Striker (32 page)

‘Amber.’ Jim turned his smile in her direction. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you up here. I thought you’d be downstairs, with Ryan.’

Amber looked at him, those green eyes boring into hers with an intensity she could well do without. Whether he was aware of the fact or not, what he was doing wasn’t fair. Just him being there wasn’t fair. But there was nothing she could do about that. ‘It’s not like you to encourage your players to fraternise with their partners in the middle of a training session,’ Amber said, keeping her voice steady and her eyes locked on his.

‘Five minutes can’t hurt. And you’re a sensible girl, aren’t you?’ Jim’s eyes continued to bore right into hers. ‘You won’t distract him, will you? You know the score… Listen, Amber, seeing as you’re here, can I have a quick word? Before you go?’

‘Erm… yeah. Okay.’

‘In my office, if that’s alright?’

Amber looked at him, trying to work out what he was playing at. If he was playing at anything. Did he really just want a word, and if so, what about? And when the hell had she become so paranoid about everything? The second Jim Allen had turned up back on Tyneside, that’s when. So, shouldn’t she be running downstairs to grab every precious second she could with Ryan before he disappeared back onto the training pitch? Instead of putting herself in another situation where she could be left alone with Jim.

When they reached his office he stood aside to let her through first before following her inside, closing the door behind him. Amber immediately walked over to the huge picture window at the back of the room that looked out onto the main training pitch. Her dad and Colin were now standing on the touchline with their arms folded, chatting away. They’d no doubt be putting the world of football to rights, if Amber knew her dad.

‘A little bird tells me your boyfriend is starting to let his feelings get in the way of his football,’ Jim began, leaning back against his desk, folding his arms.

Amber turned around, frowning slightly. ‘Colin
told
you? I thought he…’

‘No, it wasn’t Colin. Colin doesn’t tell me anything if he doesn’t think I need to know about it.’

‘Then… Was it my dad?’

‘I saw it, Amber. Just because I wasn’t outside at the time it doesn’t mean to say things escape my attention. I was up here, in this office. And you can see the view for yourself.’

Amber continued to look at him, the frown still etched on her face. ‘You don’t know what it was all about, though, do you? I mean, none of us could hear what they were saying to each other, even those of us…’

‘I don’t think we needed to hear anything to know what it was all about. Honey, I’m around these guys a hell of a lot, I hear snippets of conversations all the time.’

‘So? What’s that got to do with Ryan?’

‘A lot of these guys have made a play for you, haven’t they?’

Amber’s frown showed no signs of going away. ‘Yes, I suppose so, but… they were just trying it on, Jim. You know what they’re like. A female reporter is still a bit of a novelty in the world of football and some of them start acting like over-excited schoolboys when one appears… Are they saying things to him? To Ryan? Are they winding him up?’

‘What do
you
think?’ Jim replied, walking over to her.

‘Jesus,’ Amber sighed, throwing her head back. No wonder Ryan was acting like that. His mood was delicate enough as it was, with everything that was going on, so it was obvious the slightest thing was going to set him off. And he really didn’t need that. ‘I’d better go see him.’

‘Amber, hang on…’ Jim said, turning to grab her hand as she walked away towards the door. ‘Can I…?’

‘Can you, what?’ she asked, pulling her hand away, but not before she’d left it there for a couple of seconds longer than she should have done.

‘Is he right for you, honey?’

She held his gaze for a few seconds, reaching out to grab the door handle, giving her no excuse to stay alone with him any longer. ‘I don’t think that’s got anything to do with you.’

‘If this relationship starts to affect his game…’

‘It won’t, alright? I’ll make sure of that.’

Before he could say anything else she walked out of his office, closing the door firmly behind her, striding purposefully through the maze of desks and cubicles, almost running down to the dining room, where she hoped Ryan would be.

‘Hey, gorgeous!’ His voice stopped her just before she reached the dining room and she swung round to see him standing there, leaning back against the wall, his arms folded,
a
smile all over his incredibly handsome face. ‘I’ve been looking for you.’

