Striker (14 page)

She leaned forward, too, copying his stance, looking into those deep, almost navy-blue eyes of his. And she had absolutely no reason to argue with that.

Chapter Seven

‘You’re my secret weapon,’ Ryan whispered, his lips close to her ear as he pushed her over onto her back, parting her legs with his knee. ‘My very own lucky charm.’

Amber laughed out loud, throwing her head back as she wrapped her legs around him, the prospect of a few more minutes in bed so much more appealing than another day at the Sports Desk over at News North East. But she was going to have to make a move some time soon, whether she liked it or not. ‘Hmm…’ she groaned, stretching languidly as his mouth covered one of her breasts, his tongue flicking across her naked skin, his rough beard tickling her slightly, which only heightened the shivers that were shooting right through her. ‘I think you might be right. I’m certainly feeling lucky right now.’

He looked at her, those deep-blue eyes of his showing no signs of the little sleep they’d had the night before, whereas Amber was almost dreading looking in the mirror when she finally managed to summon up the enthusiasm to get out of bed.

‘Since I met you, Ms. Sullivan, I’ve scored in every single match I’ve played in, won ‘Man of the Match’ three times, and am currently being lauded as a saint here on Tyneside. They are loving me, baby.
Loving
me. And
you’ve
done that.’ He quickly kissed her unsuspecting mouth, an action which Amber was growing to love more and more as each day around Ryan Fisher unfolded. He had the sexiest mouth, and one that could deliver everything from the lightest of touches to the deepest, most erotic kiss she’d ever experienced.

She smiled up at him as he pulled away slightly, that familiar, almost boyish smirk on his handsome face. ‘Oh, come on, Ryan. I’m not sure I can take
all
the credit for your winning streak.’

‘Well, I can’t deny my incredible talent doesn’t have
something
to do with it.’

Amber grabbed a pillow and hit him with it, squealing loudly as he grappled the pillow from her hands, pulling her up into his arms.

‘Hey, you don’t want to be injuring this sporting legend now, do you?’ he smirked, his arms falling around her waist as she sat astride him.

‘If I really wanted to injure you, you egotistical pig, I could think of far more interesting ways of doing it.’

‘Oh yeah?’ he asked, arching an eyebrow.

‘Yeah,’ she smiled, closing her eyes and groaning quietly as his mouth once again covered one of her breasts, his tongue sending a million tiny electric shocks coursing through her all at once. ‘Jesus, Ryan, come on. I’m going to be late for work.’

He pushed her back onto the bed again, his hands holding onto her wrists as he pulled her arms up above her head, pinning her down, pushing his way inside her before she had any more chances to protest.

‘Ryan!’ Amber moaned, half of her angry at him for giving her no choice here, and the other half excited that the early morning sex wasn’t quite over yet. She was sure she could smooth things over with Kevin if she
did
happen to be a little late into the office. ‘You’re such a bastard!’

‘But an incredibly sexy one, huh?’ he grinned, holding tightly onto her wrists as he pushed in deeper, feeling her respond with a thrust of her hips and another long moan.

‘Yeah, alright, I give in. I really am sleeping with God’s gift to the football pitch, aren’t I?’

He gave a low, deep laugh and Amber couldn’t help but laugh, too. She’d tried so hard to fight this relationship with Ryan over the past few weeks, but it was a fight she’d lost in spectacular fashion. He’d reeled her in, and now she was hooked. And making no attempt to wriggle free. He was a breath of fresh air in her usually routine life. He was everything she needed, everything she’d wanted but had been too afraid to go out and get. He was a necessity, and he was becoming a fixture she didn’t really want to let go of just yet.

‘You are such an arrogant prick,’ Amber groaned, closing her eyes and falling back against the pillows as those final few post-sex shivers tingled their way up her body, leaving her slightly breathless but totally satisfied, and more than ready to go and face whatever it was that Kevin had in store for her today.

