We were in the papers the next morning.

I hadn’t slept very well the night before, and now I was sitting across from Leo with bleary red eyes. He looked hungover too, but we’d both woken up early. Neither of us could sleep.

Not only had we done the unthinkable—of sleeping together, but we were stuck with each other too. There was no escape. There was barely a moment to think. I couldn’t look at him while we sat there together, knowing that he wasn’t feeling the same things I was—that my life had changed forever. Now that we had sex, no man would ever come close to being as amazing as Leo was.

We’d fallen into the habit of having breakfast together since this marriage situation had occurred. By the time Leo woke up, I had coffee, toast and scrambled eggs ready for us. We sat down together and usually we talked, but this morning we were silent.

I’d spent the night tossing and turning in bed, thinking about every move he had made, how it felt to have him inside me. Leo had stayed out until the wee hours of the morning. I heard him come in just when dawn cracked, and I knew he’d drunk himself silly and fallen asleep immediately.

Now he turned to page three of the paper as he sat there, to the entertainment section. He flipped it around to me so I could look. There was a picture of us—a snapshot of the interview. They’d selected the shot of us kissing, our hands tightly clasped together.

My cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“They think you are humble and charming. The kind of woman a man would want to settle down with.” Leo said.

I smiled at him. Our plan had worked.

“That’s good news!”

“And this reporter seems to think that Kylie Musgrave might have exaggerated the situation. They love you, Jessie!” He looked up at me with excitement. I could see that he had renewed faith in his ability to convince his uncle to give him the company.

“It’s working.” I said, and Leo nodded.

“Just a few more weeks and everyone would have forgotten about her.” he added.

“I think we should give the media some more chances to photograph us together.” I told him.

“Like how?”

“I don’t know…we could set up a date or a shopping spree or a basketball game. I’m not sure what would work best. I’m not an expert.” I replied.

Leo was thinking and nodding his head.

“You could be right. We should give them an opportunity to photograph us in a more casual setting.” he exclaimed and jumped out of his chair.

“Let’s do this. Let’s go!”

“Where? Now?”

“Yes, now! It’s not like you have the office to go to, it’s Saturday. I’ll blow off the meeting I set up. We should go do something public!”

I chewed on my lip. It was nice to see Leo excited like this…but at the same time, I knew that his excitement had nothing to do with me.

“Where will we go?” I asked.

“I’ll think of something. Just go put on something nice.” he said and reached for me to tug me into standing up.

I smirked at him, my heart racing at the prospect of going on a date with him…even though it was going to be a fake one.

It was a pleasant day, and I wore a pretty sundress. I still had no idea what Leo had planned.

When I emerged from the bedroom, I saw him in a pair of cool khaki linen pants and a white shirt.

“Where are we going?” I asked him.

“You’ll see.”

He was at the breakfast bar, with a wicker basket open in front of him. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t have ever imagined you packing up a picnic.” I said, and Leo smiled too.

“I guess I’m just full of surprises.” he replied, and I looked away from him, reminded again by his dimples how handsome I’d always thought he was.

After the basket was packed, he handed it to me.

“I’m carrying this?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, it’s not heavy at all. Besides, it’ll suit you better.” he replied. Even his eyes were dancing as he stared at me.

I took the basket from him and hung it from my elbow. We were ready to leave.

Outside the house, I already spotted a paparazzi with a long zoom lens, and he clicked the moment we stepped out.

“They don’t miss a beat, do they?” Leo declared under his breath, but smiled and waved at the camera as he led me away.

All this attention on me was making me nervous, but I felt safe knowing that Leo was going to be there with me.

“Are we walking?” I asked, and he smiled. I couldn’t remember the last time Leo had walked anywhere. He was always just driven by his chauffeur. But today, we were walking down the busy streets of New York. Wicker basket hanging from my arm and our hands clasped together.

Leo put on his sunglasses and maintained a calm, casual air as we walked. I realized we were walking to Central Park, probably the busiest spot we could have gone to in New York on a Saturday morning.

“This feels very weird.” I whispered to him.

It wasn’t just one paparazzi following us now, I could sense more cameras on us.

“Don’t worry about them. Just keep smiling.” Leo told me, still holding on to me.

So I did. As much as I wanted to look away or take a moment to think, I couldn’t. I realized that with Leo around, I was always going to be in the public eye.

We walked to Central Park, still being followed by cameras and people’s eyes. Everyone seemed to recognize Leo, and now they recognized me too.