Striker (75 page)

He pulled away, but kept his hand on her thigh, feeling himself grow hard at the feel of her smooth, warm skin against his hand. One more quick release – a proper fuck this time – then he’d hit the casino. Ryan Fisher needed to escape. And nobody was going to stop him.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Amber looked out of the upstairs bedroom window, peering through the blinds as the For Sale sign was hammered into the front lawn. It was real now. She was finally selling her beautiful little home to move in with Jim, but for how long? If things worked out with Malaga Athletico then he’d be selling his
Tynemouth
home, too. They’d be making a new life for themselves over in
Spain
, away from all the prying eyes and the questions.

Questions. They’d have plenty of those to answer tomorrow, when Amber arrived with Jim at the team’s hotel in
Wigan
as their manager’s new wife. Probably not the best timing in the world but love had a funny way of making people rather selfish at times. Anyway, they hadn’t quite decided when to announce the news. They were playing it all by ear, which made everything more exciting, but also more nerve-wracking.

Letting the blinds fall back into place she turned around, looking at the simple white dress that lay on the bed. She had to smile. White. Yeah, because she was
so
virginal. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was pretty, and it clung to her curves in the most flattering of ways. Teamed with a pair of modestly expensive, white, stiletto-heeled ankle boots she’d bought on a recent shopping trip with Debbie – although she hadn’t told Debbie just why she was buying them – it was the perfect wedding outfit, as far as Amber was concerned. Just enough to say “bride” without making it look too obvious. Understated, that was the word.

She walked over to the mirror, carefully touching her just-styled hair that fell around her shoulders in a tumble of tousled, newly-coloured dark red curls. It was the look she wanted – simple. And it suited her, with her full fringe and – that word again – understated make-up. Some mascara, a light dusting of bronzer around the cheek and collarbone, and a touch of nude lip-gloss, that was all she needed. She felt good. This was her wedding day, and although it was taking a little bit of getting used to, given that she was alone and about to get married in secret, she still had that excited feeling kicking around her belly. Every time she thought about Jim it felt as though there were a suitcase full of impatient butterflies trying desperately to gain freedom and fly freely around her stomach.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed she picked up the photograph on her bedside table, a photograph of Jim receiving his ‘Manager of the Month’ Award. He was smiling the widest smile, his handsome face so relaxed and happy. She trailed her fingers lightly over the photograph, that little frisson of excitement rushing through her again as she looked at him. She was inextricably connected to this man, and she always had been. She just wished she’d had the conviction to realise that sooner.

But, today wasn’t the day to dwell on the past; it was a day to think about the future. Whatever that may entail. All she knew was that she was finally marrying the man of her dreams, and whatever happened after that, they’d deal with it.

The phone ringing roused her from her brief daydream. She placed the photograph back down on the bedside table and reached out to grab the phone. ‘Hello?’

‘Amber, it’s your Dad. You couldn’t come over to the ground this morning, could you? I know you’re not working today, and you’ve probably got plans, but I could really do with your help on something.’

Amber felt her stomach dip, her mouth suddenly going dry. She hated lying to her father. After everything that had happened she’d promised she wouldn’t do that again, she’d promised she’d be honest with him, and yet here she was, lying to him again. ‘Dad, I… I can’t. Not today. I’ve really got to be somewhere.’

Freddie Sullivan said nothing for a few seconds, his silence making Amber nervous. Could he tell she was hiding something from him? Did he know she was lying to him again? Oh Jesus, what was she doing? This was ridiculous!

‘You can’t spare me five minutes?’ Freddie asked. ‘If you’re passing the ground on your way…’

‘Dad, I’m really sorry, but I’m off to the coast today…’

‘The coast?’

She closed her eyes, gripping the receiver tight. Freddie knew Jim lived at the coast. But so what if she was going to spend her day off with the man she loved? There was nothing unusual about that. Maybe she should head him off at the pass. ‘I’m meeting Jim for lunch,’ she sighed, hoping that would be good enough to placate her father.

