Red Zone (5 page)

She glanced over her shoulder and saw Hansen leaning casually against his car across the lot. He nodded when he noticed her looking. Getting down to business, she turned back around to face Daniels. “We’ll follow behind the buses. I’m booked—” She stopped midsentence as he closed the distance between them. 

As he came closer, she was ready to jump down his throat for invading her space, when he leaned in and whispered, “I’m going to kiss you good-bye now. Gotta keep up appearances, beautiful.”

Before she could respond, his lips made contact. The kiss was brief, his mouth gone before she could even react, but it left her lips tingling. 

She stared up at him in disbelief. He was still standing way too close for comfort. “Have a safe trip,” he said, winking. Then he picked up his duffle that had been lying on the ground beside them and strolled over to one of the buses as if nothing unusual had happened. 

Stunned, she stood longer than necessary to watch as he loaded the bus. Shaking herself out of her haze, she picked up her own luggage and walked to where Hansen was waiting. It didn’t take a genius to know he’d seen the kiss. “Don’t say a word, Hansen.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Carson,” he said, smiling as he opened the car door and slipped inside. 

Chapter 4

They attacked him the minute he sat down. 

“Since when do you have a girlfriend, man?” Kenny asked. 

“Yeah. I mean she’s hot and all, but I thought you didn’t do girlfriends,” Zach added.

Gage shrugged. “It’s new.” What else was he supposed to say? Zach and Kenny were his best friends. The three of them went out almost every weekend together. They knew his history with women. Knew he didn’t date. Not in the traditional sense at least. The other guys might not question his new relationship, but these two would. No one was supposed to know who Rebecca Carson really was, but it was going to be a challenge to make Zach and Kenny believe he’d turned over a new leaf. 

“New?” Zach scoffed. “Dude, you were just with that blonde last week at the club. So either this girlfriend thing happened in the last few days or you were cheating, and you know how I feel about that. Friend or not, I’ll kick your ass for her,” he said, suddenly dead serious.

“I wasn’t cheating.” Gage hurried to assure his friend. “It . . . it happened this week.” 

Zach was a bit more reserved than him and Kenny. He’d left his longtime girlfriend behind in upstate New York to come play professional football in Nashville. They’d kept in contact, and as far as he’d been concerned, still dating each other exclusively. When they’d gotten a bye week between playoff games, Zach had flown back to surprise her. Only he was the one surprised. He’d found her snuggling up to another man in the local coffee shop. The fallout wasn’t pretty, and Zach hadn’t been able to get his head back together before the next game even though Gage and Kenny had tried everything they could to cheer their friend up. He’d ended up taking a hit that he should have seen coming and had dislocated his shoulder. It had meant the end of his playing for the rest of the season. 

“Wow,” Kenny said. “That is new.” 

The bus began moving, and Gage glanced out the window. He looked around until he found the car containing the two FBI agents. In the background, he could hear their coach had stood up to talk to the team as he usually did. It was just the standard ‘
this is what’s going to happen when we arrive at the airport, remember you are representing the entire team
’ speech he always gave. 

Gage tuned him out and closed his eyes, thankful for the diversion. He didn’t want to lie to his friends, but he couldn’t tell them the truth. 

The ride to the airport was relatively short. Everyone grabbed their gear and shuffled off the bus into the busy airport. Zach and Kenny were ahead of him in the group. He’d intentionally hung back on the bus and let them go ahead. Too many things were going on in his head right then. He didn’t need them adding to the chaos. 

He was almost at the security gates when he felt a tingle go up his spine. Glancing over his shoulder, his eyes locked onto hers. But as soon as she realized he’d caught her staring, her gaze darted away to the surrounding area. 

Gage smiled, but it died on his lips as he continued to work his way through security and into the terminal with the rest of his team. Seeing her again brought that brief kiss back to the front of his mind. He’d like to say it wasn’t any different from any other kiss he’d shared with a woman, but he wasn’t into lying to himself. Brief as it was, the kiss had left a mark.

Being twenty-six years old, he’d kissed his fair share of women. Add to that his pseudo-celebrity status, and that number multiplied considerably. Some of those kisses over the years had made his head spin, but never had a simple peck on the lips left him reeling. He could still feel the impression of her lips against his, feel the tender softness begging for attention. It didn’t make sense. Why was this kiss standing out?

Thankfully, they arrived at their gate, which forced him to concentrate on the task at hand. He needed to push Rebecca Carson out of his mind, and focus. They had a game tomorrow, and with the playoffs less than two months away, every game counted. He needed to remember what was important—the game and his team. Whatever was going on with his personal bodyguard would to have to wait until he got back home. 

Much to Rebecca’s surprise, the ticket Mr. Donovan arranged for her was in first class. The team was back in coach, and she resisted the urge to check on Daniels. They were on a plane and he was surrounded by his team. Unless all his teammates were out to get him, she was fairly certain he was safe.

She couldn’t believe he’d caught her staring at him. The whole plane ride, she continued to berate herself. Watching him
was
part of her job. That wasn’t what she was doing, however, and she knew it. Not in a professional sense anyway. Not like she was meant to be watching him. It was good this wasn’t an official assignment. Otherwise, she might be looking at something more than a temporary administrative leave.  

