Playing for Keeps (42 page)
Authors: Kate Donovan
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Genre Fiction, #Contemporary, #football, #Sports, #Romance, #advertising, #Bad boys of football, #sexy romance, #contemporary romance
Ten months later, the tabloids still referred to them as “AnniCole” and pestered them for romantic tidbits, but they were simply good friends. Still, whenever a script called for passion, it sprang up easily and instantly, making them the hottest couple on TV in every sense of the word and making
Trace Elements
a runaway success.
Too bad we might get canceled anyway,
she reminded herself.
All because Newt’s too stubborn to give the network the sexed-up season finale he promised them. Some director
he
turned out to be!
Cancellation would be a blow to Nikki’s TV career, but maybe for the best, since she hadn’t really intended to be an actress after law school, despite the fact that drama had been one of her undergraduate majors. But she had been lured into the role of Special Agent Annika Trace by a persuasive mentor and an ungodly amount of money and had made a fortune in one short year on the air. If she returned to her legal career now, she might end up being grateful to the network, at lest for the restoration of her privacy.
Restless, she gave Linzie a pat on the arm then wandered to a nearby table. It wasn’t exactly kid-sized, but rather, like the sofa, had been scaled down just a bit from the adult version. Painted in pink and green, it was flanked by two pink chairs and two green ones. On the surface was a neat pile of blank paper and a few dozen crayons corralled in a tin bucket. Presiding over all was the infamous Annika Trace doll. Seven inches high, with scanty lingerie tattooed into place, it could be posed, dressed, and manhandled by its owner. At the moment, it was clad in a slinky blue evening gown and glittery gold heels.
“Wow, I
love
this outfit. No place for a gun though, right?”
Linzie hit the pause button on the DVD remote and walked over to the table, then pulled a shallow basket from a nearby shelf and dug into the contents until she found a tiny holster designed to wrap around the doll’s thigh.
“Ooo, fancy,” Nikki cooed, strapping it into place. When the child handed her a small pistol, she slipped it into the holster and grinned. “Nice.”
Linzie locked gazes with her for a moment, then surprised her by reaching over and pulling her suit jacket aside, revealing Nikki’s custom-made shoulder holster and Glock.
“Are you afraid of my gun, Linzie?”
The little girl shook her head.
“That’s good.” Nikki hesitated, then pulled the weapon from its sheath, removed the clip, and laid it on the table. “Go ahead and pick it up if you want.”
The little girl stretched out her slender fingers and stroked the grip tentatively.
It felt like a breakthrough, but probably not the kind Josh Saxon wanted. Still, it was something, wasn’t it?
“Does it make you feel safe, Linzie?”
The child nodded.
“Me too. And guess what? Agent Saxon has a
huge
gun, or at least he struts around like he thinks he does. So that’s good, right? If any bad guys show up, he’ll blast them into next week. And I’ll help.”
Linzie seem intrigued for a moment, then shrugged and walked back to the sofa, where she resumed watching the
Trace Elements
pilot episode.
After sending a playful grimace in Josh Saxon’s direction via the camera, Nikki joined the child on the sofa and watched as Cole and Annika faced down the first of many, many bad guys. Again she felt a wistful pang at the thought it might all be over, then she rallied and took the remote from the child. Pressing the pause button, she said, “Hey, Linzie, can you do me a favor?”
The child winced.
“It’s not hard, or confusing, or anything like that. I just have a bet with Agent Saxon. And I can win if you’ll just say one little word for me.”
When the child’s eyes widened, Nikki added quickly, “It doesn’t have to mean anything. It can even be a nonsense word, like abracadabra. See what I mean? Any word will do, and then I’ll win the bet.” She took a deep breath, wondering if she dared ask the child to state the number of criminals who had held her captive.
Probably not.
So she settled for: “Can you say my name? Annika Trace. Or maybe just Trace, since I only need one word.”
The girl studied her solemnly, then spoke in a soft, clear voice. “Annika Trace.”
“Okay, thanks.” Nikki pulled her into a quick embrace so she wouldn’t see how deeply it affected her. But the poor kid probably heard her sigh, and there wasn’t much she could do about that.
Some actress you turned out to be.
Loosening her grip, she suggested softly, “Maybe you should jump into bed now. Your mom will be here in a minute to tuck you in. And tomorrow, we can watch a few more episodes. How does that sound?”
Linzie didn’t respond other than to turn off the TV and remove the DVD from the player. Then with the disc in one hand and her baby blanket in the other, she wandered over to the bed, climbed in, and covered herself from forehead to toes with a fluffy comforter.
• • •
To Nikki’s surprise, Josh Saxon met her at the foot of the stairs. “You brought a
weapon
into her room? Let’s see it.”
“The clip’s empty,” she assured him, handing over the Glock. “And don’t try to change the subject.”
“What?”
“The score is now: Agent Trace, two words; Agent Saxon, zero.”
“Doesn’t your studio have a props department? Why do you need a real gun?”
“I just do.”
“Your doll does fine with a plastic one.” His stern expression evaporated. “Nice job with the kid-whispering, by the way.”
She felt her cheeks redden. “Thanks. Did you get anything out of it?”
“Well, we verified she has vocal chords. That’s always a good trait in a witness.”
“I wanted to ask about the number of bad guys—”
“No, you were right to wait. She’s skittish, but at least she’s talking.” He motioned toward the media room. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Click here to buy
Trace Elements
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Books by Kate Donovan
Time Travels and Paranormals
Timeless
Time Weaver
A Dream Apart
A Dream Embraced
The Untamed Beast
Young Adult Science Fiction
Mech Girl
Historical Romances
Game of Hearts
(A Mail-Order Bride Series)
Carried Away
(A Mail-Order Bride Series)
Meant to Be
(A Mail-Order Bride Series)
Night After Night
(A Mail-Order Bride Series)
Fool Me Twice
(A Mail-Order Bride Series)
Love Passages
Action-Adventure
Identity Crisis
(The SPIN—Strategic Profiling and Identification Network—Series)
Exit Strategy
(The SPIN Series)
Spin Control
(The SPIN Series)
Parallel Lies
Charade
Romantic Comedy
Harmless Error
Stolen Kisses
Space Opera Novellas
Space Fever
Star Fever
The Perfect Specimen Series
Perfect Specimen
Brietta
About the Author
Kate Donovan spent her childhood in Ohio and Rhode Island, where she wrote mysteries with pen and paper and stashed them under her bed. When her family moved to California, she headed to UC Berkeley, where she met her future husband, Paul, and together they survived college and law school (UC Davis). They’ve been married and practicing law ever since while raising two great kids—a son and a daughter.
Kate has had more than twenty novels published in genres including fantasy, historical romance, legal thriller, romantic suspense, and young adult science fiction. Most recently, her historical romances are being rereleased in electronic format, her first young adult sci-fi (
Mech Girl
) was released, and aliens have abducted her heroines (in
Perfect Specimen
,
Perfect Specimen: Brietta
, and
The Last Noel
). There’s also a time-travel story in the works and some light horror on the horizon—hopefully in terms of genre only, not real life. You can visit Kate’s website at www.katedonovan.com.
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