Catching Cameron: A Love and Football Novel (31 page)

She was also wondering why her dad called Zach, and why Zach was being so secretive about it. If he and Zach got into it again . . .

Zach’s voice broke into her troubled thoughts.

“I understand you think you’re staying below a certain calorie count when you eat. It’s not helping you, Cameron. You need to eat foods that will give you the energy to get through your day.” He nodded at her plate. “Protein’s good, but you need some balance here. Why are you doing this to yourself?”

She appreciated the fact he thought he was helping, but right now he was pissing her off. She stood up from her chair, yanked her tray off the table, and turned on her heel to walk away from him.

“Where in the hell are you going?” he called out.

“Downstairs. I need to get to work.”

She heard him shove his chair back. She glanced behind her to see him grab another piece of bacon off his plate before putting his tray into the bus tub by the doorway. She reached out for the elevator’s control panel, punching the “down” button multiple times.

“It’s not getting here faster because you’re irritated.” He crammed the last piece of bacon into his mouth.

She ignored him. The elevator door opened. She stepped on. He got inside, too, before she could punch the “close doors” button.

She was silent during the thirty-second ride to the ground floor of the facility. He reached out to hit the “stop” button on the panel before the doors could open.

She heaved a loud sigh and looked at the floor. She crossed her arms across her chest, too.

“Maybe you should tell me why you’re flipping out over this,” he said. “Is it the food? Your dad and I talked to each other? What is it that you’re pissed off about? We’re going to stay in here until you start talking. I’d recommend doing so now.”

“I can handle my own life.” She stared up at him. “I don’t need you monitoring my food intake or telling me how to fix my family problems. Joanna will call the fire department if these doors don’t open in a minute or so.”

He leaned back against the elevator car’s wall. “She’s not in yet. She doesn’t get here until after 8:30
AM
.” He reached out, grasping her shoulders and turning her to face him. She averted her eyes and stared up at the elevator car’s ceiling. “So, why don’t you talk to me, instead of freezing me out?”

“If you thought that was going to make me want to have a discussion with you on just about any topic right now, you’re wrong.”

He leaned forward and hit the ‘stop’ button once more for good measure.

“Listen,” he said. “Let me talk to the team’s nutritionist. I’m not doing this to be an ass. I want to help, and you’ll feel better. Plus, I want to tell you about the stuff I talked with your dad about.”

In the part of her brain that wasn’t really irritated with him right now, she understood why he was trying to help. He needed to drop it right now, though. She also had a bad feeling she was about to walk into a buzzsaw as far as her father was concerned. She would appreciate some information about what was talked about during what must have been one hell of a phone call. If the two of them managed to be on the phone long enough to discuss her, it didn’t bode well.

“We can be here all day. It’s up to you,” he said.

“You’ll get a huge fine if you are late to practice. If you don’t lift and warm up beforehand, you’re risking injury.” She stared into his eyes. She reached out and pushed the “doors open” button, stepping out of the elevator before he could grab her. She walked away without another word.

A
FTER A LOT
of trial and error over the past couple of weeks, Cameron could find the temporary production room assigned to the PSN production staff without a GPS. Logan was lounging against the hallway wall outside the room, which also helped.

“Hey, nice to see you. Where were you this morning?” he asked her.

“I had no idea you all were starting so early. Why didn’t you tell me?”

He avoided her eyes, glancing at the floor. “I got the call at 5:30 am myself.”

“Who was doing the on-air stuff, then?”

Logan had added foot-shuffling and lip-licking to his repertoire. He still wasn’t looking directly at her. Something was wrong. “Ben said we’d fill that in later.”

“
What
? Someone else was there with you. Who was it?”

“Kevin and a new on-air personality.”

“Who might that be?” she blurted out. Ben chose that moment to walk into the hallway with them.

“Great job,” he said over his shoulder into the room. “I can’t wait to see the tape. I’ll be right back.” He shut the door behind him and gave Cameron a less-than-sincere smile. “Good to see you, Ms. Ondine.”

“It’s nice to see you as well, Ben. Why wasn’t I aware of this morning’s assignment?”