She walked over to him, grabbing his t-shirt and pulling him closer, quickly kissing his mouth. He tasted good – a mixture of energy drink and mint. ‘Well, it would appear you’ve found me. You not eating?’

‘I’m not hungry,’ he replied, sliding his hand up under her jacket, his fingers gently stroking the small of her back.

‘You’ve got to keep your strength up,’ Amber whispered, running her hand lightly over his rough, bearded chin, her eyes focusing on his extremely kissable mouth. A mouth she suddenly wanted to feel touching her in places that nobody but him should be seeing.

‘It’s not food I want,’ Ryan said, moving his mouth closer to hers. She could feel him hard against her thigh, and that just made her want him more. A sudden urge she couldn’t back down from now. Because it would help block out all thoughts of Jim Allen? Did it matter? Whatever the reason, she wanted him. Now.

‘I’m sure my dad’s going to be working you very hard this afternoon.’

‘Then it seems only fair that his daughter helps me with the warm-up exercises, don’t you think?’

Amber couldn’t help smiling, suddenly feeling like a teenager again, about to do something she shouldn’t. And she knew all about
that
, didn’t she?
 

‘Come on,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘I know where it’s quiet at the minute.’

They ran like a couple of kids sneaking off somewhere they shouldn’t, out of the admin block, back outside into the freezing winter sunshine, and Amber clung onto Ryan’s hand, quite happy to let him take her wherever he was heading, which turned out to be the now-quiet and empty dressing room back over in the training centre. Kicking the door shut behind him, Ryan didn’t even stop to catch his breath, pushing Amber back up against the wall, kissing her hard, his hands pulling at her jacket. She wriggled out of it quickly, throwing it onto the floor, desperate to keep the momentum going, not to let this moment pass them by, even though she was more than aware that anyone could walk in at any minute.
 
Including her father. For once in her life she was letting the excitement and the danger take over and sod the consequences.

‘Come with me,’ Ryan breathed, taking her hand again as they walked across the dressing room, over to the showers.

‘Ryan…’ Amber began, knowing where this was heading but still feeling a fleeting rush of panic.

He grinned, pulling off his t-shirt to reveal that hard, toned body that had made women go weak at the knees – including Amber. There was something about those tattooed arms that just did it for her.

‘Oh, Jesus,’ she groaned, running her fingers over his chest, her heart racing, her breath almost catching in her throat as she looked at him. Young, beautiful, and all hers. What the hell was she so worried about? Yes, this man was driving her crazy but she’d never had so much fun. When she and Jim had been together – if being together was what you could call it – living dangerously had always given her a kick. There was no reason why she couldn’t go there again. She’d been an expert at it back then. And what was happening here was one hell of a turn-on.

She closed her eyes and gave in to it all, the feel of his lips on her neck, his hands stripping her naked, giving her shivers the likes of which she hadn’t felt since – well, she hadn’t felt like this in a long while, and it was way better stress-relief than anything else she’d ever tried.

‘This is crazy,’ she groaned as his fingers trailed lightly over her breasts, his mouth almost touching hers.

‘You up for this, then?’ he smiled, although even he must have been totally aware that it was a purely rhetorical question.

‘Somebody could walk in here any second, Ryan.’

‘Then they’re gonna get themselves one hell of a free show, aren’t they?’

She felt her stomach flip over a dozen times, making it feel as though every butterfly there could possibly be was now flying loose inside her. The excitement and anticipation was killing her; a beautiful pain, a sick ache that took over everything was all she felt as she stared into his deep-blue eyes. ‘So, what are we waiting for?’ she smiled, stroking his cheek with her thumb, pressing her lips against his as he reached back to turn on the shower.

Warm jets of water started cascading down over them, soaking their skin, and they had to hold on to each other even tighter as their bodies became wetter, the steam of the shower turning the room hotter until the atmosphere was heightened to impossible levels. Every ounce of frustration and fear and confusion that Amber seemed to feel on a daily basis with Ryan seemed to just melt away as he pushed her back against the tiled wall, lifting her up and holding onto her tightly as she wrapped her legs around him, groaning loudly as he pushed inside her, every thrust taking her further and further away from the memories of Jim and a past she may, deep down, still want to revisit, but knew she never could. And why would she want to when she had everything she could possibly need right here?
 

