12. Royce
12
ROYCE
On Monday morning, I arrived at the office and found a black coffee on my desk with a yellow sticky note that had a tiny sketched turtle in pink ink on it. No signature needed.
I caught Abby's eye through the glass wall of my office as she passed by and winked. She didn't wave or nod, but I saw how she pressed her lips together to hide a smile before turning toward her desk.
During dinner on Sunday night, we’d agreed to keep things discreet at work. There wasn’t any official policy on dating colleagues, but Abby didn’t want anyone to treat her differently because she was dating one of the bosses. I respected that even though I did a shit job of keeping my eyes off her anytime she was within my line of sight.
By Tuesday, we'd established a rhythm. We kept a professional distance during morning hours to avoid lingering glances and swoony smiles. And at lunch, we’d nonchalantly run into each other in the small courtyard behind the building. Throughout the day, we’d text and talk about our evening plans because that was what we most looked forward to.
Every night of the week, we had dinner together and then ended up at her place or mine for bathtime, story time, and sexy time. It was every fantasy I’d ever had all rolled up into one.
Wednesday, I heard the first whispers. A few of the girls from accounting had their heads bent together near the coffee machine and went silent when I approached. And then Derek raised an eyebrow when Abby delivered reports to my office instead of emailing them. It was obvious people had sensed the energy between us, and they weren’t dumb enough not to catch on that we were arriving at the same time and leaving at the same time every day, no matter how carefully we planned our movements.
On Thursday, I mentioned the rumors to Abby while we ate lunch. "People are talking." I picked at my salad as I kept my eyes on her face.
Abby looked up from her soup with a flash of concern on her face. "About us? What are they saying?"
"The usual.” I shrugged. “That we're suddenly so friendly and take a lot of lunch breaks at the same time. I think I heard someone say I smile too much when you're around."
A small grin played at the corners of her mouth. "Do you?"
"Apparently." I risked reaching for her hand under the table. "Does it bother you if people know? We can be more careful."
Her thumb absently stroked mine as she thought about it. "Nah. Maybe we should lean into it. Throw them off the scent."
That wasn’t what I expected her to say. "What do you have in mind?"
"We can tell everyone we're just friends." Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "Really emphasize the 'just’ part and make it so obvious we're lying that everyone will think we're telling the truth because no one would be that bad at hiding a relationship."
I laughed, shaking my head at her convoluted logic. "That's either brilliant or completely insane."
"Probably both." She squeezed my hand before releasing it. "I’m sure Corinne will say something at the game tomorrow. We’ll test it out."
"Perfect." I took a bite and nodded. "I'll be just friendly enough to make everyone suspicious, but not friendly enough to confirm anything."
She was almost giddy about this silly plan. "And I'll make a big show of sitting next to Derek instead of you to really confuse them."
"You most certainly will not!" I growled, only half-joking. Okay, not joking at all. "I draw the line at watching you flirt with that meathead, even as a cover."
She laughed and almost reached for me but caught herself before making contact. "Ooh, is Daddy jealous? That's so sweet."
"I’m not jealous." I huffed out an annoyed breath but kept my voice low. "Possessive. There's a difference."
Her cheeks flushed, and she bit her lower lip in that way that drove me crazy. "You can demonstrate the difference later." Her breathy tone made my dick hard and my unwarranted annoyance at Derek even stronger.
Once Friday night arrived, we put our ridiculous plan into motion and drove to the field separately.
The game before us had started late and was in overtime, so we pulled out some balls on the other side of the fence and started tossing balls around. Abby was fielding ground balls with Corrine and I was lobbing fly balls to Marty when I heard someone yell, “Heads up!”
Time seemed to slow as I looked up and watched a white blur arc straight toward Abby. Corrine saw it and yelled for her to duck, but it was too late and the ball struck her shoulder with a sickening thud.
The impact knocked her on her ass with her hand glued to her shoulder and her precious face contorted in pain.
I don't remember moving, but one moment I was by the fence and the next, I was dropping to my knees beside her. "Abby? Baby, are you okay?" My hands hovered over her, afraid to touch an injury and make it worse. "Where does it hurt? Can you move your arm, sweetheart?"