“We’re trying out a new on-air person. She’s already working on the voice overs. I wonder where she’s been all my life. She’s amazingly talented.” Ben raised one eyebrow and strode away.

Cameron ran after him. “Excuse me?”

“Concentrate on your romance, Ms. Ondine. Leave the sports reporting to the rest of us.”

“Really?” Her mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you firing me? I have a contract.”

“You think you’re going to manipulate me and PSN’s owner by running to your daddy and complaining that I’m exploiting you and your private life? You’ve got another thing coming.”

It was a good thing Cameron hadn’t finished her plate of food that morning; it felt like it was ready to come right back up. Zach had talked to her father. Ben was trying to replace her, and he had also talked to her father. She really didn’t like what this added up to.

“I haven’t spoken to my father without several witnesses present for two weeks now. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Plus, how are you going to explain to those currently happy with my ratings that you’ve replaced me for no apparent reason?”

“Maybe you texted him,” Ben spat. “Why the hell should I care? My new sideline reporter is more than happy to handle whatever I throw at her.”

The door behind them opened, and the television-ready Kacee stepped through it.

Chapter Twenty-Three

C
AMERON HEARD THE
door into the Sharks’ lobby slam shut behind Ben.

Kacee pointedly ignored Cameron, strolled up to Logan and said, “Are you ready? We can get that interview before practice starts, if Drew’s done with his lifting.”

Logan’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah.” He picked up the camera resting on the floor at his feet and didn’t meet Cameron’s eyes.

“I fired you, Kacee. Why are you still here?” Cameron said.

Kacee spun on her heel to face Cameron. “Ben says you don’t have the authority to fire me.” Her expression turned calculating. “I’m going to love scooping up all of your player interviews, too.” She gave Cameron a little wave as she flounced away. “Buh-bye now.”

“I’ve already interviewed Drew this week,” Cameron called out.

Kacee laughed. “You’ve never asked him these questions.”

“I still have time later,” Logan said to Cameron.

“How nice,” she said. “See you then.” She didn’t know if she still had a job at PSN, so it really didn’t matter if he was around to film with her or not.

“I don’t think so,” Kacee sang out as she hit the metal bar that opened the door onto the practice field. “He’ll be busy with me.”

Cameron let out a long sigh as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, sent three texts, and left the building through the door Kacee and Logan had just vanished through. She darted behind one of the wooden pillars that held up the front of the building. Logan had his camera up on his shoulder filming, and she wanted to see what was happening without being seen.

A few seconds later Drew emerged from the weight room’s open garage-style door. He sauntered onto the cement walkway in front of the practice field and dumped a bottle of water over his head to cool off. He was probably getting ready to run a few laps or do some stretching in the grass.

He either didn’t see or didn’t care that Kacee and Logan were less than two feet away from him as he bent from the waist, flipping his long hair back and spraying water everywhere. Kacee’s professional hair style, TV make-up, designer dress and heels got the brunt of the shower. Cameron resisted the impulse to laugh as her former assistant let out a screech. Kacee had abandoned any attempt at professionalism; she stamped her foot like a child as she shouted at Drew.

“Why did you do that? Now I’m a mess! Didn’t you see me?”

Drew glanced over at a dripping and sputtering Kacee. “I didn’t realize you were standing there. Sorry about that.” His expression was less than penitent. “It’s a warm one already, isn’t it?”

Cameron could see Logan’s shoulders shaking with laughter as he tried to steady his camera. Logan got a little water, too, but she knew that wouldn’t scare him off. She wondered how long it would be before the footage of Kacee’s meltdown was uploaded to YouTube. In the meantime, Kacee was still ranting at Drew.

“Now I’m going to have to change. It’s all your fault,” she wailed.

“Again, I’m sorry. I’ll have to be a little more careful next time.” He glanced over at Logan. “Where’s Cameron? I need to talk to her about something.”

“She’s in the building,” Logan said to him. “She should be out here pretty soon. If I see her first, I’ll tell her you’re looking for her.”

“I’m right here. You can talk to me right now,” Kacee insisted.

