Down by Contact - A Seattle Lumberjacks Romance (5 page)

Movement in the nearby trees caught his
attention. A man in a trench coat pushed branches aside and emerged
from his hiding spot. He hurried across the street toward a
nondescript sedan.

Oh, crap, Zach did so not want to get
involved in whatever the hell was going on, but he didn’t have a
good feeling about it. Not one bit. Most likely she’d run off from
her husband in some kind of snit and the poor guy was looking for
her. Regardless, his crappy compulsion to protect her wouldn’t let
him dismiss she might be in trouble. Even though he hated her
guts.

Zach sprinted after the guy and tackled the
stranger just as he reached for the car door. All
two-hundred-fifty-plus pounds of Zach landed on the stranger’s back
and shoved the air out of the asshole’s lungs. The guy gasped for
breath, but Zach didn’t wait for him to recover. Holding the man’s
hands behind his back, he hauled the dickwad to his feet and shoved
him against the front of his car. With one hand anchored on the
man’s neck, he pushed his face into the cold metal of the car’s
hood.

“What the fuck were you doing?”

The guy gasped, taking in big gulps of
oxygen. “Nothing. Just trying to get an interview with a player or
two.”

For a minute, Zach’s heart dropped to his
knees. He hadn’t been stupid enough to tackle a member of the
press, had he? But common sense caught up reminding him of what
he’d seen. “You weren’t waiting for a player. You were following
that woman. Why?”

“Look, just let me go. I can explain.”

“Don’t try leaving until I hear your
explanation, and it better be a good one.” Reluctantly, Zach
released the guy, who skittered away from him. “Why were you
following her?”

“I thought she was your girlfriend. I’m
doing a piece on NFL girlfriends for a major women’s magazine. You
keep your love life secret. I saw an opportunity.” The guy wrung
his hands and stared longingly at the driver side door blocked by
Zach’s body.

Zach relaxed slightly. What the guy said
made sense, even though something still seemed off. “She’s not my
girlfriend.”

“Oh, my mistake. It looked like the two of
you were familiar, looked like you were having an argument. The
best time to get the dirt on a player is from a pissed-off
girlfriend.”

Zach couldn’t argue that logic. “If I see
you around here again, you’ll be eating your balls for dinner.
Understand?”

The guy nodded and slipped into his car.
Zach waited until he drove off, relieved to see he turned in the
opposite direction that Kelsie had turned. Rubbing his hand across
his face, he got into his own car and slumped in the front seat.
Adrenaline spent, he stared straight ahead, not seeing a thing.

Even though the
reporter’s
story made
perfect sense, doubt picked at him like a kid nagging his mother
for a new toy. Something wasn’t right. Someone wasn’t giving him
the straight story. Every instinct screaming through him pointed at
Kelsie being in some sort of trouble, but Kelsie’s trouble wasn’t
his, and he’d be smart to stay away. Far away.

Zach rammed his fists into the steering
wheel, fearing he might just make it his business to find out.

And knowing he’d be the biggest loser of all
if he did.

CHAPTER 3

Veronica Simms, the team owner’s daughter and
assistant director of player personnel, stared at the nitwit
standing in her office doorway. “A trench coat and a fedora? Are
you serious?”

“Uh, what’s wrong with how I’m dressed?”

“You look like a freaking idiot. Just dress
like a normal person.
Anyone
who saw you lurking around
would be suspicious.” She sighed, wishing she’d never called the
first investigative agency in the phonebook and done more
research.

“You won’t think I’m an idiot once you hear
what I found out.” He pulled a manila folder from his coat with a
flourish and laid it on her desk. “You asked me to research that
woman’s connection to Zach Murphy.”

Veronica shuffled through the papers, greedy
for any details she could use against the linebacker. A slow smile
spread across her face. “They were high school classmates? She’s
been married to a prominent Texas attorney for ten years, and now
she comes looking for Murphy?”

“That’s right. There’s a story there.”

Veronica couldn’t agree more. She sat back
in her chair and digested the information. Kelsie
Carrington-Richmond, former beauty queen, glamour wife, and now Ms.
Manners, might be the key to getting Zach off the team once and for
all.

