Page 26 of Puck Me Secretly

“Then you’re dismissed.”

With deliberation, Max stood up, towered over me, to offer me the photos. I glanced up at his face and my eyes widened at the stark expression on his face. He clenched his jaw. His muscles were rigid and his eyes were a turbulent sea of emotion.

I dropped my gaze, unable to face him. This man had been nothing but kind and I had drawn the line in the ice, letting him know that I owned his ass. This meeting had not been fair, and we both knew it.

“Keep the photos. I have wiped your slate clean, but we won’t take kindly to you screwing up. We won’t be as lenient as Minnesota.”

He flinched when I mentioned his old team. He tossed the photos on my desk and then with deliberation, he turned and walked towards the door.

Dad turned his head and raised his eyebrow at me. He wanted me to take my final parting shot. A shot he had come up with and made me memorize. It was a low blow designed to install an emotional reaction in Max. My father wanted to see how much emotional control Max had.

Max almost made it to the door. I cleared my throat. “One more thing, thirty-three.”

His entire body stiffened, but he didn’t turn around nor did he speak.

“If you ever disrespect me again, like you did today you’ll be cut. And a sad, lonely beer league will be the only hockey you ever see again. This is your last chance. Remember that.”

He stood there, still, and for one heart-wrenching moment, I thought he’d turn around and give me a piece of his mind.

Go. Walk away from here.

Without saying a word, he walked out of my office and disappeared out of sight.

CHAPTER 10

I had hurt Max,and that made my heart hurt. I had seen anger and pain in him and it killed me that I had been the person to put that expression in his eyes. I felt numb as Dad shut the door.

With his hands in his pockets, pride shone in his eyes.

“What do you think?”

I worked to cover how much that meeting had affected me. I took my time answering. “I think if he loves hockey as much as we think he does, he’ll get in line.”

“Keep me posted,” he opened the door before glancing back at me. “You passed your first day with flying colors.”

I nodded, with a lump in my throat. I couldn’t remember the last time I had made Dad proud, but at what cost?

I waited until he closed the door before I dropped my face into my hands and groaned.

Max.

Being close to him had been torture.

He needed to be off limits. No one could ever find out about what had happenedbetween us.

I had hurt him. After everything he had done for me, I had treated him unfairly.

We needed to keep our distance.

I needed to stop thinking about him.

So why did I want to fling myself at him, wrap my arms around him and beg him for another kiss?

Dad left early,to meet Mom at some charity event. I did not understand how he had the energy to go glad-handing after a day like today.

With guilt, feeling like a thief about to commit a crime, I walked down to human resources. The receptionist lifted her head.

“Do you have Max Logan’s human resource file?”

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