‘Yeah,’ Ryan sighed, rolling off her and sliding out of bed. As much as he loved being with Amber, he still wasn’t big on the post-sex cuddles. But it seemed she wasn’t all that bothered about them, either. She was fast turning into his perfect woman with that red-hot hair and a figure that was real, in the true sense of the word. Not one thing about Amber Sullivan was false, and she was just one of the many factors that contributed to the fact he was having the time of his life right now. His football was flawless, he was having the best sex he’d had in years, and all he had to do was make sure he kept those demons in check. And he was trying. He was. He was trying really hard. ‘But don’t tell me you don’t find that one hell of a turn-on.’

Amber laughed again, throwing her head back as he ripped the covers away from her naked body before retreating into the en-suite, leaving her to stretch out on his ridiculously huge bed, taking in the view of the River Tyne from the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined one entire wall of Ryan’s bedroom.

Smiling to herself she sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, still staring out at the early morning rush hour traffic streaming across the
Tyne
Bridge
as the sun began to rise. The dark skies were slowly turning lighter and she knew she’d have to make a move soon. As much as she’d love to hang around in Ryan Fisher’s bed all day, she had work to do. More’s the pity.

She was just fastening her watch onto her wrist when he walked up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist, his bearded chin resting on her shoulder. ‘You running away from me?’

‘I’ve got a proper job to go to,’ Amber half-smiled, turning her head slightly to kiss him quickly. ‘Unlike you, you part-timer.’

‘Ooh, fighting talk,’ Ryan laughed, squeezing her waist, making her giggle like some star-struck teenager. ‘Maybe you need to spend more time watching me train, huh? See exactly just what it is I do all day.’

She turned round, slipping her arms around his neck as he pulled her against him. ‘I
know
what you do all day, Ryan. I was brought up around footballers, remember? Although, my dad swears blind you all get away with murder these days. He says in his day you wouldn’t have had it so easy.’

‘Oh, I see where you get that fighting talk from now, kiddo. Inherited from daddy, huh?’

She just smiled, kissing him slowly, loving the feel of his half-naked body against her clothed one. She would be the envy of so many women if they knew just how close she’d become to this famous footballer, but for now their relationship was pretty much a secret. Not deliberately so, but they weren’t going out of their way to advertise the fact, either.

‘Don’t work too hard, okay?’ she winked, reluctantly pulling away from him and grabbing her bag from the chair by the door.

‘Am I gonna see you later?’ he asked, a question he wasn’t really used to asking. Usually
he
called the shots in whatever relationships he was involved in, but this was so different to anything he’d ever been involved in before. And he suddenly felt a little vulnerable. Another unusual feeling in Ryan Fisher’s world.

‘Yeah. If you want to,’ Amber replied, stopping briefly by the door.

‘I want to,’ he smirked, pulling the towel he was wearing from around his waist, giving Amber one last look at something else Ryan Fisher was famous for.

‘Then later it is,’ she winked, closing the bedroom door behind her.

Ryan couldn’t help laughing, running a hand over the back of his neck as he looked down at the floor. She was good for him, Ms. Amber Sullivan. There was no doubt about that. Over the past few weeks he’d managed to break down some of those barriers she’d built up around herself and got to know the woman behind that ice-queen façade. Because that’s all it was. A façade. She was hiding from something, protecting herself from something and he didn’t know what, he wasn’t even sure he cared. He just knew that she was somebody he wanted to spend time with.

Pulling on his jeans and a t-shirt, he bent down to pick up his kit bag, accidentally knocking a jacket off the back of the chair in the process. He turned round quickly as something fell out of the pocket, clattering to the floor, rolling underneath the sideboard. He crouched down, stretching his arm out to pick up the object that had rolled under there, sliding it out across the dark-wood floor. Standing up he leaned back against the sideboard, turning the rogue casino chip over and over in his fingers. It must’ve slipped into his pocket somehow the other night. Opening a drawer and quickly throwing it inside he slammed the drawer shut and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes for a second. He hadn’t wanted to go, he really hadn’t. And he shouldn’t have gone. Max would go spare if he found out, but he was still the new guy at the club and he didn’t want to isolate himself by turning down nights out with the other lads. He wanted to fit in, and as much as Ryan didn’t want to think about it he knew, deep down inside, that it was his desperate need to fit in that had caused all the shit in the past. But as far as Ryan was concerned, it wasn’t a step backwards. He’d been in control, he hadn’t done anything stupid. It wasn’t going to be like it had been before so there was no need to panic, no need for anyone’s concern. This time he was completely in control. This time it would be different.

