Page 45 of We'll Meet Again

“Sounds about right,” she said, only halfway sarcastic. “Well, anyway. Some photos of us after the Man City match started circulating, and Tony was…see for yourself.”

She fished her phone out of her pocket and held it out for him to see. As he read, it occurred to her how much she already trusted him if she was handing over her phone so freely. Not that there was anything to worry about him seeing, but she somehow understood he would not take advantage of the opportunity to snoop. His eyes scanned the screen quickly, he frowned, and then handed it back to her.

“He can’t speak to you like that,” he said.

“You’re right,” she said. “Only now I’ve got to confront him and last time I tried that…well, that was when you found me in the boot room.”

“You mean thereweren’tany shellfish around?” he joked.

She giggled. “Guilty.”

His smile was fleeting. “I’m sorry you’re going through that.”

She stole a sideways glance at him and found raw sympathy in his eyes. And she appreciated that there wasn’t anger or some other testosterone-fueled protectiveness there. He was simply being kind.

“Thanks,” she said softly.

“Are you going to take it to Donna?” he asked.

Her brow furrowed. “Who’s Donna?”

“Head of HR.”

“Oh!” she gasped. “I hadn’t even thought of HR!”

He threw his head back and laughed. “You are something else, darlin’.”

“Awfully rich, coming from you,” she shot back with a smile. “But seriously, thank you for the suggestion, it’ll help immensely if I go in with some back up.”

“With a guy like that, I wouldn’t risk taking it on alone,” he said, and she saw at last a bit of that defensiveness creeping through his easy going exterior.

“It’s just words, really,” she tried to assure him.

“It always starts that way.”

The warning in his voice and the tension in his jaw were so uncharacteristic she almost stopped walking. For a moment, she debated pressing the issue and asking what he meant by that, but as quickly as it came, it was gone, replaced by his usual cheer.

“But Donna is rock solid, she’ll help you out,” he said. “And she has an adorable little grandson whose name is also Ethan.”

She blinked, still recovering from the emotional whiplash. “Oh, does she?”

He went on, but she didn’t really take in everything he said. That grim expression on his face haunted her all the way to work, even after they had parted ways and she went to Donna’s office. Donna was as lovely and helpful as Ethan said, and quickly prepared the proper paperwork to bring to Tony. He would have to sign to acknowledge Billie had filed a formal complaint, which made her a little nervous, but hopefully it would show him that she wasn’t going to take being pushed around. Not anymore.

As they made their way to Tony’s office, Billie did want to clarify one thing.

“Just out of curiosity, if Ethan and I were dating, would that be a violation?” she asked. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask when she was with Peter since they were never serious, but she needed to know for Ethan. “Would we need to declare ourselves a couple to you or someone else at the club?”

Donna tucked a flyaway piece of her graying bangs behind her ear. “No, not necessarily. You haven’t got final say over his contract or anything, so it’s not like there’s an ethics issue. And there aren’t any formal rules against an employee dating one of the athletes.”

Billie breathed a sigh of relief. But only for a second. They had finally reached Tony’s office and now her stomach twisted inside itself.You’ve done nothing wrong, she told herself.He’s the one who crossed a line.

Donna opened the door, but when Billie looked inside, she was surprised to see that Tony was not alone in his office. Beside his desk stood Peter, running a hand through his auburn curls and sighing irritably.

“There’s really nothing you can do?” he was asking.

“Nothing,” Tony replied. “Your contract is solid for the next two years unless another club makes an offer and no one’s reached out.”

Billie’s brow furrowed. Peter wanted to change clubs? It was a bit late to bring that to the table with the transfer window closing in just a few days.

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