Текст книги "Covering Kendall"
Автор книги: Julie Brannagh
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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 17 страниц)
He was incredibly sexy. Even more than that, he was interesting, funny, smart, and caring. And she’d kicked him out of her hotel room. She meant what she’d said to him about any involvement between them being career suicide for her, but she couldn’t believe she’d met a guy that had every possible quality she’d ever wanted and he was off-limits.
Again.
Maybe she’d get sleepy if she read a little. She reached out for the Kindle on her bedside table and reconsidered. She’d better check her e-mail one more time tonight. Who was she kidding—she wasn’t settling down any time soon. She was still thinking about Drew and how different her evening would have been if she’d asked him to stay. The wrapped condom he’d had in his wallet was still on the nightstand. He’d forgotten his slouchy knit hat; it was still lying on the floor in the corner of the room. It probably smelled like him too. At least she’d sent the books home with him . . .
“Oh, shit,” she said to herself. “My dad’s book—and my phone!”
She remembered slipping the phone into the plastic bag with the new book she was giving to her dad and rolling up the top to seal the contents before they’d set out for the hotel from the coffee shop. She’d thought putting the phone in a plastic bag was better than carrying it in her pocket, and it was raining so hard she was afraid the things in her handbag would get wet. She jumped out of bed, hurried across the hotel room, and dug through her handbag.
The small paper bags containing the salted caramel bars were a little smashed, but the bars were still edible. Everything but her iPhone was in her handbag. Maybe she left the phone in her coat pocket after all. She grabbed the still-damp coat off the corner of the couch and went through the pockets. No phone.
She flipped on every light in her hotel room and looked everywhere. No phone. It wasn’t worth calling the front desk to ask if she’d dropped the phone outside or in the lobby on the way up to her room. She knew where it was, and she also knew she had no way of getting it back: It wasn’t like she could walk across the field on Sunday afternoon and ask Drew McCoy if he’d seen it.
She’d have to make do until she could get another one. She couldn’t imagine how she was going to explain this to the Miners’ front office, either.
THIRTY-SEVEN HOURS LATER, the Sharks were playing the Miners in Sharks Stadium. Sharks players and fans had been anticipating this game since the season started. The winner would have first place in the division and an easy path to the postseason, which was always a great place to be in early October. It was a perfect day for football: Cotton-candy quality clouds dotted an impossibly blue sky while the sun warmed the sold-out stadium.
Drew spotted Kendall standing on the sidelines. She’d evidently abandoned the team suite to enjoy the crisp fall day with her colleagues and was having an animated discussion with a few of them while the teams lined up on the field for the kickoff.
He saw her laugh at something someone said to her. The guys standing with her were in suits and ties. She wore black pants, a team logo jacket, and a silver-colored silky-looking scarf tucked into her neckline. The rain-washed air put color into her cheeks. She brushed the bangs out of her eyes with one gloved hand. She was gorgeous, and it took everything he had to not run across the field and kiss her again.
There were a hundred women in the stadium right now that would love to have a cup of coffee with him, see a movie, have dinner, or anything else he could possibly dream up. He couldn’t stop staring at Kendall on the opposite side of the field, though. If he didn’t knock it off, one of his teammates or the coach was going to notice, and he’d be in deep shit.
She’d told him “no,” and he should accept that. She wasn’t the first woman he’d ever met, and she wouldn’t be the last. His eyeballs didn’t seem to get that memo, though. He kept glancing over to stare at her. He forced himself to pay attention to the game instead.
The first two quarters of the game went faster than usual. The Sharks’ defense wasn’t allowing the Miners to advance the ball, which was always a plus. He’d sacked the Miners’ quarterback twice. He wanted their unprotected quarterback to remember his name as the kid limped off of the field. Maybe the Miners should have spent some of the money they forked out for his overpaid ass on some decent offensive linemen instead. The Sharks’ defense was manhandling them; the score was 14–3. The halftime whistle blew, and he joined his teammates and coaches for the jog into the Sharks’ locker room.
He snagged a few orange sections and a cold bottle of Gatorade off of the cart that sat on one side of the room. If he could manage to get a few calories down while he listened to the coach, he was always better off during the second half.
Seth plunked himself down on the bench next to Drew and elbowed him in the side. “Trying to burn a hole through the Miners’ GM with your eyes or something, McCoy?”
Drew had crammed an orange section into his mouth. “Mhmm?” Shit. This would teach him.
Seth leaned closer. “You stared at her after every play. She’s staring at you too. Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”
“Fuck, no.”
“At least you have something to look at. Damn, this game’s boring. I could be jerking off out there and they still wouldn’t get a first down,” Seth said.
Derrick choked on what looked like half a bottle of Gatorade. Drew pounded him on the back until he quit coughing.
Seth shook his head.
