Extra Time (28 page)

He needed Amber back home. He needed to see her, to talk to her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay. He’d make sure of that. He just had no idea how right now. But knowing Ryan Fisher still felt that way about his wife – well, it had hit a nerve.

Pushing both hands through his hair, he sat back in his chair, letting out a heavy sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. Maybe moving Ryan Fisher out of the picture for a while wasn’t such a bad idea, although it was an idea he was going to have to be able to sell pretty hard if the club were going to go for it. But if it meant one less problem in his life, he was willing to put his job on the line to give Ryan what he wanted. Because the one thing he wasn’t willing to lose was Amber.

Chapter Fourteen

‘You know, I’m your agent for a reason,’ Max said, watching Ryan as he paced up and down the floor of his riverside apartment, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his battered jeans. ‘And that means you’re supposed to come to me before you make any stupid, rash decisions. It’s my job to nip them in the bud before they get out of hand.’

Ryan stopped pacing and looked at Max. ‘I’m serious, Max. That wasn’t some idle threat I made last week, I didn’t just go in there to make some kind of statement. I want to be loaned out. I need to get away, just for a bit.’

‘Really?’ Max raised an eyebrow, watching Ryan’s expression. Not a glimmer of anything. What was up with this kid? Usually he could read him like a book but lately it would seem the pages weren’t giving all that much away.

‘Really. I can’t hack it here anymore, Max.’

‘Of course you can. Look at what you faced last year, and you came through all of that.’

‘That was different.’

‘Was it? That was a damn sight harder than anything you’re professing to be unable to face now, son. This is nothing. You just need to pull yourself together, concentrate on your football and put women to the back of your mind. I’ll get in touch with Jim and tell him you didn’t mean what you said. I’ll tell him you had a small crisis of confidence or something…’

‘But I
did
mean it, Max. I meant every word. I want out. Just give me the rest of the season away from here, and I’ll be fine.’

‘You think? You think that’ll solve anything, do you? A bit of time away from her will change everything?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then you need to grow up. I’ll be telling Jim to forget any more loan requests you might continue to throw at him, because you aren’t going anywhere, Ryan. You’re going to stay here and learn how to face up to things like an adult. Jesus, we’re talking about a woman, for Christ’s sake! Just move on, forget about her.’

‘How can I do that when she’s fucking everywhere, Max? How can I do that?’

‘By realising what’s important in your life. And right now your job is the most important thing. Remember that, and make sure you
keep
remembering that, because carry on the way you are right now and you won’t fucking have one. I know Jim Allen, I know how powerful he can be in the football world, and you really, really don’t want to piss him off. He could end your career like that, Ryan. Just like that. So be very careful.’

‘He can’t threaten me, Max. He has to work within the rules…’

‘Jesus, Ryan, how long have you been doing this? What rules? People make their own rules, they find ways to make them look legitimate, and no matter how great a player you are, no matter how much fucking money you earn, you will not win against a man like Jim Allen.’

‘A man who didn’t even know his own son was signing to a club just nine miles down the road from his own? He’s
that
powerful, is he?’

‘Oh, he knew Brandon was coming, Ryan, believe me. He knew.’

‘So why…?’

‘Not your business.’

Ryan narrowed his eyes as he stared at his agent. ‘Do you…?’

‘Be careful, Ryan. That’s all I’m saying.’

‘I want out, Max. You’re the best agent there is, so if anyone can help me…’

‘You’re going nowhere. I’ll go and see Jim, sort this mess out, and you – you can start dealing with things like a grown-up. You can’t afford to mess things up a third time, Ryan. You’ve had your second chance. There’s no extra time left on the clock now, kiddo.’

‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’

Jim looked up from his laptop, and just the sight of her, standing there, it took his breath away. It had been a week since he’d last seen her, a week since she’d walked out on him, and to see her there in front of him, he hardly dared believe she was back.

‘I thought you were mad at me. I mean, the last time we spoke you seemed… Look, I’m sorry. What I said about Ryan, what I insinuated…’

She shrugged, throwing her bag down on the sofa next to his office door. ‘It doesn’t matter. Not right now, anyway.’

