Playing Dirty (A Bad Boy Sports Romance) (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kate

I paced nervously from one end of the room to the other as I waited for Jay to get out of the shower. The past few days had flown by, and I was jolted out of whatever happy, warm place I’d been in when I saw the subject line from my producers.

My heart was pounding in my chest. Somewhere in my inbox lay the keys to my future. I was afraid to open the email without Jay by my side, and it didn’t even occur to me to feel embarrassed if the news was anything less than amazing. I knew he’d be supportive of me no matter what it was.

After the plane crash, after everything that had happened, I realized how much I felt at home in Manchester. Even though I hadn’t planned on staying, I was definitely thinking about it now. It was going to be so hard to go back to New York, to the hustle and bustle of jaded urbanites every day, especially after being in such a beautiful and relaxed city, so close to some of the most gorgeous parks I’d ever seen.

My phone beeped once and I looked down, smiling as I saw a text from Lizzy. When we’d gotten together the other night, we’d had one of the most honest talks that we’d ever had. Even though we were close, we didn’t often spend a lot of time talking about our emotions and how we felt about things, because I wasn’t exactly comfortable sharing my anxieties with my younger sister. I thought it would make me a bad sister. Instead, I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure Lizzy felt like she had a strong, fearless role model.

“I was so afraid,” I’d said to her when I’d let myself into the flat. “I was so afraid to get on that plane, I couldn’t go without letting Jay know how I really felt about him.”

Lizzy looked at me with wide eyes. “Are you kidding?” She reached over and lightly cuffed me on the side of the head. “My big sister, afraid to tell some jock asshole how she feels?”

She winked at me and I felt a blush spreading over my cheeks. “Hey, just because I called him a jock asshole a month ago doesn’t mean anything now,” I replied.

Lizzy stuck her tongue out at me. “So, where are you going to live? And
don’t
say New York, because people will literally want to kill you if you take Jay away from Manchester United.”

I laughed wryly. “I couldn’t see myself living in New York and being happy ever again, honestly,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “That city is just so unhappy and jaded. At least with all the people I know there, anyway. I don’t know why I used to idolize the place so much.”

Lizzy smiled. “I remember that. You had posters of New York in your dorm room!”

I laughed. She was right—in college, I’d been completely obsessed with the idea of moving to the city. I shook my head. “I just don’t think I can go back,” I said. “Or at least, I don’t think I can go back and have things be the same as they were before.”

Lizzy batted her eyelashes at me until I was choking back laughter. “And leave your precious Jay?” She fluttered a hand to her chest, then closed her eyes and pretended to faint. “I doubt you could, Kate.”

“It’s not just him,” I said, although that was maybe only half true. “I really like this area. Even some of the foods that I wasn’t a fan of before are growing on me.”

Lizzy raised her eyebrows at me. “You’re telling me you want to try blood pudding now?”

I shook my head quickly. “Maybe not that,” I said, before she could suggest any other number of things. “But there’s something magical about being here.”

“I know,” Lizzy replied. She folded her hands in her lap. “I don’t want to go back to the States, either. I want to stay here and finish university in Manchester. Then maybe I can get a job and I won’t have to go home.”

I frowned. “Isn’t it hard for Americans to emigrate to England?”

“Maybe if my older sister marries a famous football player, I won’t have to try very hard.” Lizzy pouted at me and folded her arms over her chest. “I mean, you
would
do that for me, right?”

I laughed. My cheeks were burning bright red.
Marry
Jay? I’d barely known him a month! And yet…..it wasn’t the craziest idea I’d ever heard. It definitely wasn’t the worst, either.

“He’s different,” I said, barely aware of the dreamy tone that was slipping into my voice. “He’s different from any other guy I’ve ever been with. He’s…considerate. And he’s kind. He doesn’t do things just so people will know he’s doing them.”

“That’s good,” Lizzy replied. “And I know he’s a nice guy, Kate. You wouldn’t be with anyone who treated you like crap. At least not anymore.”

Crying over other guys seemed like a thing of the past. I didn’t know how Jay and I were going to end up, but I had to believe that we would succeed, somehow. Even though we lived an ocean apart from each other, we’d find a way to make everything work.