Her face was pale and tears streamed down her cheeks. "My shoulder." Her voice was tight, and I could tell she was trying so hard to be strong. "It's dislocated, maybe…" She took a deep breath and then tried to sit up but immediately crumpled into my lap.
"Don't move, baby." I spoke to her softly but firmly in the voice I reserved for our most private moments. “A medic is coming.” I cradled her against my chest.
Her face burrowed into my shirt, breathing me in. She tilted her head up just enough to whisper in my ear, "It hurts, Daddy."
I was vaguely aware of a crowd forming around us, but my entire focus was on Abby and the small whimpers she tried to suppress.
A medic arrived and checked her out. Luckily, her shoulder wasn’t dislocated, and after a few minutes, the shock of the impact wore off and she was sitting up on her own and moving her arm around.
"I'm really okay." She glanced up and realized the whole team was watching her. "Sorry for the dramatics. It just stunned me. I can still play."
"Absolutely not." My tone brooked no argument. "We're getting some ice and then I'm taking you home."
"Royce." Her eyes darted to our colleagues as if I gave a fuck about them. "People are staring."
"I don't care if the entire stadium is staring." I lifted her to her feet and kept my arm firmly around her waist. "You're hurt, and I'm taking care of you. End of discussion."
As I guided her toward the fence where we’d left our bags, I heard snickering behind us. Derek's voice carried clearly as he shouted, "Just friends, huh? You can drop the act."
I stopped and turned to face the colleagues watching us with varying degrees of amusement and curiosity.
Abby tensed beside me, digging her fingers into my side as she clung to me for safety and strength.
I tightened my hold on her waist and sighed. "Fine. You want the truth?” I looked from Derek to all the other faces staring at us. “We're not just friends. I'm completely in love with her, and if anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with HR on Monday."
A stunned silence followed my declaration for all of five seconds before Corinne started slow-clapping. Then everyone was laughing and exchanging knowing looks, and a few people actually handed money to others.
"About damn time you admitted it!" our CEO called out from where he was sitting in the bleachers. He raised his beer in salute. "You two were the most obvious office romance since me and Becca started hooking up eight years ago."
Abby stiffened beside me, and it took me a minute to understand why her eyes were wide and her jaw was slack. I hadn't exactly planned to drop the L-word for the first time in front of the company, but it just came out, and I didn’t regret it for a second.
"Let's get that ice," I murmured as I guided her toward the concession stand. She was quiet, and I was starting to worry that I’d upset her, but I wanted to get her into the privacy of my car before broaching the topic.
"Did you mean it?" she asked quietly while we were walking toward the parking lot.
"Mean what?"
"That you love me." Her voice was small, and she kept her eyes averted. "Or was that just to explain why you freaked out?"
I stopped walking and turned to face her under the glow of a lamppost. "Abby, I think I've been in love with you since the first time you smiled at me." I brushed a strand of hair from her face and let my fingers linger against her cheek. "And I’ve fallen deeper with every smile since then. I didn't plan to announce it to everyone like that, but I've never meant anything more."
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but her smile was radiant. "I love you too, you know. Even when you're being overprotective and dramatic about a little bruise."
"A little bruise?" I raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "That ball was coming in hot. You could have been seriously hurt."
"I knew my Daddy would come to my rescue." She stepped closer and placed her hands on my chest, wincing slightly as she moved her shoulder. "Though you might need to go a little gentler with me tonight."
I loved her ability to shift from vulnerability to playfulness in an instant. "I'm gonna take such good care of you, baby girl." I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Ice cream, painkillers, and a movie on the couch while I rub your feet."
"And cuddles?" Her eyes were wide and hopeful in a way that made my heart twist.
"All the cuddles you want, baby girl." I slipped my arm around her waist again and pulled her close enough to kiss her. "For tonight. For… forever. For as long as you'll let me."
“Forever, Daddy.” She kissed me hard and dragged her sharp nails down my chest. “Be my Daddy forever.”