*

‘How’s it all going, then?’ Ronnie asked, folding his arms as he perched himself on the edge of Amber’s desk.

She looked at him briefly before continuing to tap away on her keyboard. ‘How’s
what
all going?’

‘You and Ryan Fisher.’

She swung her chair round to face him, crossing her legs and clasping her hands together in her lap. ‘Keep it down, will you? It isn’t public knowledge yet.’

‘Oh, I see. It’s a
secret
relationship then, is it?’

‘It’s not like that, Ronnie. We just don’t see the point in broadcasting it, that’s all.’

Ronnie sniffed. ‘That’s unusual, for Ryan. Usually he’s first in the queue to be papped when he’s got a new piece of arm candy to show off.’

Amber couldn’t help laughing. ‘Arm candy? Hardly, Ronnie.’

‘You’re not the usual type Ryan Fisher goes for, I have to say.’

Amber looked at her best friend. ‘Do you want carry on? Give yourself a few more minutes and you might just get a touch more insulting.’

‘You know what I mean, Amber.’

‘I’m not sure I do, actually. Look, I really think he’s changed, Ronnie.’

‘Jesus, come on, Amber. What do you think you are? Some kind of miracle cure? You’re better than that. The likes of Ryan Fisher don’t change, it isn’t in him.’

‘Well, maybe people like
you
should try and give him a chance. Stop being so judgemental.’

Ronnie narrowed his eyes, looking at her as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. ‘Okay. You’re scaring me now. What’s caused this sudden turn-around in your opinion of one of football’s most arrogant pricks? A couple of dinner-dates and suddenly you think he’s a saint?’

‘Maybe I’ve just learnt not to judge a book by its cover.’

‘Yeah, but it’s not just the cover, though, is it, Amber? It’s backed up by everything that’s inside, too.’

Amber swung back around on her chair and started shutting down her laptop. She was tired and she needed to get home quickly tonight, shower, change, and then get herself over to the Tynebridge Stadium where she was covering a charity dinner for News North East that Newcastle Red Star were throwing. And it may be a night of working that lay ahead, but she still had to look good.

‘Look, Ronnie, it’s just a bit of fun, alright? And, if you remember, it was
you
who told me I should be having more of that.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t remember telling you to have it with Ryan Fisher.’

Amber smiled at Ronnie as she closed the lid of her laptop and stood up, slipping her coat on and grabbing her bag up off the floor. ‘You jealous?’

‘As if,’ Ronnie smirked, following her as she walked towards the lift that took them down to the underground car park. ‘You’re in a bit of a hurry, aren’t you?’

‘That’s because I’m in a rush. I’ve got to get home, shower, find something glamorous to wear and get my arse down to Tynebridge for seven-thirty. Kevin’s got me covering this charity dinner the club are throwing tonight.’

‘Oh, right. I’m off there, too. Quite a few ex-Red Star players are going to be there, so I gather. Your dad’s going, isn’t he?’

‘Yeah, he is,’ Amber replied, stepping into the lift, closely followed by Ronnie. ‘I wondered why
you
were back up north again.’

‘Well, somebody’s got to keep an eye on you, obviously,’ Ronnie winked, sticking his hands in his pockets as he leaned back against the wall. ‘So, what’s your dad think about you getting involved with Ryan Fisher?’

‘He doesn’t know, yet,’ Amber said, standing by the lift doors as they opened slowly, stepping out into the underground car park, her heels click-clacking across the concrete floor as she walked quickly towards her car.