I had a feeling this email from my producers would be a defining moment in our relationship, and I looked up at Jay anxiously as he finally exited the shower.

“Hey there,” he said. He swatted me with a towel and made a face at me as he posed naked. “Fancy this bloke, do you?”

I laughed. He always did a better job than anyone of making me feel relaxed and happy. I was definitely going to miss that if I had to head back to the States.

He pulled a pair of sweatpants over his delicious hips and grinned at me, shaking the water from his close-cropped hair. “So, what’s this email all about?”

I pushed my laptop towards him. “Can you read it for me?” I asked. “I can’t look at the screen right now. I feel sick.”

Jay pulled me into a close hug. Water from the shower was still clinging to his face and neck in tiny droplets, but I didn’t even mind. He smelled clean and masculine, just
good
, the kind of scent I wanted to bury myself in. I kissed his neck and gently bit the soft skin, and he groaned and nuzzled into me.

“Come on, let’s go to bed,” I whispered. “I don’t even want to look at this right now.”

Without waiting for a reply, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed my way down his chest, and Jay put his hands on my shoulders. I thought he was guiding me further down his body, so when he pushed me away, I was surprised.

He grinned at me. “You know how bloody strong my will has to be to decline sex with you, Kate?”

I blushed furiously. “So don’t decline,” I said, as casually as I could muster.

Jay shook his head. “Nope, sorry, but nice try. We’re looking at this email right now, and that’s that.”

He pulled me onto his lap, and I reluctantly pulled his computer towards us. My nerves were jangling and I could feel my heart thudding in my chest, slamming against my ribs to the tune of my anxiety. As I settled on his muscular thighs, Jay wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close.

“Just breathe for a minute, okay?” He nuzzled into the back of my neck. The sensation of his warm breath against my skin made me shiver, and I could feel goose bumps breaking out over my whole body. “Just relax. Know that whatever happens in this email, everything is going to be okay. I love you, Kate, and I’ll love you no matter what your producers have to say.”

I felt a tiny wave of calm break over me, and I grinned and blushed, glad that Jay was unable to see my face.

“Okay,” I said in a shaky voice. “Here goes nothing.”

I clicked on the subject line (‘Hello Kate, Please Read’) and took a deep breath. In front of me were several paragraphs of text that threatened to swarm together in one mass of black and white scribbles. I closed my eyes.

“I almost don’t want to know what it all says. It’s better
not
knowing sometimes, right?”

Jay chuckled, low and deep in his throat. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew what it said already,” he replied. “Come on, Kate. Don’t drag this out any more than you already have.”

I frowned. “Okay,” I said. “I’m reading it now.”

Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, I began to skim the first paragraph.

When I was finished with the whole email, I read it again, then once more, to be sure that I’d really understood what they were saying. My mouth was dry and I wanted to get off Jay’s lap but I felt like I couldn’t move.

“Well, what is it?” Jay shifted underneath me. “What happened? What did they say?”

I blinked. “They’re ending my show,” I said softly. “The ratings were too bad towards the end. But they’re giving me one more episode, which they say I can broadcast from here in England, to kind of wrap things up.”

I wiped a tear from my eyes. Even though it wasn’t the news I’d been hoping for, I couldn’t deny that I felt better for having read it. At least now I knew where I stood, and I could start to plan for the future.

“Oh, Kate,” Jay said. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and squeezed. “I’m so sorry. I know that isn’t what you wanted.”

I bit my lip. “It’s not, really,” I said. “But I guess this is how it had to end.” I slid off Jay’s lap and climbed to my feet. Already, miraculously, I was starting to feel better.

He frowned at me before giving me a cautious look. “So, how do you feel?”

I shrugged. “Not great,” I admitted. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen now. My future is in limbo.” I sighed and stretched, raising my arms high above my head. “I could do anything, I guess.”

He grinned. “You could be a zookeeper,” he said with a grin. “Or maybe a lion tamer.”

I rolled my eyes. “With you and your Manchester United lot, I feel like I already
am
a lion tamer.”

