Page 115 of Doctor’s Forbidden Match

“A little while.” Right on cue, my stomach grumbles.

She gives me a lop-sided grin. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m hungry too.”

We get dressed and head to the kitchen, hand in hand. Jameson is at the counter, nursing a mug. Brooke sits in a dining chair, cradling one too, her eyebrows lifted as she hides a smirk behind her cup. Emmett sits across from Brooke, giving me a blatant caught look.

“Morning,” Jameson says.

“Sleep well, Zac? Cabin walls didn’t bother you?” Emmett adds with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Shut up.” Brooke flicks a warning gaze toward them.

Pressing a kiss to Hannah’s head, I drop her hand to head straight to the coffeepot, while she makes a break for the empty seat next to Brooke.

“What’s the plan for today?” Hannah asks, trying to pivot the conversation. “More fishing?”

“It’s already ten—” Emmett starts, then glances at Brooke with a grin. “Though I guess some of us needed the beauty sleep.”

Brooke doesn’t even look up from her mug, but her foot shoots out under the table.

“Fuck.” Emmett slams his mug down, hunching forward.

“You going to rub it better for him?” Jameson teases, looking at Brooke.

Brooke snorts, taking a slow sip. “Not a chance.”

“Should be nicer to our guests,” I tease Emmett. His face is turning splotchy. Brooke must have kicked him good under the table.

I carry a fresh mug of tea over to Hannah and hand it to her. “Did you want to fish again?” I ask, unable to hide the eagerness in my voice, or how much I want more time out on that water.

“Definitely,” she says, looking up at me over the rim. “Yesterday I was focused on not falling in. Today I’ll pay attention to the fishing part.”

Sharice calls the morning after I get back from the cabin while I’m halfway through my morning cup of coffee.

“We found it,” she says bluntly. “The photograph. I know who sent it to Peltz.”

My stomach drops before she even says the name. “Who was it?”

“Yolanda. She contacted a freelance photographer. Paid him for exclusive pictures, then forwarded it straight to Peltz directly. We have the email.”

Anger builds in my chest. Of course it’s her. The diner, the day she happened to run into us with a camera-ready smile and a glimmer in her eyes. She’s been planning this before I knew to be careful.

“What do I do with it?”

“That’s the question.” Sharice’s voice drops in a way that says she’s about to tell me something I won’t like. “You have grounds now. We can go after her for harassment, for interference, and frankly, the board should be furious that Peltz used a privately solicited photograph as the basis for a suspension instead of going through proper channels. This could clear you completely and embarrass him in the process.”

I nod, not that she can see me. “Good.”

“But, Zac... how you handle this next part matters. If you go in there angry, and I understand why you would be, you hand Peltz exactly what he’s been waiting for since the day he met you. Confirmation that you’re a liability. That you can’t control yourself under pressure.”

I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. I know exactly what she means. The old version of me is already halfway out the door, already rehearsing the things I want to say to Peltz’s face, already picturing the satisfaction of watching him squirm.

But that got me a disciplinary file in the first place.

“What do you suggest?” I ask instead.

“We present it formally. Through proper legal channels, with full documentation, requesting immediate reinstatement and a review of Peltz’s conduct in handling the original complaint. No confrontations or emotions. Just the facts laid out cleanly so there’s nothing left for him to spin.”

I exhale slowly, dropping my hand from my face. I’d love to walk into Peltz’s office and make him say it to my face, watch him feel even a fraction of what the last few weeks have cost me.