‘Lunch? It’s 10am, Amber. You’ve got plenty of time to skip by here for a few minutes before you head off, and anyway…’ He paused for a second, and Amber felt her stomach dip again, ‘… surely Jim wouldn’t mind if you were a little bit late? It’s not like you need to be there bang on time, is it? Isn’t he working today, anyway? I mean, Red Star have got that crucial match in
Wigan
on Saturday…’

‘I’ve got a doctor’s appointment first, Dad, okay?’ More lies. Now she felt
really
bad. Making up a trip to the doctors just to throw people off the scent was so old-school, and not particularly original. But it was all she’d been able to come up with on the spur-of-the-moment.

‘A doctor’s appointment? Is everything okay?’ Her father’s voice sounded worried and Amber felt the guilt build again. Shit! A doctor’s appointment was probably the worst lie she could have come up with, in hindsight. Her mother had been extremely secretive about her own doctors’ appointments in the beginning, telling nobody about the cancer until it had got to the point where people had needed to know, and her father hadn’t dealt with that all that well. Yet here she was causing him more anxiety with stupid lies to cover up her own selfishness.

‘Dad, listen, everything’s fine, alright? Everything’s fine. It’s just… it’s just a routine check-up, you know, blood pressure check, that kind of thing. It happens every so often, when I need a new batch of pills…’

‘Pills?’

Amber sighed, closing her eyes again and wishing this wasn’t happening. She was digging herself into a bigger hole by the second. ‘Contraceptive pills. I’m on the Pill, Dad. And when you’re on the Pill they do regular check-ups, just to make sure everything’s okay.’

Freddie stayed silent again, and Amber just hoped it was the mention of contraception that had shut him up. That uncomfortable realisation that his daughter did, indeed, do things he’d probably rather she didn’t. And Amber was doing those things with a man whom Freddie had once called his best friend. Until he’d found out the truth. Could this get any more complicated? ‘Okay,’ Freddie finally broke his silence. ‘Well, I don’t want you missing your doctor’s appointment. No matter how routine. Amber…?’

‘What?’ she asked, checking her watch and realising that she should be getting ready by now.

‘You
are
being careful, aren’t you?’

She frowned as she trailed her fingers over the soft material of her wedding dress. ‘Careful?’

‘With Jim, I mean.’

She paused for a second, not entirely sure what he meant by that. ‘Yeah. I’m being careful, Dad.’

‘Good girl. I worry about you, Amber. That’s all.’

‘I’m fine. Really. I’m fine.’

‘Well, you just make sure you stay that way. I’ll speak to you soon, sweetheart.’

‘Yeah. See you, Dad.’ She hung up and placed the receiver back on its base, throwing herself back on the bed. This day was going to be a hell of a lot harder than she’d imagined it would be. She’d been letting herself get carried away with the whole ‘Romeo and Juliet’ romance side of things, forgetting completely about the reality of the situation. So, the sooner she and Jim signed that wedding certificate, the better. Because she just wanted the rest of their lives to begin.

*

Max tried calling Ryan’s number again, but still it went straight to voicemail, which was enough to make Max concerned. Ryan’s phone only ever went to voicemail when he was doing one of two things – sleeping with women he deemed good enough to warrant no interruption, or throwing his life away in the casino. And normally Max would be able to cope with that. He’d rather Ryan hadn’t veered slightly off-the-rails again, but he’d taken his eye off the ball, hadn’t he? Concentrated on clients other than this errant, young, millionaire footballer with the lack of common sense and the fading self-respect. And now he was getting word back from Newcastle Red Star that Ryan hadn’t turned up for training for the past few days, and nobody seemed to be able to get hold of him. His mobile was switched off and he wasn’t answering his home phone, and there was also no sign of him at either his city centre apartment or his
Gateshead
home, apparently. He certainly wasn’t answering the door, anyway, so Max had been told.