Jay winked at me and pulled me close. He wrapped his arms around me and I pressed my face into his bare, muscular torso, wondering how I got to be so lucky. I had one of the hottest and most sensitive guys in the world rooting for me and my career. I’d never felt as supported as Jay had made me feel, and we’d barely known each other for a month!

There really was a silver lining to every dark cloud.

“I guess I’m lucky,” I said into Jay’s smooth chest. “I mean, now I get to stay here, right? And on top of that, I get to stay with you.”

He reached down and slipped his fingers under my chin, tilting my head up so our eyes were locked. “Yep, you’re a lucky bird, all right,” he said in a cheeky, teasing tone before leaning down and pressing his lips against mine. A little shiver of lust went through me. “And I love you, too,” he added.

I licked my lips. “Now I can do whatever I want,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. In truth, I wasn’t as upset as I’d thought I might be. I mean, part of me was sad—part of my life was over. But now I felt hopeful about the future. Now, I could do something else if I wanted, and on top of that, it meant no more working with Josh. I grinned as I realized I’d never have to see his smug face ever again.

“What’s so funny?” Jay smirked at me.

“Just realized I never have to see Josh again,” I replied. “Definitely a perk of being fired.”

He chuckled. “True. Although you weren’t exactly fired. Having a show canceled isn’t really the same thing. And with the show canceled, that means Josh is out of a job too….boo hoo.”

“That’s true,” I admitted. “On both counts.”

“And you know, I wasn’t lying when I first met you,” Jay went on.

“Wasn’t lying about what?” I asked, my brows furrowing with confusion.

“When I said you have tons of fans here in the UK. I bet you’d easily be able to score a gig working in TV here, if that’s what you wanted to do.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s an idea.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what the coming weeks, months or years held for my career, but I knew it would all work out in the end, and at least I knew who I was going to be spending all that time with.

Jay.
He was my future.

And what future could be any brighter?

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jay

Kate spent a few days nervously getting ready for her last segment. We were going down to a local Manchester studio for it to air, and I knew she was excited but anxious. I kept asking what she planned to talk about on air, but she wouldn’t tell me, and as much as I wanted to know, I respected her decision. After all, Kate had seen
me
at work several times, but aside from passing glances at her old show, I’d never seen her in a business mindset.

The night before we were to go to the studio, she slipped out of the bathroom wearing a fantastic dress. It was black, with lace sleeves and a tight skirt that made her ass look incredible…and it was like nothing I’d ever seen her in.

“My god,” I said. “Who are you, and where is Kate Romero?”

Kate giggled. She’d put on heavy makeup and dark lipstick, and she looked vampy and sexy. “Feel like taking me on a date?” she asked.

“I feel like I shouldn’t let you out of my flat,” I murmured, pulling her close and slipping my arms around Kate’s waist. As I kissed her ear, I mumbled: “Any blokes see you and they’re going to want a piece of that gorgeous bod of yours.”

Kate shivered and squirmed in my arms, and she placed her arms around my neck and leaned in, nuzzling me and planting her wet lips on my skin. I shivered, feeling my cock twitch inside my pants. I was hard in a matter of seconds, and Kate seemed to know it. She pressed her lithe body against mine, moaning softly as I kneaded the pert cheeks of her ass.

“You look amazing,” I said as I nuzzled her hair. She lifted her face up to me to be kissed, and I was lost in her soft lips. As the kiss deepened, she slipped her tongue into my mouth, and I could feel her nipples hardening through the soft fabric of the dress. When I realized she wasn’t wearing a bra, a powerful wave of lust ripped through me.

“I want you, Jay,” she whispered softly. She broke the kiss and ran her hands through my short hair, massaging the back of my neck until I felt weak. Slipping my hands between her legs, I scooped her up and wrapped her slim legs around my waist, and she moaned and began to grind her hips against me. The dress rode up almost to her waist, and I saw that she wasn’t wearing panties. She fastened her lips to the base of my neck and began to gently suck as I walked her backwards to the bed, throwing her down gently, and she immediately got to all fours and crawled towards me.

“You are a goddess,” I murmured as I watched her fumble with the snap of my jeans. “And I can’t wait to—”

I gasped mid-sentence. Kate had taken my hard erection out of my pants, and she made eye contact with me while moving her lips closer and closer to the head of my cock. I shuddered as I felt her warm tongue caress my skin, over and over again.

