Page 86 of In Love with Lewis Prescott
He rubs the back of his neck, the expression on his face shy all of a sudden. “I, um, have a surprise for you.”
“You do? But you’ve done enough...”
“It’s not anything big. It’s just something I thought you might like.”
He hops off the bar stool and heads toward the garage when there’s a knock at the door. I hop off the stool, and when I open the door, I freeze. There are several dozen photographers standing on my porch and front lawn, aiming their cameras at me as I stand openmouthed in the doorway wearing pajama shorts and a tank top.
And then I hear it. The sound of a million cameras snapping as they take my photo.
Fuck.
“What’s your name, honey? You shacking up with Lewis Prescott?”
The taunting tone of the random paparazzo jolts me from my shocked stupor. I stumble back and slam the door shut.
“Everything okay?” Lewis peeks inside to the house as he stands in the open doorway to the garage, cardboard box in hand.
I stare at him, stammering. My brain is struggling to figure out the best way tell him that his worst nightmare is currently standing on the front lawn.
Somehow the paparazzi found Lewis. They found my house. They’re minutes—no, actually seconds—away from ruining our sense of privacy and security. This bliss bubble we’ve made for ourselves is about to burst.
I open my mouth to say something, anything, but all that comes out is a ragged breath. How do I explain this to him? I don’t even know how they found us...
His brow furrows in concern, and he sets the box on the floor of the garage and walks over to me.
“Hey. What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Muffled voices sound behind the front door.
“Who’s at the door?”
I force my brain to bust through the terror fog holding it hostage. I grip his hand in both of mine. “Lewis, listen to me. The paparazzi are outside the house right now. They... I don’t know how they found us, but they’re here. And they know you’re here too.”
In a split second, his face twists from concerned to furious. His skin turns red, and his stare narrows. He jerks out of my hold. I try to swallow back the sharp pain that hits me at the sudden loss of contact as I scurry after him when he walks into the kitchen. He pulls out his phone and dials quickly.
“Trent. There’s paparazzi surrounding the house where I’m staying. How the hell did that happen?”
Because of Trent’s megaphone voice, I hear everything.
“Lewis, my man. I was about to call you. The news just broke here in Tinseltown. I thought I told you to lay low.”
“Trent, Iwaslaying low.” Lewis’s voice is an angry boom that makes me flinch.
“I saw the photos of you on Facebook, my man,” Trent chides. “That’s the exact opposite of laying low, you know. Attending a wedding and letting yourself be photographed? You blew it, man. CapitalI, capitalT.”
My stomach plummets to my feet. Naomi’s wedding. Someone must have taken photos that had Lewis in them, and when they posted them to Facebook, someone recognized him. But how? I talked to my family, to all the wedding guests... I told them photos weren’t allowed and that they weren’t supposed to say anything about Lewis.
Despite the dread and panic sending my heart rate to the stratosphere, I force myself to focus, to try and figure out a way to minimize this disaster. I grab my phone from the kitchen island and hit the entertainment tab on the news site that’s my homepage. There I see the top headline.
Disgraced TV Star Lewis Prescott Hiding Out in Half Moon Bay
I quickly skim the article, my stomach knotting when I see a half dozen photos from that night, most of which feature Lewis smiling in the background. Then I head to Facebook to see if I can figure out who posted the photos. It only takes about ten seconds of scrolling before I see that Naomi’s mom posted the album. When I read the caption, I bite my tongue so that I don’t scream. She must have sneaked her phone out when no one was paying attention.
My beautiful daughter’s wedding in Half Moon Bay!
She didn’t tag Lewis in the photos or even mention him when she posted them, but it’s clear in the images that it’s him.
I do a quick skim of the comments on the photos.
