Mark took a deep breath. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I was using you as a scapegoat. You have nothing to do with it. I was just using your name as an excuse because I thought I’d never see you again. I don’t want to marry her or even date her, but she won’t give up on me. If you were around to get caught up in this mess, I would have made up a different story. If that makes any sense." He paused. “I owe you an apology. I didn’t mean to pull you into something like this.”

Christina smiled. “That’s a relief, but I sort of have another...