Page 76 of Wish You Were Mine

I turned toward Zane, whose face was scrunched into an expression somewhere between sympathy and regret.

“Parks wants to see you in his office,” he said.

Oh, damn.

I’d known I’d have to debrief him. He wouldn’t be thrilled with my behavior.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” I told him.

He nodded and left us alone.

“Good luck with him,” Maia said, tidying away the wipes and ointment.

“I’ll need it.” Parks was a good guy. Solid. Dependable. No nonsense. But he also didn’t tolerate rule-breaking by members of his team, and I’d blatantly done that, even if I’d tried to be clever about it.

I stepped down from the ambulance and made my way out of the garage and along the corridor to Parks’s office. The door was ajar, and Liam was already seated opposite Parks, studying his hands.

Our boss looked at me and arched one dark eyebrow. “You’re a mess.”

“I know,” I replied. “I’ll change my pants soon. There’s not much I can do about my face.”

He harrumphed. “Can’t say you don’t deserve it.”

“I know. I’m sorry, sir.” I sat beside Liam and ducked my head apologetically.

Parks inhaled, his broad chest expanding. “Am I to understand that you were in a public fight as a result of sharing confidential information about a callout?”

I gulped. “Yes, sir.”

I wanted to defend myself. To tell Parks what an asshole James was, and how Tia deserved to know what kind of man she was with, but that wouldn’t help the situation, so I kept my lips firmly shut.

“Is it correct that you broke our confidentiality protocol?” His voice was deceptively soft. I knew better than to think that meant I was out of the woods.

“I didn’t outright say anything,” I mumbled, forcing myself to raise my eyes to his. “I suggested that someone ask more questions about how a particular situation came to be.”

“Uh-huh.” He stacked his hands on his desk, on the one small part not covered by paper. “Is that in keeping with the intention behind our code of conduct?”

“No, sir,” I ground out.

“I’m glad you recognize that.” He studied us, looking more like a disappointed father than anything else. I hated that. “You’re lucky I’m in a forgiving mood today. You’re both on cooking duty for the week, and Heaton, you’re cleaning the engine during your downtime today.”

Relief loosened my shoulders. “Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” I’d gotten off lightly. I could have been suspended for such a breach of protocol. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Just get out of here.” He flicked his fingers toward the door, dismissing us.

We bolted out and closed the door behind us.As the door clicked shut, I made a silent promise to do my best to focus on my job while I was at work from now on. No letting anything else distract me.

“He wasn’t too hard on you before I got there, was he?” I asked Liam.

“Nah.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Just asked if I’d known you’d said something to Tia.”

“Ugh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into trouble with me.”

He shrugged off my apology. “Not your fault. Let’s just keep the peace for a while before stirring the pot again.”

“Amen to that.” With all the messy complications in my job over the past few months, I was fully prepared to lay low.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked it and frowned. Several missed calls, many of which were from Summer.

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