Since Veronica had been a little girl, she’d
been wrapped up in the team, banning any item from her room that
wasn’t navy and gold. She fought like a tigress to convince her
father to let her work for the Lumberjacks and climbed up the
ranks, starting as a part-time receptionist during her college
years.

Nothing mattered to Veronica but the team.
Nothing. Zach Murphy was a has-been, a mistake. His public dislike
of Tyler Harris would fester like an infected sore until it raged
out of control and took the entire team down with it. Except her
father and HughJack wouldn’t listen to her. She’d make them listen
and find a way to get rid of Murphy in the process.

Perhaps she’d just been given the ammunition
to do that.

“Keep an eye on them.” She waved the PI out
the door and fingered the business card Tyler Harris left earlier
in her office. With a sly smile, she picked up her phone and
dialed.

* * * *

Sometimes when life beats you down to
nothing, something good happens and hope springs back like a lone
flower after a desert rain, at least Kelsie wanted to believe life
worked like that.

Summoned to Jacks’ headquarters by Veronica
Simms, Kelsie pulled into the parking lot a few minutes before
seven p.m. Apparently, the woman worked some long hours. Several
cars still occupied the far end of the lot near what she suspected
was the player entrance. She wondered if Zach’s vehicle might be
among them.

As she got out of her car, a sedan parked
alone on the side street caught her eye. Surely, she was imagining
things, but she swore the dark sedan was the same one she’d seen
the last couple days. A chill ran down her spine. She resisted the
urge to run, tear out of there and never look back, but she
couldn’t. Opportunity knocked, the needle on her gas gauge flirted
shamelessly with empty, and she’d run out of options.

Kelsie might be a lot of things, but she was
a fighter despite years of emotional abuse at the hands of her ex
and her parents. They’d rammed home her weaknesses, torn her down,
and forced her to become a walking–talking robot programmed to
behave perfectly in any social situation.

Over a year ago, she’d walked into her posh
home in a trendy neighborhood. Strange noises lured her into the
master bedroom. Mark, his mistress, and another couple writhed
together on the large king bed, a tangle of arms and legs. When
Mark looked up and spotted her, his total disregard drove the final
stake in her marriage and her self-esteem. She ran from the house,
leaving everything behind except her miniature poodle Scranton. Her
parents demanded that she return and behave like the dutiful wife
they’d raised her to be. They’d believed Mark’s lies about her.

Since then she’d hit rock bottom more than
once, but through it all she clung to her dignity and tattered
pride, the only thing they hadn’t stripped from her, and the only
thing she hadn’t stripped from Zach all those years ago. Yeah,
karma was a bitch.

In high school, rich, spoiled Kelsie had
been a mean girl. So strong was her need to belong to the popular
girl crowd, she did everything uber-popular Marcela Winsley dared
her to do, too afraid to stand up to her and jeopardize her
standing with the in-crowd. When Marcela dared her to invite Zach
to the country club ball, she’d done it.

Her friends teased Zach about his outdated,
poorly fitted suit, scuffed shoes, and clumsy attempts to fit in
with their class of people, and Kelsie joined in. At first, he’d
taken their abuse with barely a reaction except for a twitch in his
jaw and the hurt in his eyes, a hurt which haunted her even sixteen
years later. She’d almost broken him that night with her cruelty
and betrayal, and she’d never forgiven herself.

She owed him an apology. A big one. She
doubted what she was about to do would earn her any points with
him, but it might just be for his own good.

With one last glance in the direction of the
mysterious sedan, Kelsie walked purposefully across the rain-soaked
parking lot to the main double doors. Security let her in and
escorted her to a small cramped office upstairs, not quite the
space she’d expected for the owner’s daughter.

Veronica waved her in, all business, and
dressed in a severe black suit with her hair pulled back tightly in
a bun. “Have a seat.”

Kelsie sat, clutching a folder that outlined
her program. “I’m so grateful to have this opportunity.” She bit
the side of her cheek to staunch the desperation seeping into her
voice.

“Cut the crap. We both know why you’re here.
Two words. Zach Murphy.” Veronica leaned back in her chair, arms
crossed over her chest and studied Kelsie with a look that
dissected her every weakness.

