While he was relieved to know that his Panthers future was secure, he was still dreading the thought of having to work under JP again. But Hannah was right about that too, he wasn’t some stupid kid anymore and Ward just had to stick to his guns and ensure right from the get-go that he wasn’t going to be pushed around.

People could say what they liked but this wildcat was still in full possession of his claws. Mostly.

Ward then looked at the actual cat as if Pretzel could provide some inspiration, but she just stared back at him in disdain.

He figured he was antsy because he felt so removed from Hannah again now. He had got so used to opening up, dropping the mask and being himself around her. And again he wondered about the asshole who’d hurt her before she came here to the city. Recalling her mention once that she’d got an office transfer, he figured the relationship breaking up must have been the reason why. Some dude in LA then.

Conscious of how much Hannah knew about what made him tick, and how little he knew about her in return, Ward glanced at the laptop.

It could be considered overstepping and invasive, a form of snooping even. But Hannah herself was the one who kept saying that the internet meant nobody’s life remained secret anymore, and pretty much everything was laid bare for the world to see.

So it wasn’t as if he was being a creep or anything …

Pulling the device onto his lap, he fired up a search engine and typed in her name, hoping to hit on her socials, though given what he knew about her, plus her line of business he figured she was a private settings kind of girl. Still, you never knew.

It was a form of self-sabotage, of course, but yet Ward wanted to get a bead on the kind of guy who had captured Hannah’s heart. When lots of results bearing her name popped up, he modified the query, adding Lotus PR to the end of the search string.

And there she was.

Hannah’s gorgeous face with her hair tied up and huge blue eyes in a professional bio shot beneath a link to the company website, LinkedIn page and other business-related socials. No personals, which meant unfortunately for him no real insight as to what she liked to do, or what she enjoyed outside of work.

But then something at the top of the search result caught his attention. A YouTube video with the headline: Kendrick Catches a Birdy.

Ward clicked on the link and the clip opened up to the scenic backdrop of some golf course by the ocean somewhere, and that pro golfer Rob Kendrick standing on the grass, celebrating a shot. He was pumping his fists and high-fiving his caddy.

A reporter approached to get his thoughts on the triumph.