43. Lance #2
“Ted doesn’t know, but he’s about to find out.” I pull out my phone, open the notification that links me to the tabloid website, and hand it to Anson.
Anson scrolls through the article and the pictures. Without Gwen knowing and with my agent Charles’s help, I had a paparazzo hiding and snapping pictures of me and Gwen outside the restaurant and at the pier.
I approved the pictures last night before the story was set to run this morning.
There were some amazing candid photos of us, but I chose the picture of me staring at Gwen as if she hung the moon, with my arm around her shoulders as she held the stuffed panda.
If I hadn’t known how I felt about Gwen already, that picture would have told me.
Anson groans. “Oh hell. He’s going to be down here any second. I hope you’re prepared.”
“I’m prepared to take the heat. Consequences and all.”
The lines around Anson’s mouth curve up. “She must be some woman if you’re prepared to ruin your career for her.”
I smile widely. “You have no idea, skip. She’s the one. Makes me a better man. I can’t see my life without her. Gwen is everything I never knew I needed and can’t live without.”
“Dammit, Taylor,” Anson grumbles, shaking his head. I can see the wheels turning in his head as he ruminates on what I’ve just confessed. “I’ve got your back, and I’ll try to calm Ted down. But I can’t make any promises.”
“Understood.”
Shouts and the muffled sound of footsteps on the other side of the door have the hair on my arms rising.
The door flies open, and Cam peeks his head inside. “Cat’s out of the bag, buddy.”
A sharp sting of anxiety zips through me, but I stand tall, squaring my shoulders as my lungs constrict, making it hard for me to breathe.
I knew this was coming, and I’m still not ready.
Screw it. Time to get this over with.
“Taylor! Where the fuck are you?” The roar reverberates off the walls.
I exit Anson’s office to find Ted seething in the hallway, hands balled into fists at his sides and his nostrils flared as he huffs large, gasping breaths. He whips his head back and forth, searching for his next kill.
Me.
His green eyes find their target and latch on. “There you are.”
I stand tall as Ted stomps in my direction, looking like an angry linebacker ready to knock my head off my shoulders.
At six-five, I’m five inches taller than Ted, but right now, he could be seven feet tall with the way his anger has pumped him up in both height and width. If his skin were green, he’d be the Hulk.
As Ted closes the distance, Anson steps between us, hands raised and calm. “Gentlemen. Let’s take this into my office.”
It’s then I notice a variety of staff and players watching the scene from down the halls and around corners.
Ted growls as he knocks me on the shoulder on his way into the office.
I look over to find Cam standing by with the rest of my closest friends: Heath, Reed, Nico, and Blake. He mouths, Good luck.
Tipping my chin at the guys, I walk into Anson’s office, ready for a fight. There’s no chance in hell I’m going to let Ted bully me.
When I enter the office, Anson sits in his chair with hands clasped, index fingers resting on his lips in thought, while Ted paces the length of the room, grumbling incoherently under his breath.
“Close the door, Taylor,” Anson utters.
As I turn to close the door, Gwen shouts, “Lance!”
I follow my instincts and exit the office, meeting a panting Gwen a few feet away. She places her hands on my chest as she tries to catch her breath. “Oh my. Gosh. Thank … goodness. I found you.”
Wrapping my arms around her back, I pull her close and kiss her forehead. “Breathe, Gwen.”
“I c-came to warn you,” she sputters.
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. Your dad is in Anson’s office, and he’s pissed. Came marching down here screaming his head off.”
“He did what?” Gwen’s spine straightens, and her face turns to stone. I watch as she transforms into a formidable force, strong and determined. And stunning.
At the worst possible time, my cock twitches.
Gwen skirts me and pushes her way into Anson’s office, leaving me to chase after her. “Dad?”
Ted’s head whips in her direction, and he scowls at Gwen. I shut the door, giving us some privacy, and stand beside Gwen, my hand on her lower back.
“What have you done, little girl?” Ted growls.
“I suggest you watch the way you talk to my wife,” I snap, stepping in front of Gwen, who gasps, gripping my shirt in her fists at my back.
Not the way I wanted to announce that, but there is no way in hell I’m going to let Ted talk down to Gwen. I don’t give a damn that he’s her father.
Ted’s eyes bug out of his head at my announcement. “Wife? Gwendolyn Montgomery, you better start explaining.”
At Ted’s tone, a warning growl, feral like that of a wolf ready to protect, rumbles in my chest.
Gwen places her hand on my wrist, injecting me with a steady calmness that soothes the angry beast pacing inside my head. “It’s okay, Lance. I got this.”
Like a regal queen, Gwen lifts her chin and pulls her shoulders back, ready to confront her father. She never looked more beautiful than she does right now, standing her ground. She doesn’t need me to fight her battles, just stand behind her, offering my support.
I lean down and whisper in her ear, “I know you do, and I’m right here behind you.”
Gwen nods in understanding as she keeps her eyes locked on her father’s. The love I have for this woman grows exponentially while I watch her body inflate as she dips into the confidence I know lives deep inside her.
She points to the seat I was sitting in only minutes ago, and in a strong and unwavering voice, she says, “Dad, please take a seat and I’ll explain.”
Here we go.