He frowned slightly, watching as she started to untie the thin, wrap-over coat she was wearing. ‘Not right now…?’

‘I’m still mad at you, Jim. I’m still confused and I’m still angry; a week away hasn’t eased much of that, believe me. But, right now…’ She finally opened her coat, letting it drop to the floor, and as Jim watched it fall his stomach dipped so low it felt as though it was on some kind of crazy rollercoaster ride. She was naked – completely and totally naked – except for a pair of knee-high, spike-heeled boots. ‘I just really need you to fuck me.’

He stood up, not taking his eyes off her, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck as he walked over to her. ‘Jesus, Amber. You sure know how to make an entrance, honey.’

‘Being mad at you became something of a turn-on,’ she whispered, her eyes locking with his as he finally reached her. ‘It was all I could think of, on the flight home. Seeing you, wanting you… And I know we should be sitting down and talking, I know that. But talking is probably going to mean we end up fighting and I don’t want that. Right now, I just want you to fuck me.’

‘You’re not giving me much of a choice, are you?’

She smiled, reaching out to touch his mouth, her fingers trailing along the stubble on his chin. ‘Everyone’s busy outside. Colin’s got training well under control, and I’ve told your secretary you’re not to be disturbed while I’m here, because I think you deserve something special after taking Newcastle Red Star to the top of the league table over the weekend. You’ve done very well, Mr. Allen. Very, very well. You should be congratulated.’

‘Amber…’

‘No. No talking. Like I said, talking is only going to end up in a fight, believe me.’

‘You’re still that mad at me, huh?’

‘Oh yes.’

He threw his head back, groaning slightly as she reached down to touch his growing erection, her hand already closing in around him.

‘So enjoy yourself while you can, before I start yelling at you.’

‘You’re gonna yell at me?’

‘More than likely.’ She smiled, pressing her body against his, feeling his hard-on digging into her hip, his hand now resting in the small of her back. ‘But I can’t yell at you if you’re kissing me, can I?’

‘No. No, you can’t.’

She closed her eyes as his mouth finally lowered down onto hers, the taste of him overwhelming her. Because, despite everything, she’d missed him. So much. But at the same time she knew she couldn’t just let things go back to normal – how
could
they be normal? She was still dealing with his secret son and the revelation that she would probably never have children of her own. All of that meant things couldn’t be normal, not yet, anyway.

‘I need you inside me,’ she whispered. ‘Now.’

‘Can’t I just look at you first, baby? I feel as though you’ve been away from me for so long and I…’

In one swift movement she’d pushed him down onto the sofa, climbing astride him like the woman on a mission she was.

‘You’re not hanging about, are you?’ He grinned, slightly taken aback by her behaviour, but he wasn’t going to put up a fight. Not when he needed her so badly.

‘I’m too turned on to hang about, Jim.’

‘Yeah.’ His eyes looked down to where she was straddling him, his hand automatically reaching out to touch her. She was so wet it almost made him come there and then. ‘I can see that.’

‘So make use of it,’ she whispered, throwing him a smile before leaning over to kiss him, deep and slow, positioning herself over him so he slid effortlessly inside her. ‘It’s just like old times, isn’t it?’ She smiled again, alluding to the many encounters they’d shared in his offices at both Tynebridge and here at the training ground. The times they’d had sex on his desk, or when he’d pushed her up against the door to stop anyone from coming in while he fucked her hard and fast. Those spontaneous, sexually-charged encounters that had made her realise she could never leave this man alone.

‘Oh, baby…’ he groaned, pushing her down onto him, his hands firmly on her hips, keeping her in place because she was so wet he felt as though he was going to slip out at any given second. And he wasn’t ready to do that just yet. But it didn’t take long for the endgame to arrive, a crashing conclusion that she helped herself reach by touching herself, which only served to drive him even more crazy. Watching her fingers bring herself to climax was almost hypnotic, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her as she arched her back, pushing her breasts out, crying out loud as he came first, so fast it made his head spin, but he was unable to slow down an action that seemed to drain him of anything he had left to give – both in the physical and emotional sense.