“Is that so? Well, then.” Drew’s voice was deceptively soft as he turned toward Kacee. He didn’t smile. “Tell whoever it is that submitted those interview questions to me last night that there’s no way in hell I’m discussing what I look for in a potential date, or my ‘turn-ons’ and ‘turn-offs.’ I’m not a
Playboy
centerfold. If you want to talk about football, I’m happy to do that, but my personal life’s off-limits.”

“What do you mean?” Kacee wailed. “They’re just fun questions. What’s the problem?”

“If you have to ask that question, you’re already wasting my time,” Drew said. He glanced over Kacee’s shoulder and caught Cameron’s eye. Cameron put a finger over her lips and hoped he wouldn’t call attention to her temporary hiding place. “If that’s what you consider an interview, you’re going to have the same problem talking with every other guy in this facility,” he said.

“Those are Cameron’s questions,” Kacee said. “She told me she wanted to try something different for her next show.”

Drew laughed in her face. “I don’t think so. Cameron wouldn’t ask those questions. Thanks for trying, Kacee. I have to go.” He turned and walked back toward the weight room, giving Cameron the barest wink as he passed.

“But I have questions for you! I really need an interview. What can we work out?” Seconds later, Cameron heard loud voices from the weight room.

“Get that camera out of here!”

“What the hell are you doing? Stop filming!”

“Media isn’t allowed in here!”

The last voice she heard she’d recognize anywhere: Zach’s. “What do you think you’re doing, Kacee?”

Cameron hurried back into the building through another door. The items on her mental to-do list had just tripled.

J
UST LIKE A
lot of guys in the building, Cameron was hearing footsteps, too. If Zach’s encounter with Kacee and Logan in the team’s weight room was any indicator, Kacee was attempting to take Cameron’s job.

After a rough few days when she first came to camp, the guys had decided they liked and trusted Cameron. She’d already passed up reporting on more than a few incidents that could have been pretty embarrassing to guys on the team or to the Sharks front office. She was professional. She was friendly, but not too friendly. He realized he was biased, but he liked the fact the guys had already closed ranks around Cameron.

Kacee had chased five different Sharks around the facility today. All five refused an interview with her, especially when McCoy filled them in on the list of questions he’d gotten via text from Kacee’s phone last night. Kacee wasn’t interested in actual sports content. There wasn’t a guy in the league that would answer questions about his love life; they’d be laughed out of the locker room.

Drew also told him that Kacee had bragged to Drew about how both the owner of PSN and Cameron’s boss were none too happy that Cameron’s father called to let them have it right after Zach spoke to him. According to Kacee, this would benefit her efforts to move in on Cameron’s job. She was also stupid enough to tell Drew that she was the source of all the leaks about Cameron and Zach, starting with the interview tape that just happened to get uploaded to YouTube.

Zach had a few things to say to Kacee. It might be smart for her to stay away from him until he settled down. Zach also realized that there was a pretty good chance that Cameron was now so pissed at him she wasn’t talking to him at all. He’d thought he was helping her by spilling the beans to her dad about her boss’s being such a dick to her. He should have realized her dad would make things worse. He would be infuriated if she did the same thing to him, too: Nobody messed with his career. Why did he think she’d welcome it?

He texted Cameron again: I NEED TO TALK WITH YOU. I SCREWED UP. FORGIVE ME? He waited impatiently for an answer. Five minutes later, he still hadn’t heard from her. She must be tied up somewhere. He’d talk with her later.

T
HE ONLY PLACE
these days where Cameron could have any expectation of privacy to make a phone call was her dorm room. She had about half an hour before she needed to be downstairs to cover today’s practice. She’d have to talk fast. She locked the dorm room door behind her, and moved across the room so her voice wouldn’t carry into the hallway.

She hit “dial” on her agent’s cell number. Laurie picked up on the third ring.

“It’s Cameron. I need to talk with you.”

“This isn’t a great time,” Laurie said. “How about calling me back in an hour?”

“I have to cover practice in an hour. Do you have five minutes?”

“Five minutes will work. By the way, PSN is thrilled with the ratings for
Third and Long
. The ratings for
NFL Confidential
have gone through the roof, too. Good job. Maybe they’ll show their appreciation with a bonus. How about it? Want me to start the negotiations?”