Authors: Donna Gallagher
Gareth was beginning to feel a bit wary at their strange behaviour. Before the game Pippa had given him the impression she didn’t want to talk. Now she was prattling on like an idiot. Then he’d heard the voice, congratulating him on the game.
For a second he thought it sounded like Emily, but that was impossible. There was no chance Emily would show her face—literally—amongst this throng of people.
But it had really sounded like her. Rook was grinning like a fool and Pippa was sporting this dreamy expression, and they were both looking over his shoulder at someone standing behind him.
He sensed her then, knew it to be true as the hairs on his arms and neck responded to her. He was almost afraid to turn around in case it was his imagination, in case he was just projecting his desire. His hope.
But if it was Emily… God, that would mean she had reached out to him, put herself out there, faced her terror of public scrutiny. He so wanted that to be the case, desperately wanted it to be Emily standing behind him, and there was only one way to find out. He had to turn around.
And he did.
Slowly.
Emily was standing there with a hesitant smile and a hint of fear in her eyes. She had done this for him. He knew it. She was proving that she loved him enough to face her fears. It took only one stride for him to be within reach of her, and Gareth didn’t hesitate, dragging her to him, lowering his mouth to take possession of hers. One touch of her lips to his and he was lost for all time. He slid his tongue along the seam of her mouth, begging for entry, and as she opened her lips slightly, he thrust his tongue inside.
It was a pure slice of heaven, a moment to remember forever. Gareth had almost forgotten he was standing in the shadow of a football stadium, surrounded by teammates, friends and complete strangers. All he could think of was how perfect it was to have Emily in his arms, the absolute joy in the simple act of holding the woman he loved in his arms.
“
Ahem
… Hey, Cowboy… Unless you want this to be front page in tomorrow’s newspapers, I think you need to cool it.”
Crap, that would be the very last thing Emily would want. Gareth had the urge to kill Rook where he stood for even mentioning the possibility. He felt Emily stiffen in his arms, and waited for her to go into full panic mode.
“Rook’s just teasing, Em. It won’t happen.”
“Aw, shit, Cowgirl, I didn’t mean to worry you, hon. Pippa, why’d you let me say something like that? Anyhow, what would it matter? You guys aren’t doing anything wrong. What’s not to like? A couple of good-looking country cow-folk doing bit of tongue wrestling—makes a better story than some of the shit that gets printed.”
Emily was laughing. Gareth could hardly believe his ears, and that thought of killing Rook quickly morphed into a wish to hug the man—an equally disturbing thought for Gareth as he remembered the press corps still in attendance. Pippa was laughing, Rook was laughing, the place had gone mad and Gareth was overjoyed.
“Okay, you lot, get your backsides to the club. The quicker we can get that out of the way, the quicker we can all get over to Jetstream and really let our hair down.”
It was the most ridiculous thing Gareth had ever heard Brodie James say. Everyone knew Coach didn’t know the meaning of the words ‘let your hair down’. He was the most serious, most responsible man Gareth had ever met. Just the thought of Brodie letting loose and having fun was enough to make Gareth laugh. “If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up,” he murmured.
* * * *
The drive to the Jets’ club, in Gareth’s car, was perfect. Emily sat sideways the whole way, just looking at Gareth’s profile. Every so often he would look in her direction and a broad smile would light up his features. Emily felt the love he held for her and it washed away all her fears and doubts that she had lost him. She couldn’t believe how easy it had been to gain Gareth’s forgiveness after having put him through so much over the last few years. He had not given up on her no matter how hard she had made it for him, how often she had given him reason. She loved him so much.
She watched his large, masculine hands on the steering wheel and wished they were on her body. His face, his hands, his bulging biceps all made her melt just at the sight of them, making her heart race, her pussy moist and her breasts heavy. Emily reached between Gareth’s massive thighs and stroked his jeans-covered cock, cupped it, massaged it gently and felt it harden under her touch.
“Shit, Em, that feels fucking awesome, but it’s making it…
really…
hard to concentrate on driving. Making everything really hard.”
She laughed at the sight of Gareth squirming in his seat to find more space for his growing erection, at the pained look on his face and the hunger for her in his eyes.
