Page 95 of Hero's Prize

Lilah yanked Ella into her arms. “Some people are just mean and bitter and have too much time on their hands. That’s a reflection oftheirugliness, not your beauty.”

Ella stayed in the comfort of her friend’s embrace for a long minute. “This is why I can’t be with Colton.”

“You can’t let some random strangers who take pleasure in saying malicious things from the comfort of anonymity keep you away from the man you love.”

She pulled back so she could look at Lilah. “It’s not just this. Last week when we were trying to catch the stalker, I was in the bathroom and Samantha from the grocery store came in with another woman. They were basically saying the same things, just not quite as mean or creatively. Everyone who looks at Colton and me is always going to feel like he’s slumming it.”

“That is utter bullshit.” Lilah cracked her knuckles then leaned forward and gripped one of the prep tables. “I know for a fact thatman is over the moon about you. What did he say when you told him about the bathroom incident?”

“I didn’t tell him. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, and honestly, I guess I was hoping maybe it was a one-time thing. But obviously, it’s not.”

“Then you need to tell him about that incident and these posts. Colton wants to know, believe me. He does not want you trying to handle this on your own. There are things you guys can do to be proactive about this sort of stuff.”

“I’m just afraid it’s going to make me feel pathetic.” Mortified was more like it. “The thought of him reading these posts makes me feel sick.”

Lilah stroked her hair gently. “Because you think it’s going to make him think of you in a different way? You know it’s not. And hell, if it did, then you’d want to be rid of him as quickly as possible anyway.”

“I’m embarrassed, Lilah. Having people say publicly the worst things you’ve ever thought about yourself? It’s horrible.”

“The only people who should be embarrassed are those bitches who wrote that. They are petty and jealous and a waste of space.” Lilah cracked her knuckles once again, violence in her brown eyes. “You say the word, and Lincoln will figure out who they are and where they live, and I will pay them a visit and show them what uglyreallylooks like.”

She would do it, too. And Lincoln would make sure she never got caught.

“You’re a good friend, Lilah. Thank you. But let’s be the bigger people.”

Lilah rolled her eyes. “I don’t have much interest in being the bigger person, but I will because you have always been the bigger person. You’ve always been kind and patient and beautiful to everyone around you. But promise me that you’re going to talk to Colton about this. These petty biddies are trying to break you up—don’t you dare give them the satisfaction.”

Her friend was right. “I’ll talk to him. I promise.”

“Today.”

Ella really didn’t want to ruin their dinner and was about to make the argument that the discussion could wait until tomorrow when a text came through from Colton.

Do you mind meeting me at your office? I need to talk to you.

Good. That would work better all the way around. She could explain how much she was struggling with this, they could come up with a plan, and it wouldn’t have to ruin their firstactualofficial date.

The first of many.

Fancy Pants had closed for the day by the time Ella got there thirty minutes later. She waved to the closing staff and walked straight back to her office. She found Colton sitting on the small couch.

She wanted nothing more than to walk over and hurl herself into his arms, but he didn’t stand up.

As a matter of fact, his face was pinched and his hair looked like he’d run his hand through it multiple times—exactly how he tended to look when a panic attack had happened.

“Are you okay?” She meant what she’d said when she told him that progress wasn’t linear. Just because he had another panic attack today didn’t mean that the breakthrough he’d had yesterday was invalid.

He let out a sigh. “I need to talk to you about yesterday’s events at the sporting goods store.”

That wasn’t what she was expecting him to say, but she was glad they were on the same page. “I agree. I’m glad you want to talk about it too.”

Colton wasn’t one to read social media about himself, so she was a little surprised he’d already heard what had happened.Maybe somebody from his team had told him. The important thing was, they could get it out in the open.

Still, she wished he would stand up so she could press herself up against him as they talked about this. She needed to be close to him but wasn’t exactly sure how to ask for it, especially when he already looked so stressed.

She let out a shaky laugh instead. “Okay, so this is definitely a huge elephant in the room. How do we talk about it?”

He still made no move to come anywhere near her. “Why did you do it?”

---