He was a cocky, egotistical, irritating man. Why she was wasting even a minute thinking about him in something other than a completely detached, professional capacity was beyond her. He was just part of the job, and so was putting up with him, his attitude, and . . . his kisses. More than anything else, she knew that was what was bothering her most. 

The plane landed in Seattle, and being in first class, she was one of the first to exit the plane. As soon as she stepped into the terminal, she scanned the surrounding area. She was on her own in Seattle. Hansen was staying in Nashville to watch things there. It was odd not having her partner nearby, but she’d been on her own for brief assignments before. 

Nothing appeared to be out of place. The airport was busy, but everything seemed normal. She walked over to the far wall, where she’d have a good view of Daniels exiting the plane, and waited. 

When he emerged ten minutes later, he was once again flanked by Zach and Kenny. It reaffirmed her assessment from earlier as to their friendship. She stayed back as the team walked as a group through the airport and out the door to a waiting charter bus. Taxis were lined up along the curb as well, and she was able to hop in one and follow Daniels’s bus to the hotel. Although, she would have loved to take a cursory look over the buses before he got on board, it was like the plane. The likelihood of his stalker attacking him while surrounded by his team was minimal. Either way, inspecting the buses would draw attention they didn’t want. She’d have to settle for keeping his bus in her line of sight. 

She paid the driver and ducked inside the hotel lobby. From where she stood, she could clearly see the team unloading. One by one, each man exited the bus and walked into the hotel. It was obviously something they were used to, as they seemed to have a system. 

One of the older gentlemen she’d seen before walked up to the front desk. He was there for a good fifteen minutes, talking and signing paperwork. The team lingered around the lobby in much the same grouping they had in the players’ parking lot, including Daniels. He was standing about twenty feet away from her with Zach and Kenny, although Daniels didn’t look nearly as cool and confident as he had before. It made her curious as to what exactly had been said while she was out of earshot. 

The older man returned to the group with a large manila envelope and proceeded to call out names. In groups of two, the guys took their keys and walked to the elevators. The process took a while. She hadn’t realized just how many were on the team, although she should have. She’d seen them all in the players’ parking lot back in Nashville and watched them load the three coach-sized buses. 

As the group dwindled, Rebecca was able to get a better look at their surroundings. There weren’t many places to hide, which she liked. No one appeared to be standing around, lingering out of place, outside of the players waiting for their room assignments. Whoever was stalking Mr. Hotshot Quarterback was either extremely good at blending in or wasn’t there. 

Finally, only a handful of players were left, including Daniels. Rebecca continued to watch as, one by one, everyone was given a key. He was last. “Looks like you’re rooming alone on this one, Daniels,” the man said. 

“Yeah, I guess so.” He knew she was here, and he’d not struck her as a dumb man. Whether either of them liked it or not, it looked like they would be sharing a room that night. 

With his room key in hand, Gage walked to the elevator at the far side of the hotel lobby. He didn’t have to look behind him to know his friendly FBI agent was following him. It had crossed his mind on the way here that she would either be in a connecting room or Tim would somehow manage to put her in the same room with him. Since she was supposed to be protecting him, it made logical sense. That didn’t mean he had to like it any more than he liked her being in his house. 

The elevator doors opened, and he stepped inside. Sure enough, she followed. 

Neither spoke as they ascended. He could see her reflection in the polished silver of the elevator doors. She had on that professional mask she wore most of the time. He was going to have fun trying to break that once they went back home. For the moment, however, he had to figure out how mentally to prepare for tomorrow’s game with her shadowing his every move. Usually, he would hole up in his hotel room playing video games with Zach and Kenny. As much as he loved the female population, taking the chance on one of them messing with his head the night before a game wasn’t something he was willing to gamble on. 

They arrived at their floor, and he wasn’t surprised when she followed him to his room. He closed his eyes and sighed. The only hope he had of getting the situation changed was to call Tim, and he already knew what he’d say.
Not your call.
He was feeling that way about too many things lately.

Putting on his game face, he strolled into the room and flung himself down on the bed. With his hands behind his head, he stretched out and watched her walk in at a much slower pace. She took in their surroundings with as much concentration as he did when he was in the middle of a game standing in the pocket looking for an open receiver. Once she seemed satisfied nothing was going to jump out and attack them, she walked to the other side of the room and placed her small suitcase onto the other bed. 

He frowned. How had he missed her carrying luggage? How did he not realize she’d be carrying luggage? They’d just come from the airport after all. 

“Your game isn’t until one o’clock local time tomorrow. Is there anywhere else you need to be before then?” she asked, her eyes on the wall across the room. 

“No,” he answered. “Saturday night most of the guys relax in their rooms.”

“Do you?” she asked. 

He felt a bit of resentment at the skepticism in her tone. “Implying?”

When she leveled her gaze on him, her eyes were hard and emotionless. “I’ve seen your file.”

“You have, have you?” he asked, standing. She was across the room, but it didn’t take long for him to close the distance between them.