“You’re such a spoilsport. I was actually contemplating unzipping your jeans, taking that hard, beautiful cock of yours out, wrapping my lips around it and blowing you right here in your car…but if it would be too much of a distraction for you, Cowboy…”
“Em…I wouldn’t survive it. My God, the thought of it alone—your head bent over my lap, your lips on my cock—is nearly making me blow. But if you look in the rear-view mirror you might recognise the people in the cars behind us.”
Emily had forgotten all about the other Jets players and wives, all making their way to the club. She started giggling at the thought of what they would see—her leaning over Gareth, her head bobbing up and down. There’d be no way of misunderstanding what she was doing.
“Oops, forgot about them.”
“Yeah, and as much as I love your idea, pretty sure the guys would guess straight away what was happening…although I’m game if you are.”
Gareth put his hand on her head, gently directing it towards his lap and Emily wasn’t sure if he was serious or not. She had just been teasing him, wouldn’t have dreamt of being so brash or doing anything so explicit in public—not to mention the danger of distracting Gareth whilst he was driving.
“Um…maybe we should put a rain check on my idea. Another time, a darker road and without a convoy of your friends and teammates behind us.”
Gareth continued to pull her head towards him, but just to kiss her quickly on the lips.
“I’ll hold you to that, Em. One of these days I’m going to get you to make good on that idea. Now I’m going to try and get this hard-on back under control. You wicked woman, what will my groupies think if I walk into the club sporting a woody?”
“Your groupies will think that some woman—
me
—turned you on and that they have no chance in having you… That’s what your groupies will think, and if they don’t I’ll be sure to point it out to them.”
She knew Gareth was teasing her, but it did bring back some fear. These women who wanted Gareth would see her scars. What would they think? Would they think Gareth was with her only through some sense of pity?
“Stop thinking, I can see it written all over your face. I love you, Em, no woman holds a candle to you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you.”
“It’s okay, Gareth, I need to work through this. I love you too. Oh, and by the way, I was having a heart to heart with Dad and guess what? All those times I snuck out to meet you, so we could hump like bunnies in the dark, he knew what we were doing. He was tempted to fill your arse with buckshot. How’s that for embarrassing?”
The horrified look on Gareth’s face was priceless.
“Mac knew? Fuck.”
“Yep! Exactly that!” Emily laughed, the sound loud and carefree. “So I’m guessing your folks were clued in as well.”
“Dad never said anything if he did. Surprised Mum didn’t haul me over the coals, though. She really loves you, Em, wouldn’t have wanted me taking advantage of you. Although, as I remember it, you seduced
me
that day at the dam…tempted me with that sinful, blossoming body of yours. I was only human, after all, couldn’t resist that sort of temptation.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ve been over this before, Cowboy. I’m a wicked, wicked woman.”
“My woman, Emily Mackenzie. Thank God you’ve finally woken up to it.” The serious tone of Gareth’s voice sent shivers down her spine. Emily loved the sound of those words. She truly was Gareth’s woman, and he was her man.
They pulled into the club’s car park and as Gareth shut down the engine of his car, Emily noticed the others parking next to them. Pippa bounced out of the vehicle nearest them and pulled open Emily’s door.
“C’mon, Emily, let’s go have some fun. Looking forward to some bubbles tonight. Told Rook I was having a few drinks so he should be prepared for some hot, uninhibited lovin’ later. Judging by the smile on his face, I think he liked the plan.”
Emily giggled at Pippa’s outrageous statement as she watched Rook get out of his car.
“Hey, Cowgirl. What’s not to like, I say. My woman, hot for me.”
“Sounded more like Pippa needs some alcohol in her system before she gets down and dirty with ya, Rook…but hey, that’s just my read on it.”
Emily was laughing so hard over Rook and Gareth’s sledging that she nearly stumbled when Pippa put her arm through hers and started dragging her towards the club’s entrance.
“It’s always like that between them. You get used to it after a while.”
“Pippa, thank you. I haven’t had this much fun in years—meeting you and Rook, having Gareth back in my life, Dad on the mend. I’ve got a lot of celebrating to do… I see bubbles and lots of them in my near future.”