“Come and get me, Jay,” she said. She reclined on the bed and raised her arms over her head, smiling seductively, and my mouth watered at the sight of her amazing curves, tightly encased in black fabric. With a growl, I threw myself on the bed and crawled towards her, nipping at her ankles and making her squeal.

“You’re going to regret teasing me like that,” I murmured into her ear when I was on top of her. She groaned underneath me and pressed her body against mine. My erection was throbbing and I was dying to take her, to make her mine.

“I regret nothing,” she replied. She winked at me coquettishly, and with a grin I reached down and yanked her dress up, exposing her nakedness. She squirmed and moaned when I slipped a finger between her legs, and she was so wet that I groaned.

With a grin, I grabbed her thighs and pulled them apart, crawling between them and teasing her with the head of my erection. Kate moaned softly. She arched her back and wrapped her legs around me, covering my cock with her warmth. When I felt the head of my erection slide inside her tightness, I groaned, and she let out a little yelp before leaning forward and nipping at my ear. When I began to thrust, she automatically matched my rhythm. I could tell she was incredibly worked up, and it was only a matter of minutes before she cried out loudly with release. She almost sounded like she was in pain, but I could tell that she was completely giving herself up to me. As our bodies moved together at a frenzied pace, pleasure burst in my lower belly and I groaned into Kate’s neck, fucking her harder until I felt my cock spasm and twitch with the release of my own orgasm.

We lay like that together for a few moments before I rolled off Kate and flopped onto my back.

“I knew you’d like that dress,” she said. “I brought it on a whim, thinking I could wear it out on some date.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I bet you never planned on making it past the bedroom door.”

Kate blushed furiously. She tugged the dress back down over her thighs and rolled onto her side. Her green eyes reflected some of the dim light from the bedroom and suddenly, I felt more in love with her than ever before.

“This is better,” she said softly. “This is much, much better.”

The next morning, we left for the studio early in the morning. Kate was dressed casually; dark wash jeans, a silk blouse, and a scarf in her hair. I thought she looked stunning, but she kept fretting over her looks the whole way to the studio.

“Don’t roll the windows down, Jay, I don’t want it to mess up my hair,” Kate said when I started to do that very thing. “I’m sorry. I know I probably sound crazy.”

I shrugged. I was a bit nervous myself. “You’re forgiven,” I told her lightly. “Just kiss me first.”

At the studio, Kate was whisked away from me into a cloud of makeup and hair stylists. She’d told me privately that this was the reason she wanted to do her own look before heading to the studio; all of these people were strangers, and she didn’t trust them to make her up right.

“I might come out looking like a monster,” she’d said with a laugh. “And we can’t have that. My viewers have to recognize me, after all.”

“I’m sure they’ll recognize you,” I said. It wrenched my heart to see Kate unhappy, even if it was just for a moment or two. “And I’m sure they’ll love whatever you have to say to them.”

I watched from behind the cameras as she finally took her place on the little set. She was seated behind a desk with a coffee mug in front of her, and the glaring lights were hot, but she seemed unfazed. She was confident and poised, and I realized that she was truly in her element, kinda like when I was on the pitch and had to make a play—all of my energy was focused on doing just that. And Kate, in her own way, displayed the exact kind of discipline that my mates always strived for.

The applause was deafening as the show went live, and Kate wore a practiced smile—friendly, but not too casual. As the cheers died down, she greeted everyone loudly.

“I’m so glad you are all watching,” she began. She smiled. “And as you can see, despite my time across the pond, I still sound like a brash New Yorker.”

There were loud cheers and Kate smiled, a practiced move, waiting for the cries to die down. “Before I begin my main segment, I wanted to speak with you all tonight about something that’s a little more personal to me than some of my previous shows. While big issues are always important and relevant, I want to talk to you about something that seems a bit closer to home.” She paused and looked around the audience with a smile. “When I first came over to Manchester, on vacation, my sister suggested we go to this football match—Manchester United against Liverpool.”

There were loud cheers from the audience, and boos for Liverpool. Kate smiled politely.