“The Miners will make second half adjustments,” Derrick warned Drew. “We both might have something to do. Stick with us, will ya?”
Drew was saved from a response by the coach’s beginning his typical halftime instructions and two minute motivational speech. Twenty minutes later, he’d managed to down a few more orange sections, drink the Gatorade, hit the bathroom, and jog back out onto the field with the team.
Kendall was gone from her spot on the sidelines. Maybe she was getting a bite to eat or taking care of some business. He’d liked the idea she wasn’t hiding in the suite, and he was oddly agitated that she wasn’t on the sidelines right now. For a woman he was determined to ignore, she was sure taking up a lot of space in his head. He took his place for the warm-up exercises and put himself through the stretching routines he could do in his sleep. He glanced over at the Miners’ sideline again just before the second half kickoff. She wasn’t there.
He glanced up at the visiting team’s suite a few times during the second half as well. He didn’t see her.
Derrick sidled up next to him while the second-string offense was schooling the Miners’ defense in the fourth quarter. Coach wasn’t going to play his starters when the score was 28–3 and the Miners hadn’t succeeded in getting a first down since the second quarter.
“So, you’ve been looking for someone the entire game. Want to tell me about it?”
“No.” Drew concentrated on the field once more.
“I will find out who she is, dawg,” Derrick said.
Drew continued to ignore him. Derrick chuckled and moved away.
The final score remained Sharks 28, Miners 3. Drew had showered and dressed in his street clothes. He’d made a short appearance in front of the media to address the two sacks and eight tackles he’d made during the game, and he signed some Sharks merchandise that would be taken to the Miners’ locker room by request. Someone’s son, daughter, niece, or nephew would end up with a team-autographed T-shirt or football. All teams did it; the Sharks had already received the bag of autographed Miners merchandise for distribution a few minutes ago.
Typically, Drew would be joining the group of players making their way to a local restaurant for dinner after a win. He enjoyed celebrating as much as the next guy, but right now, he wasn’t in the mood. He was happy about the win. He was always happy after a win. He was frustrated over his inability to be a little less obvious with the staring at Kendall for starters. No matter how intrigued he was by her, nothing was happening between them until he was out of the league.
Maybe he’d feel better after a good night’s sleep. After tomorrow morning’s post-game medical checks for injuries, he could burn off some of his frustration by cleaning up the storm damage in his backyard. He had other things to do with his time than moon over an unattainable woman.
Zach Anderson stopped by his locker as Drew picked up the overnight bag he brought to home games.
“Hey, come on out with us. We’re going to Jak’s Grill in Laurelhurst. Cameron’s meeting us there too,” Zach said. He grinned at Drew. “You know you want a big, juicy steak and a beer.”
“It sounds great, but I think I’m going to have to pass this time.”
“Other plans, huh?”
“You could say that. Give your woman a hug from me.” Drew got to his feet and gave Zach an elaborate handshake. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Drew stopped on the way home and picked up a to-go dinner. He’d watch some mindless TV, have a beer, and go to bed early with the book Kendall had given him.
He pulled into his garage, disabled the alarm system, and walked into his house. He dropped the overnight bag in his laundry room. He’d unpack it later. He moved through the kitchen and turned into the hallway by his front door to scoop up the book he wanted to start reading.
As he picked up the plastic bag with the two books, he heard a phone ringing. He unfurled the top of the bag, pulled the phone out, hit “talk,” and said, “Hello?”
“Is this Drew? It’s Kendall Tracy. You have my phone.”
Chapter Four
DESPITE HIS EARLIER resolve to forget her and move on with his life, Drew’s heart skipped a beat as she continued talking.
“I put the phone in the bag before we left the coffee shop. I’ve tried to call a few times, and I wondered if it maybe fell out or something on your way home the other night.” He heard her laugh a little. “It’s like losing an appendage, isn’t it?”
“I left the bag in the entryway of my house the other night. I didn’t hear it ringing before now,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it. How could you know I stupidly stuck my phone in there?”
“It wasn’t stupid. You wanted it to stay dry,” he assured her. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to buy a new phone,” she said. “Plus, I was worried about losing my contacts list.”
The conversation was polite, between two people that had met before but weren’t planning on a further relationship. He noted that the phone was almost out of charge and turned back toward his kitchen to plug it in before it died.
“Your contacts are safe, but I’d better get this on a charger before it shuts off. Are you still in Seattle?”
“We’re at the airport. The players are boarding right now. I’m using my assistant’s phone.” He heard something read over the PA in the background, and she said, “May I call you back when we arrive?”
“Of course. Would you like me to overnight the phone to the Miners’ headquarters? It’ll get there on Tuesday.”
She sounded a little out of breath, like she was running. “Don’t send the phone there. I’ll call you with my address. I’d be happy to pay for the overnight shipping.”