The water continued to rain down on their naked bodies, their cries drowned out by the heavy flow of the shower as the water thudded down onto the floor, trickling away down the drain. Amber had never felt so free, so alive, not since – Oh God, why couldn’t she stop comparing what was happening here to what had happened back then? Closing her eyes tight shut she felt another warm shiver shoot right through her, that white-hot tingle slowly creeping its way up her body as Ryan gave one hard, final thrust, his arms keeping her close, keeping her steady until she reached her own climax just seconds later, helped no end by the warm jets of water hitting parts of her body that gave her a feeling so incredibly beautiful she couldn’t help but shout out loud. Shit! She’d just had the best sex ever!
 

She buried her face in Ryan’s damp shoulder as he carefully put her back down, one arm staying firmly around her waist while he turned off the shower.

‘Now what do we do?’ she said, looking up at him, both of them now soaking wet. Something they were going to have to explain. Somehow.

Ryan shrugged, a slight smirk on his face. ‘Tell people we’ve just fucked in the shower?’

She smiled again, kissing him slowly, enjoying the taste of him, the feel of his still-hard body against her. ‘Yeah. That’ll go down well. Especially as you’ve got an afternoon of training ahead. And my dad has a zero tolerance level when it comes to slackers.’

‘Oh, I’m a slacker now, am I?’ he grinned, sliding his hand round from her hip to her inner thigh, stroking it gently with slow, rhythmic motions.

‘Jesus, Ryan, come on,’ she groaned, wishing with all her heart that they could go again, but they’d got away with it once, who’s to say they’d be so lucky a second time? ‘We’ve really got to get ourselves dried off and get back out there.’

‘I’d much rather stay here,’ he whispered, his fingers now touching her in the most intimate of places, sending those stomach somersaults of hers back into overdrive.

‘Yeah, well, so would I but I’d rather not get you into trouble. Come on.’ She reluctantly pulled his hand away, hoping they could maybe resume this game later on tonight, before dragging him back out into the main part of the dressing room. ‘We’d better get ready and go show our faces.’

Ryan grabbed a towel from one of the benches, pulling her towards him and turning her around so she faced away from him. He started drying her back with the huge white towel, kissing her neck as he moved lower, slowly covering her body with the thick, warm cotton. He was suddenly making towel-drying the sexiest thing she’d ever experienced as he slowly turned her back around to face him, drying her breasts, moving lower, sliding a hand between her legs until she could take no more. It was too much, he’d gone too far now. She had no choice but to push him down onto the nearest bench, straddling him and lowering herself down onto him until he was back inside her. Back where she needed him to be, for now, for fast and furious sex that had no purpose other than to relieve both of them of the last of their pent-up, sexual frustration.

‘Jesus Christ, Amber, I fucking love you, baby. I love you so frigging much,’ Ryan gasped as she climbed off him, grabbing the towel off the floor to finish drying her damp body before pulling her clothes back on. Quickly, before anything else could happen.

‘You love the sex, you mean,’ she said, throwing the towel at him, but she had a half-smile on her face as she spoke. ‘Now get dried, come on. We’d better get out of here.’

He opened his eyes and looked at her. He was still naked and beautiful and sexy-as-hell, seemingly in no hurry to cover up. Not that Amber minded. That body was hers. If she could keep him in line long enough to make sure he didn’t stray again. ‘I love
you
, Amber.’

She walked over to him, taking the towel out of his hands and throwing it aside as she straddled him again, but at least this time she was fully clothed. ‘How can one man be so good for me yet still be so bad,’ she whispered, resting her forehead against his, wishing with all her heart that she could tell him she loved him, too. Because she might, she just wasn’t sure that was enough to be able to say the words. Yet. ‘We’ve really got to go, baby,’ she said quietly, running her fingers lightly over his cheek before climbing off him.