated on you with Rosalie?”

I nearly tripped over my feet at the last question, but kept my chin up as my bodyguard got me into the back of the SUV. He slammed the door, speaking into his headset as my driver skated away from the curb.

I took off my oversized sunglasses and rubbed my temples.

“Well, that was a new one.”

I looked to my left at my long-time publicist and friend and shook my head at her.

“Which part, Laura? The fact that they called my latest releases a flop, even though I grossed over $100 million more than the budget the first weekend? Would you call it a flop if you’re number one for four straight weeks?”

“They only call it a flop because you didn’t do as well as the latest over-budgeted movie that didn’t earn out domestically. At least according to them. Although, that move was more about blowing things up and showing off their dicks.”

“That is true. Though to be fair, if any of the men in my line of work actually showed their dicks, there would be a real uproar. But no, they want full frontal from me, but a penis is scary.”

Laura snorted. “Darling, a penis isn’t scary, it’s just not nice to look at.”

I took the offered Perrier and grinned.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve dated more often than you have. When was the last time you saw penis.”

She flipped me off. “We are not going to talk about that. Covering your career really is more than a full-time job. I don’t need to see a penis to enjoy life.”

Ben, our longtime driver, laughed at that, his rough chuckle rare.

“See? I got Big Ben to laugh. I truly believe I have hit a new level of sarcasm.”

I caught Ben’s gaze in the rearview mirror, the humor crinkling at his eyes, and smiled. One day Laura and Ben would realize they were perfect for each other and they would run away and get out of this life I had accidentally created. But then I wouldn’t know what to do without them.

“Actually, the new thing I was talking about was the love child. I hadn’t seen that many of the threads. I am going to have to do some research.”

I rolled my eyes before finishing my drink. “Somebody probably mentioned it on social media, a random comment that shouldn’t have been seen, and now a thousand others have used it as click bait.” I tried not to grind my teeth.

The problem with everybody thinking Dean had cheated on me with Rosalie, was that they were once again, not even in the realm of truth.

Dean and I had been in a business relationship for five years.

Five years where neither one of us had to deal with people wondering who we were with, who we were fucking, or if our hearts were broken.

Yes, they hounded us for intimate moments, and were constantly watching my waistline to see when I would become pregnant.

But for some reason, that seemed easier than letting the world know each of us were single.

Happy about it. And working our asses off.

Between his two years long world tour, four albums, and my six movies a year, I wasn’t quite sure when people thought Dean and I could actually be together.

Dean and I had a perfect business relationship. We hadn’t even slept together in all the times that we had been forced to sleep in the same hotel room thanks to annoying paparazzi.

He was the consummate gentleman.

Then he had fallen in love with my stunt double.

I loved Rosalie. We trained together, she kept me active, and she was a wonderful person. And no matter how many times we told the world that Dean and I had broken up, and he and Rosalie were perfectly happy together, people made up their own story.

Dean got off scot-free. He was the man’s man, the talented rock star who everybody loved. So the fact he could pull two women that happened to look incredibly alike? The press was eating it up.

Rosalie was a homewrecker, and I was the woman who couldn’t keep a man.

It didn’t matter that I loved them both and was now on my way to their wedding.

They’d labeled us, and there was no going back.

I groaned just thinking about it.

“Why did I say yes to being in this wedding?” I asked.

“Because Rosalie is your best friend, and Dean is your other best friend. So when two people you love fall in love, you’re there for them,” she replied.

I glared at Laura. “I thought you were my best friend.”

I fluttered my eyelashes and Ben laughed again.

“Oh Big Ben, I thought you were supposed to be all stony and silent,” Laura said.

“Laura, my darling, I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”

That shut Laura up, and I preened. The two of them were totally in love, and I couldn’t wait for it to come into fruition. I was great at setting people up. Everybody in my sphere fell in love and found their perfect person.

I did not.

No, I worked hard. I ran a production company to help make sure women were in every place of production.

I wrote fiction books underneath a pen name that were doing well and had hidden who I was until I had hit the New York Times.

And then I had been outed, and I had begun to sell even more.

I had an Oscar under my belt, four Emmys, a Golden Globe, and a Teen’s Choice award.

Plus a few others. I was an A-list celebrity according to the world, and I was so damn lonely.

“You know the reason I’m doing this is so that when the press finds out about the wedding, they’ll see that I’m fine with it.”

I didn’t mean for my voice to sound so sad, but apparently, I wasn’t that great of an actress.

“That helps, but that’s not all.” Laura reached out and squeezed my hand, something she rarely did.

Though we were friends, we also had to put our business relationship first. It was the only way to make sure that we kept each other safe.

Because somebody needed to be the taskmaster when I couldn’t.

“At least he’ll be at Bethany’s place.”

“It does work well that she happened to marry into a family that hosts weddings and has a private enough venue with amazing security. So far, the wedding hadn’t leaked, but with so many of us landing in San Antonio and the surrounding private airports, people are going to realize a big named wedding is happening at the Wilder Resort and Winery. ”

“But for now, maybe the two of them can have a little bit of solace. And I can watch two of my best friends get married, while hanging out with another friend and her amazing family. And you two can maybe have a night off.” I fluttered my eyelashes at Ben again, who shook his head as he turned into the private airport.

Laura just clucked her tongue at me as we made our way, thankfully without issue, to the private plane and got ready for takeoff.

“Can I get you anything to eat?” our flight attendant asked, a pleasant smile on her face.

I bit my lip. “I really want a hamburger.”

“I can do that for you. Do you like cheese?”

“Yes, please. Do you have Swiss by any chance?”

The other woman smiled. “How about a mushroom and Swiss burger, and I have a poppyseed honey mustard that is divine on it. I know it sounds weird, but I love it.”

I clapped my hands, suddenly ravenous. “That sounds amazing. I’m in. And whatever French fries you have. And champagne. Because we’re here to celebrate.”

“You’ve got it.”

She took Laura’s salad order, as well as Ben’s order to match mine, and we got ready for takeoff.

“You must be in a mood if you are about to eat a hamburger.” Laura just smiled at me.

“It’s not like they have too many choices back there. We don’t want to waste food. But I had hoped they had hamburgers.”

“Still, I’m glad you’re going to enjoy your food.”

I raised a brow, and she just shrugged before going back to work. Ben was on his tablet, most likely going over the security protocols for the next few weeks.

We had this wedding, and then two weeks of intense traveling and promotion before my next shoot.

Eventually I would have a vacation, but I wasn’t sure when that was going to happen.

Because of the promotion and shoot, me indulging in a greasy hamburger probably wasn’t good for me since I rarely let myself have something that rich.

I didn’t care. I was allowed to eat food. Contrary to the public’s belief.

Of course, if somebody saw me eating a hamburger and took a photo of it to put on social media, they would probably say I was eating my feelings because of my breakup.

Because a woman wasn’t allowed to eat a hamburger.

I was so tired of being shamed for eating food.

Because food was sustenance. And it gave me energy.

I was tired of defending myself over everything.

And since my mini-rant was now out of control, I knew I was past being hangry.

As we made our way from New York to Texas, I finished my burger—the mustard was divine—and went over notes for the next week.

Every once a while I would look up to see Laura and Ben pointedly not looking at each other, and then glancing at one another to see if the other had noticed.

They were so damn cute, and I knew one day my situation would have to change.

Because they would need time for themselves once they figured out what they were feeling. Just like Dean and Rosalie.

And here I was, once again alone.