Max knew what had been going on in Ryan’s life lately. He knew that he and Amber were past history, that she was with Jim Allen now, and Max could only guess – given that he knew how fragile Ryan could be at times – how that was affecting his young client. And that bothered Max. More than he wanted to let on. He recognised the signs, the warning signals, because he’d seen them all before.

He picked up his phone again and punched in another number, but they didn’t seem to be answering, either. Throwing his phone back down onto the counter he picked up the just-boiled kettle and poured steaming hot water into a mug, stirring the coffee vigorously as his mobile’s shrill ring-tone pierced the air once more. He looked at the caller ID. It was a Red Star number, but not Jim Allen’s. Did the manager even know what the hell was going on with his star striker? Or was he too busy rubbing Ryan’s nose in the fact he now had his girl? Max sighed. It was childish to even think that way but he cared about Ryan, and part of him was just frustrated that the kid hadn’t been able to grow up enough to hold onto Amber. To make a go of a settled, stable life with a woman he’d loved.

Taking a quick sip of coffee, Max picked up the phone and held it to his ear. ‘Yep?’ He listened as the voice on the other end of the line enquired, once again, as to whether he’d heard from Ryan yet. Max took another sip of coffee. He was going to have to get down there and do some damage limitation, a little bit of spinning. Then, when he’d managed to save Ryan’s career, he was going all out to find out just what the hell was really going on.

*

She looked okay. Actually, she looked better than okay. The dress fitted her perfectly, hugging every curve in all the right places, her dark red hair falling loosely over her bare shoulders. She was going to freeze, of course, it still being winter and the temperatures far from tropical, but she looked okay. For a woman who was about to get married in secret to the man she’d loved for over twenty years. The love of her life.

A knock at the door made her jump slightly, knocking her back to reality, and she ran quickly down the stairs, peering out of the living room window to see who it was before she opened the door. She couldn’t risk it being her Dad. She was hardly dressed appropriately for a doctor’s appointment.

‘Ronnie!’ she gasped under her breath, before heading off into the hallway and throwing open the door. She hadn’t expected to see him today.

‘You’re still going through with it, then?’ he asked dryly.

‘No. I just thought I’d nip to Asda for some milk, I’m running low.’

He just raised an eyebrow. ‘You gonna let me in? I’m freezing me bollocks off out here.’

‘So eloquent,’ she smiled sarcastically, standing aside to let him through.

‘You look incredible, by the way,’ Ronnie said, ignoring her comment and kissing her quickly on the mouth as he walked past her into the hallway.

‘Thanks,’ she whispered, lifting her fingers up to her lips where his mouth had brushed fleetingly over them. ‘What are you doing here, anyway?’

He turned round, looking her up and down again, letting out a low whistle as he folded his arms. ‘You really
do
look incredible. You going somewhere?’

‘Jesus, Ronnie, will you quit with the smart remarks? I’ll ask you again – what are you doing here?’

‘Do you really think I’d let my best friend go off and get married without at least wishing her luck?’

‘I don’t need luck, Ronnie,’ Amber said, fiddling with the top of her dress.

‘I think everybody needs a little bit of luck, Amber.’

She looked up at him, their eyes meeting, locking together, and for a few seconds they just stared at each other.

‘
I
don’t,’ she said quietly, finally breaking the stare, and the silence.

‘Well, I could murder a cup of tea,’ Ronnie sighed, turning and walking towards the kitchen. ‘What about you? Or are you on the stronger stuff?’

‘Tea will be fine,’ Amber said, following him as quickly as she could in the heels she was wearing.

‘And this is all still top secret, classified stuff then, is it?’ Ronnie asked, filling the kettle.

Amber ignored the flippancy of his question and leaned back against the counter, folding her arms. ‘Yeah. Well, I hope so, anyway. Just had a bit of a close shave with my dad, though.’