Emily and Pippa, arm in arm, headed into the function room and found a table to sit at. Caitlin and Mandy followed, both women clutching a child in their arms. Then came Gareth and Rook. Brodie and JT, each man also holding onto a child, joined the table as well. There were people everywhere, the room packed with Jets supporters all eager to talk with their heroes and celebrate the recent victory. Emily was truthfully a little shell-shocked, had not expected such a large group of people. Her anxiety was rising.
“It’s going to be okay, baby, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right by your side tonight.” Gareth held her hand to his lips as he stared her right in the eyes.
She would be okay. She was surrounded by new friends, protected by Gareth.
“I can do this.”
Chapter Fourteen
Gareth almost wished they had lost today’s game. Then the club would not have been so packed—supporters were sometimes fickle, and didn’t show up after a loss. But it was chockers tonight.
Just my luck that Emily’s first night would be this busy
, he thought. She was doing okay, though, he noticed. His friends had welcomed her into their inner circle—Caitlin, Mandy and Pippa had taken Emily under their wings, sitting her amongst them all. It was the sight Gareth had always dreamt of—his Emily sitting amongst his friends and their kids, being part of his life. It was a perfect moment. He stood behind her chair, resting his hand on Emily’s shoulder just to prove to himself it was real, that he was not dreaming.
There had been a moment when Emily had first entered the function room and seen the crowd filling the room that Gareth had thought she would run. He’d seen the flicker of unease on her face, but she had quickly recovered, staunchly lifting her head and walking beside Pippa to the table reserved for the players and family. Everyone had come back to the club—all the boys and their partners. There were kids everywhere.
Brodie handed him a beer, and Gareth noticed Rook had produced a bottle of champagne and was filling the women’s glasses.
“Cheers, Gareth. You played one hell of a game today. Reckon it will put you in the sights of the New South Wales selectors, for sure.”
“Thanks, Brodie. I really enjoyed the game. Don’t know about a shot at rep footy, but wouldn’t knock it back if I got the call-up,” he replied, thinking that life was getting better and better by the second.
Then, at the sound of one innocent question behind him, his heart fell to his feet.
“Hello. What happened to your face?”
Emily had not been able to believe the amount of people who had crowded into the room. She was surrounded by Jets players, recognised most of them from the games she had watched on the television back in Gunnedah. Wives and girlfriends sat around her, and kids were everywhere.
“Footy players sure can breed,” she’d whispered to Pippa, who had taken a seat to her left and had been handing out glasses of champagne, poured expertly by Rook, to the table of women.
“Got that right, Em. Macho men and macho sperm…”
Emily had taken a sip of the bubbles and had felt herself begin to relax. The heat from Gareth’s hand on her shoulder that’d seeped into her tense body and the cool, bubbly drink had both done their part. As she’d leant forward to place her glass back onto the table she’d noticed a little dark-haired girl approach, but had not been prepared for the question she’d asked in such a tiny voice. The girl’s saucer-sized brown eyes had been full of innocent enquiry, her small hand reaching out towards Emily’s face, possibly to touch her scars.
Emily could not help but flinch out of the girl’s reach, couldn’t bear the thought of that delicate little hand touching her ugly, marred skin.
“Elaina
, no!
”
The voice boomed through the club, scaring Emily half to death with its ferocity. It nearly had her jumping from her chair in response. The club—well, at least those in the vicinity of the table—went deathly silent in response. The little girl beside her gasped, pulled her hand away from Emily’s face, and tears welled up in the poor little thing’s big, brown eyes. The girl’s bottom lip started to quiver, then she began to cry, but before she could react, Mandy had her arm wrapped around the girl’s shoulders, hugging the little girl to her side.
“There, there, Elaina. Don’t cry. Daddy didn’t mean to shout so loud. But you know, it’s not polite to be a nosy parker.”
“I d-d-didn’t m-mean to make Da-a-d-d-y-y angwy…” Mandy and JT’s daughter sobbed. Emily watched a torrent of fat tears roll down Elaina’s sad little face as her mother tried to console her. All the kids around her were now crying, their mothers and fathers doing their best to quiet their offspring. Emily wasn’t sure whether JT’s booming voice had started off the waterworks or if Elaina’s tears were infectious. “I j-j-just wanted to ask the pretty lady what happened to her face…and if it hurt…”