“I’m sorry, O. I didn’t want you blind-sided. It’s why I called you.”
“Thank you for that. I can’t believe this.”
“Are you okay?”
“I will be,” I say.
“We won’t let her get away with this. We can have her print a retraction,” Luka says. His eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen them and as cool as ice.
“I’ll call you back later, Petunia.”
“Of course, I’m here whatever you need.”
“Thank you for that. Love you.”
‘Love you too, O.”
I hang up and shake my head. “Is this what you deal with on a regular basis?”
“Sadly, yes. They’re fishing for information. If we change our habits or try to avoid being seen together, they’ll think they we’re trying to get away with sneaking around, and it’ll be twice as hard.”
“Everyone knows, or is speculating on our relationship.”
“Good, saves us the trouble of spreading the word.”
“Luka, this is serious. People think I got the wedding job because we were sleeping together.”
“So we set the record straight with an interview of our own, talking about how we first met.”
“And it’s that easy?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” he asks.
I shake my head stunned. He hasn’t even admitted he loved me, but he wants to turn out lives upside down and open ourselves up for more speculation. A million thoughts play in my head. I shake my head.
“Olive?”
“I need to think.”
“What’s there to think about?”
“My career? My integrity?”
“They’re going to spread rumors, love, it’s a show they use to sell copies of their papers.”
“You may be used to this, Luk. But I’m not, and I don’t much like it.” I toss the sheet away and climb from bed.
He follows me. “One article and you’re ready to throw in the towel?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So what are you saying?” he asks. His jaw ticks.
“That I need time. I don’t know what this will do to my business or my reputation.”
“Olive, it’s all going to blow over.”
‘You don’t know that,” I say exasperated.