Kelsie gripped the folder tighter and
breathed in and out through her nose.
In. Out. In. Out.
She’d known this was coming. Under any other circumstances, she’d
refuse the job. Only she couldn’t. Truth be told, she’d always
harbored a bit of a crush on the rough yet kind boy who’d followed
her like a faithful hound all through high school. Not only did she
need the money, but she needed to help Zach whether he appreciated
it or not.

“Yes, Zach, I’m familiar with him. We
attended high school together.”

Veronica didn’t look the least bit
impressed. Kelsie didn’t like the woman one bit, yet she recognized
the sad truth. Kelsie had been this woman once. Selfish and driven.
Wealthy and spoiled. Inconsiderate and cruel. She so did not want
to be like her now.

“I believe he could benefit from my
Finishing School for Real Men.” Kelsie sat up straighter and hid
her insecurities behind her beauty-queen smile.

Veronica snorted. “This coming from the
woman who dumped a tray of drinks on the state’s first lady and
me.”

“Ms. Simms, that was an accident. I’m
gravely sorry.” Panic slithered through her. She took another deep
breath and called upon all those skills learned through years of
beauty pageant interviews. She hadn’t been crowned Miss South Texas
for nothing.

“Call me Veronica. I’m sure you are sorry.
It was obviously that nitwit’s fault.” Veronica’s lip curled in
disgust. She really had an issue with Zach.

Kelsie bit back a retort, almost rising to
Zach’s defense. Only she didn’t, and here she’d thought she’d come
a long way toward being a better person. God forgive her. She’d
make it up to Zach later along with her other transgressions.
Veronica would kick her out of this office on her butt if she
showed any sympathy toward the team’s socially inept
linebacker.

Willing her hands not to shake, Kelsie
pulled some papers from the folder. “Here’s my résumé. As you can
see, I’m quite well-versed in etiquette.”

“You were runner-up to Miss Texas?”

“Yes. I’ve been on the beauty pageant
circuit since I was a child. I’m an experienced public speaker
along with—”

“Why were you working as a banquet server?”
Veronica’s violet eyes narrowed to glittering slits.

Kelsie cleared her throat and decided the
truth was best. “I’ve just come to town after a divorce, and I’m
still trying to establish myself.”

Veronica leafed through the remaining papers
and tapped a long fingernail on her desk. “It’s no secret I want
Zach off the team. He’s not a good fit for the Lumberjacks.
Unfortunately, those decisions aren’t made by me so I have to work
with what I’m given.”

“I’m positive I can help Zach with his
social skills.” She’d help Zach and help her business out, a
perfect way to make amends. Now if only he’d see that angle.

“One thousand now and two thousand more when
the task is completed to my satisfaction. If it’s not, the up-front
money is to be refunded to the Lumberjacks’ organization.”

“Certainly.” Kelsie nodded vigorously, as
her stomach growled at the thought of a decent meal. “What exactly
is the task?”

She held her breath and waited. Veronica
wasted no time telling her.

A few hours later, Kelsie drove to a small
community park on Lake Washington within walking distance of
Lumberjacks headquarters, and parked in the lot under a
streetlight. Tomorrow she’d cash her check, find a cheap room to
rent, and eat a big meal.

After a dinner of crackers—her last box—and
water from the tap in the women’s bathroom, she took one last look
around the area. No sedan in sight. Rolling towels up in the side
windows, she placed a sun shield on the dash for privacy, as much
as you can get in a public parking lot. A few minutes later, she
fell into a disturbing sleep filled with shadowy figures and
visions of a shaggy-haired football player with sad brown eyes.

* * * *

With more than a little reluctance, Zach
walked into Coach Hubert Jackson’s office, aka HughJack. HughJack
sat behind his desk looking grumpy and out of sorts. The defensive
coordinator, a big, burly guy known as Rocky, sat in one of the
chairs in front of the head coach’s huge desk.

The short but formidable HughJack was one of
the few men that struck fear in Zach’s heart. But then the guy
possessed the power of life and death over Zach’s career. Younger
guys vied for his spot as starting middle linebacker, and Zach hung
on by a shoelace. They breathed down his neck every time he stepped
on the field, gobbling up his every word of advice and using it to
their advantage to one day win his job.