Read Online After the Internship: A Novella (The Intern #4) by Brooke Cumberland - Free Book Online

you like that, I’d be a mess.”
    “ I’m not you, Bentley,” she says calmly. “I have no doubt what she said would infuriate me, but it’s best if we ignore it. I know who you are now, and to me, that’s all the matters. Why can’t you accept that?”
    “ Because it’s not going to stay quiet forever. You’ll hear it whether you want to or not. People will start harassing you for comments, or you’ll start to hear quotes here and there on the news or on the radio. It’s inevitable.”
    She silently walks toward me. My eyes find hers, her lips forming in the sweetest, sympathetic smile. She shrugs as she begins, “This is the life of being with a professional model. It’s not always perfect or even fair at times. I have to share you with dozens of people every time we travel. I get looks every time we go to the store or even the damn coffee house. I mean, we’re anything but normal. But I think, after two years of this, I’ve adjusted well, and you just need to trust me that we can get through this. I highly doubt this is the last time someone will try to mess with you. It’s all part of the job, right?”
    I pull her toward me, wrapping my arms around her. I clench tightly, embedding the feeling of her warmth into my brain, molding it to memory. I don ’t want the love we feel for each other right now to change...I want it to stay just the way it is. I don’t want the media, press, or public to get in the way of what we have. Still, I feel so helpless now that I know I can’t do a fucking thing to change what’s already happened.
    The damage has been done.
     

 
    Chapter Nine
    Cecilia
     
    Murphy ’s Law
    I KNOW BENTLEY well enough to see when he’s panicking. I try to give him the reassurance I know he needs, even if part of me is scared to death of what’s to come.
    Bentley and I haven ’t spoken much about anything else. He’s so worked up about what this is going to do to his career—booking shoots and jobs don’t come easy to those with bad raps. Most photographers don’t want to work with them—it gives them a bad name, as well.
    A couple days pass and all Bentley ’s been concerned about is clearing his name. I can understand his concern, but at the same time, he’s not the only celeb to get a story exposed about them. Even though he won’t listen, I keep trying to convince him it’ll be okay.
    Traveling with Bentley over the past year has been an incredible experience. We ’ve been able to do things I only could’ve dreamed of doing.
    However, now it was my time to build a career—to make something of myself aside from the girl that’s on Bentley Leighton’s arm.
    I told Bentley this morning that I wanted to start looking for a job. I need something to do besides sit around and ‘plan’ our wedding. Traveling with him was causing him to be late for his shoots and that was the last thing he needed to be known for doing. I enjoyed traveling with him, but I know he needs to remain focused. Competition in his industry was too fierce to be slacking off now.
    Once I checked my phone, I noticed I have a voicemail from Jason—the last person I expected to hear from. He had seen the article online and was checking up on me to make sure I was all right.
    My heart squeezes at the way he ’s concerned about me. It reminds me I have to text Cora, Katelynn, Casey, and my mom to give them a heads-up. They're used to stories of Bentley being twisted in the media, but I know this one will shock them a lot more.
    I decided to fly back to Omaha by myself, giving Bentley the time he needed to sort things out. I felt invisible anyway just waiting around for Bentley to let me be there for him. He wasn’t taking any of this too well.
    The following day after I arrive back home, I head to The Grind Café and begin my job search. I order my caramel latté and find a corner booth to sit in. I pull out my iPad and start searching for jobs online—anything related to sports management or perhaps