‘That…’ Amber smiled, leaning forward, her hands on his chest, ‘… was good. That was very,
very
good.’

‘Glad to have been of service,’ Jim breathed, his heart beating so fast he thought he might pass out. When he’d got up this morning and headed over to the training ground, he certainly hadn’t expected this to be part of his schedule.

She climbed off him, and still he kept his eyes on her, watching as she leaned over to retrieve her bag from the sofa beside him. She was totally unashamed of her body, and he could see why. Over the past few months she’d toned up, her waist had become smaller, her thighs harder, but she still had those ridiculously sexy rounded hips, and breasts he could happily stare at forever.

‘Have you been home yet?’ he asked, sitting up, his heart finally beginning to slow down a touch.

‘I dropped my case off, got changed…’ She looked at him and he had to smile, pushing a hand through his hair, ‘… then I came straight here.’

He felt almost disappointed as she began pulling clothes from her bag, slipping a short black dress on over her naked body, shaking out her hair, something he found incredibly sexy to watch. He found
her
incredibly sexy. His beautiful, beautiful wife.

‘Well, I’m glad you did. Amber…’

She pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. ‘We’ll talk later. Back at home. Okay?’

He frowned, standing up and walking over to her. He was still reeling from what had just happened, yet she seemed to have turned the temperature from hot to decidedly cool.

‘You’re leaving?’

‘You’ve got work to do.’

‘I haven’t seen you for almost seven days, Amber. I mean, come on, honey, do you actually remember what happened this time last week?’

She stared at him, right into those green eyes of his. Eyes she wasn’t entirely sure she trusted anymore. If she ever had done. ‘I can’t believe you even thought about asking that question, Jim.’

‘Jesus… Amber! Baby, come on…’

But she was out of the room before he had a chance to say anything else, striding through the outer office that led off from Jim’s, aware that his secretary was watching her – trying to put two and two together, probably. Once word of their relationship had hit the headlines a few months ago it had become common knowledge that they’d shared more than just coffees and cosy chats behind the closed doors of his offices, so it was only natural that people would assume something which was, in all honesty, more than likely pretty close to the truth. And she
had
told her not to disturb Jim while she was in there with him. What were people
supposed
to think?

‘Amber! You’re home I see.’

Amber looked up as Max Mandell held the door of the training ground administration block open for her. ‘Your powers of perception are quite remarkable, Max.’

‘And I see sarcasm is something you still do very well. You been to see Jim?’

‘You could say that. What are
you
here for? Something up with Ryan?’

‘You know very well there’s something up with Ryan. The kid’s behaving like an idiot. Can you go and tell him, Amber? Please?’

‘Tell him what?’

‘That you’re never going back to him.’

‘And you think that’ll help, do you?’

‘It can’t hurt.’

‘I think it’s best I just avoid him as much as I possibly can, don’t you? He knows the score, he knows what we had is over, so… Why am I even having this discussion? I’ve got more than enough to worry about without having Ryan Fisher on my conscience, too.’

Max stayed silent for a second or two, sticking his hands in his pockets as he stared down at the ground. ‘Amber, I’m sorry.’

‘About what?’ She really wanted to leave now. She just wanted to go home, sink into a hot bath and forget about anything and everything until Jim got home. Then maybe they could begin to start working this whole mess out.

He looked at her, his expression one of genuine concern. ‘About… well, you not… not…’

‘So I’ll never be a mum.’ She shrugged, sliding her bag back up onto her shoulder. ‘It just means I can use this body for other things, doesn’t it? Oh, talking of which, the shoot for Ice Magazine is confirmed now. And they’re coming up to Newcastle to do it. They’ve just got the go-ahead this morning to shoot the pictures in Tynebridge.’

‘Does Jim know? That you’re doing the shoot, I mean?’

She shrugged again. ‘No idea.
I
haven’t told him yet, but it’s more than likely word might get out about the pictures being shot in the stadium, now it’s official. They also said something about maybe getting Jim in on one or two of the pictures…’