“It’s not a problem—”
“We’re boarding now. Thank you so much,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Have a good flight, Kendall.”
“Okay. Thank you. Bye.”
He heard the phone she was talking on disconnect, and silence.
KENDALL SETTLED INTO her airplane seat as she handed her assistant’s phone back to her.
“Thanks for the loan,” she said.
Sydney grinned at her in response. “I could have gone to the Apple store for you before the game started.”
“They didn’t open until eleven AM, and we were already at Sharks Stadium. My phone will be back on Tuesday.”
Kendall tried to pretend like her heart wasn’t still racing after a few minutes of conversation with Drew. She kept her voice casual. “It’s a good thing the hotel bellman who found it is an honest guy.”
“He could have sold your phone and the contacts on eBay for a fortune.”
The guy who still had it could spend at least an evening scrolling through those contacts. She hoped he wouldn’t. The temptation might be too much to resist, though. He wouldn’t care about obtaining the cell phone numbers of the Miners’ front office. He might be interested in the contact info of others in the league, or giving her ex-boyfriend a call to chit-chat. The ex could be a problem. She almost groaned out loud.
Drew would know who her ex was. Most pro athletes, especially football players, would know him. Unfortunately, she hadn’t at the time she’d met him. Tony Kelly was a sports apparel and shoes manufacturer. He’d picked her up at the ESPYs after-party two years ago. He was handsome, interesting, wealthy, charming, —and she didn’t find out until almost six months later—married. He’d started his business out of his garage fifteen years ago with two partners, one of whom was a former pro athlete and the public face of the business. Tony handled the behind-the-scenes stuff: dealing with the factories that made their merchandise, suppliers, and the stores that carried them. They were the hottest name in shoes and apparel, and most athletes asked to sign an endorsement deal with them did so quickly. Drew had chosen to sign with Under Armour instead. She wondered why.
Before she met Tony, she’d never had much time to date. She’d started working for the Miners after school and on the weekends at sixteen, and climbing the corporate ladder after she graduated from Wharton Business School took most of her time and energy. She couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to meet a guy that was the living personification of her fantasies. She should have known it was too good to be true.
Tony lived in the San Francisco suburbs, like her. She’d been to his place, which looked out over San Francisco Bay. There wasn’t a trace in the professionally decorated home of the wife and two under-five kids who lived in Connecticut. He made frequent business trips, but she never dreamed he was going “home” on those flights, supposedly to suppliers and buyers on the East Coast. She found out about his wife and family when Tony’s wife called her at work one day and asked if she’d like to be named in their divorce filing. Kendall dumped him minutes later.
She couldn’t believe she’d been as stupid as every other mid-thirties single woman who met a guy that was everything she’d ever hoped for and believed his line of BS as a result. She flinched at the memory.
Sydney leaned over the seat across the aisle and said, “I have an extra blanket. Want it?”
The air in the cabin was still somewhat chilly, but Kendall wasn’t that cold.
“I’m fine. Thanks.” She reached out for the Kindle she’d stuffed into the seat back and waited for the pilot to announce it was okay to turn on electronic devices. She’d left the work in her briefcase for a change. She’d be home again in ninety minutes, and shortly after she bought a disposable phone at the local grocery store, she’d be talking to Drew.
THREE AND A half hours later, Drew was restlessly prowling his house. He’d tried reading a book. He attempted answering his e-mail. Video games weren’t even a distraction. He was always keyed up after a game, but tonight’s edginess was unusual for him. He should have gone out with the guys. A good dinner and a drink or two would have gone a long way to helping him settle down a bit.
He jumped a little when he felt Kendall’s phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and stared at a number with a Los Angeles area code. She’d said she would call him; he’d better answer. He hit “talk” and said, “Kendall’s phone.”
“Hello,” the man on the other end said. “Who’s this?”
“Kendall has stepped away for a moment. May I take a message?”
“I thought her assistant was a woman.” The guy let out a breath. “It’s Rick Thomason. I’m Sherman Washington’s agent. I understand the Miners are looking to make a change at the strong safety position. Would you ask her to give me a call at her earliest convenience?”
Drew wondered if the Sharks’ front office knew Sherm was doing a little shopping ahead of free agency. He shouldn’t be surprised by this; he was used to teammates who were there one season and gone the next. He was a bit surprised at any Shark voluntarily going to the Miners.
“I’ll do that. Does she have your number?”
“You must be new. She talked with me last week,” the guy said and hung up.
He walked into the kitchen and pulled the refrigerator door open. A piece of fruit might hit the spot before he went to bed. Who was he kidding? He wouldn’t sleep until he talked with Kendall again. He hoped for a little more conversation. He was also a bit concerned about Thomason’s calling her at ten PM Sunday night on the West Coast. Did he want to talk about his client, or was he about to ask Kendall out on a date?
