Page 94 of Striking Heat

“What will this mean for you?” I ask.

He rolls over and looks at his phone. “Well, Martin would like to see me as well.”

I shake my head. “For a Sunday, everyone is so excited to meet with us.”

He laughs. “Yeah, I think it might have something to do with the scene we caused last night. And these pictures that August sent me.”

I lean into him and look at his phone. August sent him pictures of me in Danny’s arms while I was grinding into him. There’s even one with his hands in mine while he leads me out of the bar.

I groan. “It’s so nice of him to capture those. You’ll have to thank him for me.”

Danny chuckles and kisses me quickly. “I think you’ll be seeing him before I will be.”

I shake my head. “Yeah, I guess I will be. That’s not that far away. I guess I should get ready for it.”

“It’s going to be okay.” Danny watches me as I grab all the clothes I’ll need to take with me into the shower. I need a quick one. I smell of sex and sweat. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I just need you to promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“Don’t give up on me, okay? Don’t let them ruin this. Because, Mac, we have something very special here. We may not have come together in the most conventional way, but baby, what we have works.”

I fly across the room and into his arms, then kiss him passionately. “I’ve been waiting a long time for someone like you. They’re not going to take you from me,” I tell him, determination in my voice.

He pinches my ass. “Good girl.”

I’m sitting in the lobby outside of Cromwell’s office, waiting to be called in. It feels so much like being called into a police interrogation room. I can see Coach Watts, Coach Andie, Maxwell, and August are all in there. They’re talking loudly, but not loud enough that I can hear them.

My knee bounces in anticipation. I just wish I could go knock on the door and ask that we just get this shit over with. But I know it’s best to wait until they call me in.

August finally opens the door. “Mac, come on in.”

“August.” I grab his arm, stopping him before we enter the office.

“Yeah?” He’s having trouble looking at me as he shifts from foot to foot.

“Why did you turn us in?”

He sighs. “Because I had to, Mac. You guys didn’t leave me much choice. I’m sorry for doing it. I really am.”

I just nod.

We enter the office, and all eyes are trained on me. I look to Andie to see if she’ll be my only friend here, but she’s avoiding my eyes. Clearly, I don’t have a friend in this room. And I probably shouldn’t, because I may have crossed a line. But I had a damn good time doing it.

“Mackenzie, I’m sure you know why you’ve been called in here.” Maxwell Cromwell starts the conversation, and I nod. “Okay, I’m just going to get right to it. We know that you’re sleeping with Danny Taylor. What I need to know is if last night was the first time or if this was occurring while he was interviewing you.”

I sigh. There’s no point in lying to him, so I just put it out there. “It started the night of the charity bartending gig. He came to see me and then took me home with him.”

I study the floor, and it makes me wonder why office carpet is always so bland. Why is it not brighter? Perhaps people would be happier in offices if it was. It’s a weird thought to be having whilemy career hangs in the balance, but I’d rather focus on anything other than why I’m in this room.

“So, you were dating while he was writing the article about you?” Maxwell clarifies.

“Yes, we were.” There’s no sense splitting hairs. He doesn’t care about that, and I’d rather not explain my relationship to him.

“I see.” He shakes his head. “What if this gets out? How is this going to look?”

It doesn’t take much to realize that he isn’t necessarily talking to me. He’s looking in the direction of Coach Watts, who just sighs and looks over at me.

“So, tell me, Mac, was it worth risking your career over?” Coach Watts asks. “Because you definitely put that in jeopardy. I thought you were smarter than that.”