Page 32 of Red Zone

What if he says no? Worse—what if he says yes, and it becomes a disaster?But as I watched Lily playing with her dolls, her giggles filling the room, I realized it wasn’t just about me anymore. She adored him, and the thought of seeing her happy, even for a few hours, made the risk worth it.

He answered on the third ring, the sound of weights clanging in the background telling me exactly where he was.

“Hey, Liam.” I cringed at how high-pitched my voice sounded and quickly cleared my throat. “It’s Skye. Are you busy?”What the hell?Of course, he was. I squeezed my eyes shut.

When I opened them, my too-intuitive-for-her-age daughter was studying me intently. A deep laugh rumbled through the speaker, causing a delicious shiver to travel through me.

“I’m wrapping up a workout. What can I do for you, Skye?”

So many things.No—I shook my head to clear memories from our past that I wouldn’t mind repeating. But that wasn’twhat this was about. “I had an idea for a feature about a day in the life of a college athlete. Are you interested?”

He hesitated. “Whatever you need, I’m in.”

I straightened. The stress that’d caused my shoulders to hover close to my ears eased a little until I glanced at my daughter. “There’s just one issue.” I cringed at my word choice. Lily was never an issue. “I’ll have to bring Lils with me.”

Lily squealed and clapped her hands. “I see Liam too!” She jumped to her feet and raced around the table to the stairs.

“Bring the little princess. It’ll be fun.”

“You say that now.” I stared at the spot Lily had vacated as she’d raced to her room. “I bet she’s packing her backpack with books and toys you’ll be required to entertain her with.”

“That doesn’t bother me even a little. I love kids.”

My stupid heart flipped, false hope filling it with longing that shouldn’t be there.He didn’t want me then, and now isn’t different,which means he probably won’t stick around for Lily.I wasn’t even touching the off-the-charts sex in the science building. I had to remind myself why I’d made my decision, or else I might break down and tell him everything. “I have some pictures of you at the gym already. I thought we could meet at the park near campus.” I rattled off the address where I took Lily sometimes. They had a playground, a trail through the woods, and a few obstacle courses that might be fun to take shots of Liam on.

I wanted to include a schedule that Uncle Tommy had shared with me about what his football players endured every week as well as candid shots of Liam and other athletes as they went through their routine, highlighting individual moments and what made them unique that could be a little more relatable to the general public.

Liam volunteered for most of the athletic department’s outreach programs. I’d talked with the contact in thedepartment who handled that and found out a date close to Christmas so I could attend and get some pictures. That article would come out before the championship game, but if it went the way I thought it might, the exposure to the team would be through the roof.

“Sure. I can wrap things up here and meet you two in a few minutes. Or do you want me to pick you up?”

“Oh, no. I’ll meet you there. I’ve got her car seat and stuff in my car.”

He sounded mostly normal aside from that slight hesitation in the beginning, not mad that I’d told him to forget anything had happened between us. Some of the tension in my shoulders eased. We agreed to a half hour as Lily came barreling back, flinging her bag at my feet that had her favorite stuffed bunny poking out of the top.

I disconnected the call and shoved my phone in the pocket of my jeans. “What did you pack?”

Lily rattled off everything she had to bring, pulling each item out and explaining why it needed to come with. It took ten minutes of negotiation, but I got her backpack reduced by half the items then included her toy camera so she could “work” alongside me rather than chasing after Liam and demanding he pay attention to her, which I felt he would do.

My heart was in serious danger at the thought of him playing with our daughter. God, if he knew.How would things change between us? Would he hate me? Or would he quit us cold, denying the chance at something more so he could be free to chase his dreams as a free agent, just as he’d made clear to me before?

I shuddered at the terrifying thought. It didn’t matter. Nothing would come of us spending time together, of him getting to know Lily more. He was too busy with football and school. The NFL Scouting Combine was on the not-too-distanthorizon, and he needed to kill it in the competitions held over those four days.

I need to stop obsessing and worrying. Everything would be okay, despite how much my aunt had been hounding me to tell him ever since she’d met Liam the night he brought me home after finding Jackson dead in the fountain.

I bundled Lily up for the cold morning in the park then gathered her bag of supplies and my camera bag before getting us into the car and pointed in the direction of where we were meeting Liam.

It wasn’t just about him or the team anymore. This campaign could be my ticket to a professional role if it worked. But every time he smiled at Lily or met my gaze with that intense focus, I wondered if I was getting in too deep.

It took five minutes to get to the park, just as fat snowflakes swirled lazily through the air, lightly dusting the bare tree branches and ground. Liam bounced on his toes not far from where I’d parked, his coat tossed on the hood of his truck, stretching his arms across his impressive chest. I tried to ignore how his dark-gray Under Armor shirt stretched across his broad shoulders and accented the rippling muscles of his arms and abdomen. He wore gray joggers that did nothing to hide his muscular thighs. I pushed out a breath, silently willing myself to get a grip as I climbed from the car and opened the back door to get Lily.

Liam was by my side before I noticed he’d moved. Lily squealed with delight when she saw him, making grabby hands that I ignored as I freed her from the car seat. She wiggled as I set her on her feet, then she launched herself at Liam’s legs.

“Little butterfly!” Liam laughed as he caught her.

I watched as he lifted Lily effortlessly into the air, her laughter ringing out against the crisp winter air. The way they mirrored each other—her eyes, his dimpled grin—tightenedsomething deep in my chest. It was only a matter of time before he put the pieces together. The thought terrified me.

“I was hoping you would come.” He tickled her tummy after settling her on his hip with ease.

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