The cell phone in his other pocket vibrated, and he pulled it out. The display showed his parents were calling from their home in Wisconsin. He knew what time they went to bed. Midnight their time was too damn late for a social call.
He dragged breath into his lungs and hit “talk.” “Mom?”
“Son, it’s your dad. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. How are you?” He grabbed an apple out of the crisper. “It’s pretty late there. Is everything okay?”
“We’re all doing well. Everyone came over for dinner earlier, and your nephew Hunter took his first steps. Your mother is thrilled.”
“He’ll be running before football season is over,” Drew said, ignoring the pang he felt every time he heard about the family things he missed during the season. He went home to visit during the offseason, but he didn’t get to see the first teeth/first steps/ /first bike ride and the other “firsts” his nieces and nephews experienced. Maybe his sister had taken some pictures with her cell phone camera. He heard his dad’s low chuckle.
“Probably. Son, we heard there was a storm in Seattle a couple of days ago. Everything looked normal during the game broadcast. How are you doing?”
“The house has a generator, so I was fine. There’s some downed branches and stuff in my yard. Most of the people who lost power are online again.” He let out a long breath. “I expect extreme weather in Wisconsin. I don’t usually see it in Seattle.”
“The newscasters said it was odd.”
What was odd was his dad’s calling him at close to midnight his time to chat about the weather. His mom was usually where the chatty phone calls originated from. She wanted to tell him all about what his family was doing and how they were looking forward to seeing him soon.
“Hey, Dad, did Mom go to bed already?”
“She was pretty tired after cleaning up after everyone earlier,” his dad said. “She sends her love.”
“I love her too. Dad, don’t you have to get to bed yourself pretty soon? You have to work tomorrow, right?”
“I do. I guess I’d better hit the hay.” His dad was quiet for ten seconds or so. “We miss you, son.”
“And I miss you, Dad. Give Mom a hug for me.”
“I’ll do that.”
Drew heard his dad’s phone click off and stared at his own phone. Something was wrong. His dad was in bed every night by ten. He awoke at five AM each morning, whether it was a workday or not. It was too late to call back tonight. Maybe he should call tomorrow morning, just to make sure nobody was sick or something else happened he should know about.
He rinsed off the apple, grabbing the slicer his ex-girlfriend bought him out of a drawer. He dumped the apple slices onto a napkin so he wouldn’t dirty a plate and sat down at his kitchen table. The thought that there was something wrong at his parents’ house nagged at him. He took a bite of apple and ran over the last few conversations with his mom in his head. She’d seemed distracted. Even more, she seemed unusually tired. She mentioned the fact his dad complained about a bit more convenience food at dinner now that he and his siblings were out on their own. Drew had laughed it off at the time.
“Mom, you’ve been spoiling Dad for thirty-five years. I’m sure some grocery store freezer case pasta and jarred spaghetti sauce won’t be the worst thing ever.”
“Honey, he expects the same kind of dinners we had when you were young. Cooking that amount for two people is ridiculous.” She let out a sigh. “I shouldn’t complain.”
“Tell Dad I keep hoping I’ll find someone like you to make me some freezer case pasta and jarred spaghetti sauce.”
He remembered the little laugh she gave and knew her cheeks were probably pink with embarrassment. “You’re sweet.”
“So are you, Mom.”
He was so lost in thought that Kendall’s phone ringing in his pocket startled him again. He grabbed it out, hit “talk,” and said, “Kendall’s phone.”
“Hi, Drew,” she said. “It’s nice to talk with you again.”
Twenty minutes later, he’d relayed the agent’s message, written down her home address and office direct line, and promised to send her phone back by overnight mail to her house. Drew hit “end” on the call and stared into space, lost in thought.
The phone would get to Kendall’s house, but if she worked the same hours as the Sharks’ GM did, there’d be nobody home to sign for it. He wasn’t going to send something so valuable overnight without making sure she got it back safely. She’d asked him twice to not send it to the Miners’ headquarters. She’d end up going to wherever the delivery facility was located to pick it up, which might be an even bigger problem.
He rubbed his hand over his face and let out a groan. His concern about how he could return her phone in the most convenient way possible wasn’t self-serving at all. It had nothing to do with wanting to see her again, or spend a few more minutes chatting and laughing together. He’d go to the same lengths for anyone else.
He shook his head and muttered, “No, I wouldn’t.”
He got up from the table and put Kendall’s phone back on the charger. Maybe he’d figure out a better way to return the phone if he got a good night’s sleep.
An hour later, he was still tossing and turning, but he’d made a decision. He sat up in bed and grabbed his smart phone off the bedside table. He pulled up an airline site and bought a ticket to San Jose, the closest airport to Kendall’s house.
“Nothing like door-to-door service,” he said to himself.
