Page 26 of Taming Drew

He beams. “My driver can take us and after we get her, we can go for some ice cream?” I blow out my breath. He puts his fingers under my chin. “And don’t say you can’t eat ice cream. You look great.”

“Okay. Let me grab a baseball cap to go with yours.” I reach into my closet and grab a hat from college.

He smirks.

“What? This is the only thing I’ve got that’s not a Mustang hat.”

We stroll out my apartment door, and he takes my hand in his. This is the first time we’ve been outside in public. My chest constricts.Are there cameras snapping photos of us as we leave my building?We get into his driver’s car.

His driver looks over. “Good evening, sir. Where to?”

“We need to go to the Campbell Ranch.”

“Certainly.”

I snuggle next to Drew, loving his warmth.

Drew shifts in the seat. “Hey, Clyde. Where’s a tasty ice cream place?” He flicks his head to me. “Freya’s going to be disappointed about leaving her sleepover, maybe ice cream will make it easier.”

Clyde speaks from the front seat. “There’s a really nice, family-owned parlor in Frisco, close to the ranch.”

Drew holds me in the back seat of the car, and I cuddle against him. I take my courage in hand. “How are we going to handle the media attention about us?”

He shrugs. “I’ll take out a billboard and announce that we’re officially dating. That won’t necessarily calm things in the media, but it doesn’t give them anywhere to go.”

“What about what Lily said about Freya? They could lie and say she’s yours.”

“And if they do, I’ll be fine with that. Realistically, someone will figure out we didn’t go to the same college, and there aren’t any photos of us since high school. It’s a stretch even for dumb people to think we were covertly together in the last ten years.”

DREW

It’s been a week and a half since the Saturday night that Lily called, and all hell has broken loose. I’m staring at my phone and my stomach is churning. Gossip sites have dug up photos from high school, and my team’s public relations department has called me in for a meeting.

“Mr. King.”

I walk into the room with four staff members sitting across the long conference table. I hear the click, click of high-heeled shoes and know Lily is coming in behind me. “Good morning.”

Lily sits on our side of the table as I set my phone in front of me.

The director grabs the controller for the screen and turns it on. Her face reminds me of someone who’s sucked on a lemon. “The morning sports channel shows a photo of you and pans to a recent photo of a woman, Chloe Taylor, driving you from the hospital. The next picture shows a photo of Chloe and her daughter, Freya, at a community fundraiser.” She flicks her head at the screen. “She looks just like you.”

I noticed the resemblance when I met her. Her blue eyes pop on the screen and remind me of the eyes that stare back at me. There is absolutely no possible way the child is mine, but the thought warms a place in my soul I thought was permanently closed.

“Mr. King. The media outlets are turning this whole thing into a circus. It’s bad enough you fight and drink to a point of embarrassment. Their reports infer that you’re a dead-beat father.”

I open my mouth, but Lily thrusts her hand at the screen as she leans back in her chair. “First of all, Mr. King hasn’t seen Ms. Taylor for a decade. The child in question is eight.” She clears her throat. “Ten minus eight, even considering a nine-month gestation, still leaves over a year.”

Their public relations assistant nods. “True, but they can’t seem to count. Too many of them are getting on the bandwagon.”

Lily blows out a breath. “We can produce the birth certificate and confirm that Mr. King’s name is not on the document, and they were both at different universities at the time of conception.”

The PR woman tosses a file folder with pages of articles about my exploits spilling out. “With all the problems you’ve had over the past few years, this is just the latest blemish on your reputation.” The door opens with the team president and managing owner strolling in. He thrusts his hand out to Lily as she starts to stand. “No need, Lily.” He nods at me and leans against the table on the other side of me. “I don’t want to trade you.”

Shit. Fuck. Here we go.“I don’t want to be traded.”

“Well, we’ve got a PR problem, and you need to fix it. I want you to marry this woman.” He flicks his head to the screen. “It appears you two have a relationship. You both look smitten in the photos.”

Lily stands and leans against the table on my other side. “Wait a minute. You want my employee to marry Mr. King to improve his image or yours?”

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