“And you know, sports kind of aren’t my thing.” She blushed, just a little, and managed to look both demure and coy. “But since I was on Lizzy’s time, well, I had to go with her.”

“What happened?” Someone cried loudly from the audience. Kate didn’t address them, but she did give a brief smile.

“I enjoyed myself,” she said. “I thought it was going to be a miserable time—loud drunks stampeding everywhere, jocks on the field, people making jerks out of themselves. But I had fun. The energy really caught me and I wound up enjoying myself more than I had at any point in recent memory.”

The audience was silent.

Kate continued. “So I really should have apologized to Lizzy.” She waited for a beat. “Not just because I was rude, but because I had preconceived notions of what it was going to be like. And I was wrong.”

She looked out over the audience and a more serious expression fixed on her face. “My show was designed to showcase equal opportunity for women, and I always wanted to feature women making choices for themselves without being judged. We’re all guilty of this sometimes, but lately, I think the hypocrisy has been overwhelming. I started receiving low ratings on my show after one newspaper—
one
newspaper—ran a story about how I went out with a football player. That one story was enough to make people turn their backs on me, and that one story was apparently enough to make certain people think that everything I’ve ever said is total bullshit.”

Someone in the audience gasped. I chuckled; I didn’t think Kate’s usual audience was used to profanity. Pride and love for her surged in my heart, and I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as I waited for her to finish.

“My misconception of football and football games is much like this. Except I knew that I was wrong, and I apologized, and since then I’ve tried to lead a very open life. Right now, my show is ending because of those low ratings, because I went out with a footballer. And right now, I want to let you all know—even though I don’t have to—that Jay is a wonderful man. He’s not just a jock, and he’s not just a guy who plays football. He’s a giving, sensitive, and loyal man. If you all think differently about him, it’s because you don’t know him. I refuse to apologize for being in a relationship with him, and if anyone wants to keep judging me, fine. Keep judging me. Stay a hypocrite.”

There was a pause, and Kate shrugged. Someone in the audience cheered and she smiled briefly. “The most important thing in my life is honesty and transparency, and this is what you’re getting. I’m no less of a role model to women just because I have a life. On the contrary, I think role models
should
have lives. If being a role model is going to hold me to a plastic mold of myself, then I’m done with that.”

Kate paused and took a deep breath. She looked over to me and smiled, making my heart thump in my chest. Finally, she said: “Thank you all very much for your support and your love over the years. I’ve really appreciated hosting Keeping Current With Kate. And now, let’s get started with tonight’s last-ever theme…”

The rest of the show went smoothly, and when the cameras stopped rolling, Kate visibly relaxed. Some people on set began cheering and she flushed as she got up from her seat and walked over towards me. With a shaky grin, she reached out her arms and wrapped them around my neck.

“How did I do?” Kate pulled back and gazed into my eyes.

“You were bloody brilliant,” I said honestly, releasing her.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

She turned around a second later when a producer asked her something, and she didn’t see me as I dropped to one knee on the floor.

She turned back around. “Jay, want to go for drinks? Some of the camera—oh my god!” she said.

“Will you marry me, Kate?” I asked, holding the ring up towards her. Tears flashed in her eyes and I watched a hundred emotions play on her face.

“Yes,” she said. She shook her head up and down. “Yes, yes, yes!”

I slid the ring onto her shaking hand and stood up, pulling her close to me and nuzzling into her sweet-smelling hair. Around us, people cheered and clapped and yelled, and Kate snuggled close to me and sighed happily.

“I can’t believe this,” she said dreamily, pulling away. “This ring is so beautiful! And it fits me perfectly, too.”

I grinned. “You wouldn’t believe this, but I was actually going to propose to you on camera,” I said casually. Kate’s eyes bulged. “But then I changed my mind,” I said quickly, before she could respond. “Because I’m not the kind of guy who does these things just for attention anymore. This last show was yours, Kate, and I wanted you to have every moment of that to yourself.”

“Oh, Jay,” Kate said. A tear ran down her cheek and I reached down to wipe it away. “This is incredible.”

“You’re incredible,” I whispered in her ear. “And now you’re going to be my wife.”

I couldn’t wait to marry her.