Page 61 of Pucking My Grumpy Accidental Husband

Dax is quiet for a long moment. "One. Before you."

"And what happened to her?"

Another pause, longer this time. "She decided that dating someone with a complicated family situation wasn't worth the hassle."

This is the hurt Emma was talking about, the person who left when things got difficult.

"I'm not her," I say quietly.

"I know." His arms tighten around me. "I know you're not."

I'm almost asleep when my phone buzzes on the nightstand. I consider ignoring it, but something makes me reach for it.

Ms. Bennett, this is Harrison's office. Please report to his office Monday morning at 8 a.m. for a meeting regarding personnel protocols and team policy compliance. Confirm receipt.

A shiver races through me, sharp as broken glass. I stare at the message, reading it over and over, looking for some clue about what Harrison might have discovered.

CHAPTER 14

DAX

I'm reviewing game film in the players' lounge when my phone buzzes with a text that makes my blood turn to ice.

Tessa

Emergency. Equipment room B. NOW.

The capital letters feel like a punch to the gut. Tessa doesn't do all caps unless someone's literally dying or her career is about to go up in flames. Given that Harrison called her into his office this morning, I'm betting on the second option.

I make it to equipment room B in record time, finding Tessa already there, pacing like a caged panther. Her face is pale, her hands are shaking, and she's got that look—the one that says her world just imploded and she's trying to hold the pieces together through sheer willpower.

"What happened?" I ask, closing the door behind me.

She turns to face me, and the devastation in her hazel eyes makes my chest feel like it's being crushed in a vise. "He knows, Dax. Harrison knows everything."

"Everything everything, or just?—"

"Photos." She pulls out her phone with trembling fingers. "He has fucking photos of us leaving your apartment. Of us at that café. Of Emma's Instagram post from last weekend where she tagged us both in the background of her story."

My hands clench into fists. "That son of a bitch has been having us followed?"

"Building security cameras. Social media monitoring. Performance metric correlations showing your mood changes coinciding with my hire date." Her voice is getting higher, more panicked. "He's built an entire case, Dax. Professional violations, compromised judgment, potential harassment liability?—"

"Harassment?" The word comes out like a growl. "What the fuck is he talking about?"

"He's saying that as your mental performance coach, any relationship between us constitutes a power imbalance that could be construed as professional misconduct." She's pacing again, running both hands through her hair. "He's got documentation showing my session notes became less detailed after we started... whatever this is."

"Tessa, slow down." I catch her by the shoulders, forcing her to stop pacing. "What exactly did he say?"

"He gave me forty-eight hours." Her voice cracks slightly. "Forty-eight hours to choose between my career and you. If I don't end this relationship and maintain appropriate professional boundaries, he'll terminate me for policy violations."

The protective rage that floods through me is immediate and volcanic. I want to march into Harrison's office and remind him exactly what happens when someone threatens the people I love. But I can see the terror in Tessa's eyes, and I know that any aggressive move on my part will just make this worse for her.

"Okay," I say, forcing my voice to stay calm. "We're going to figure this out."

"How?" She lets out a bitter laugh. "He's got documentation, photos, witness statements. Jamie told Chen he thinks we're seeing each other. Mrs. Buckley apparently mentioned to building management that you've been staying over. Harrison's been building this case for weeks."

"What about legal action? This feels like harassment, not policy enforcement."