Freefall (The Indigo Lounge Series, #5) (35 page)

She’s beautiful.

And mine.

When further revelations of her past had surfaced and threatened to send me back down dark and tortuous road, her strength had held me together.

And when thoughts of becoming a parent again had terrified me, she’d talked me down.

Neither of us were bright-side people, but with Keely by my side, I greet at each new day with a positive perspective. Especially if the day started with one of us initiating a session of the mind-melting sex that had drawn us together in the first place.

“Careful there, Rusty, you’re leering with intent.”

I laugh, not minding the name so much now since it’s a reminder of how we met and what we’ve been through.

“Ah, sorry, Officer. Please go ahead and arrest me now. I intend to be a repeat offender.”

Her unfettered laughter lifts my soul and infuses me so much happiness, I can barely catch my breath. I pull her close and I don’t let go. I hold her as she weeps softly through being informed by the social worker that her first child is happy and healthy, and living a fulfilled life with adoptive parents who love him.

I hold her when we re-emerge into the sunshine and both our phones ping.

“You think the Savages have anything better to do than check up on us?” I gripe without malice.

She laughs. “Nope. They know today’s a big day for us. Bet they’re waiting by the phone, ready to call the moment we respond.” She lifts her phone, but I stay her hand.

“Leave it for one second, kitten.”

Her eyes gleam at the pet name, and her hand slides around my neck. “Are you going to make it worth my while, sir?”

I kiss her, long and deeply, in the middle of a car park in Maryland, and I’m filled with a sense of homecoming so strong, my head spins.

“Kitten, you rescued me and made my life worth something other than the hellish wasteland I turned it into. You nourish my soul with your love and trust.” My hand caresses her belly. “I can’t wait to love and cherish our child the I love and cherish you. I love you, Keely. So much.”

Happy tears fill her eyes and I brush them away.

“I love you too, Mason. Always.”

THE END

As always, to Kate Reed, my friend, crit partner and my (long-suffering) editor. You continue to inspire and blow me away with your friendship and support. Once again, I literally couldn’t have done this without you!

To my Gorgeous Minxes, and the reason for at least a dozen smiles each day. I love you guys! I’m so very grateful for you.

To my readers who, amazingly, keep asking for more books! I love each and every one of you! Your support means the world to me. Thank you!

To my Dani, my publicist at Barclay, may this be the start of a long and fruitful relationship.

Last but not least, to my husband and kids (who’s waiting patiently for me to press publish on this book, so our vacation can truly begin) I love and adore you for your patience, your care and your unfailing support.

SPIN

(THE INDIGO LOUNGE SERIES NOVELLA -

ZACHARY & BETHANY’S WEDDING JOURNEY)

Coming In Summer 2015

INDIGO VELVET

(An INDIGO LOUNGE NOVELLA -

Part of the JUST DESSERTS ANTHOLOGY)

(A glimpse into the life of NOAH & LEIA)

Coming In June 2015

**********************************

Other Books By Zara Cox

HIGH (The Indigo Lounge Series #1

HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series) #2

SPIRAL (The Indigo Lounge Series) #3

SOAR (The Indigo Lounge Series) #4

WRECKLESS

...but not at Westchester United.

Incoming chairman Hugo Alvarez issued two rules for the new season.

1. To his newest employee, daughter Allegra:
   

No sleeping with the footballers or you will be sacked.

1. To his star striker, Gabriel Morgan:
   

Lay one hand on my daughter and you will be sold.

Two simple rules...

How long will it take for them to be broken and who will crack first?

First Chapter of One on One

by Lexy Lockhart

CHAPTER ONE

“I
f I find out any of you filthy fuckers have laid even
uno
hand on my daughter, I’ll personally castrate you.” Westchester United’s Argentinian chairman, Hugo Alvarez, looked at his assembled squad, his eyes eventually resting on Gabriel Morgan. “And then I’ll sell you. To the worst team in the shittiest football league I can find. And that’s a promise.”

Gabe met his eyes and took the overly protective father death stare as his due. He wasn’t ashamed of his reputation. As a single man he promised nothing to no one and made sure anyone he was involved with knew the rules. Recently several kiss and tell stories had hit the media. Then there was the picture of him naked and asleep in a bed that wasn’t his own that had been re-tweeted over 10,000 times. If he ever had a daughter, he’d make damn sure she didn’t go near a man like him.

Unfortunately, the chairman’s warning had piqued his interest. He wished it hadn’t, but it had. Did Hugo Alvarez even have a daughter worth fucking?

He waited until the chairman moved his attention elsewhere before slipping out the door of the changing room. Taking the stairs two at a time, he resolved to be back before they even realised he was missing.

Plush midnight blue carpet soaked up the sound of his approach to her office.  The plaque on the door read
Finance Director.
Long, dark hair hung down her back. A sack would probably be more flattering than the modest dark suit she wore.  The jacket hung low over her backside, giving no clue as to what was underneath.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Definitely not his type. He preferred more obvious women, those who knew what they were getting into and understood the rules. The chairman’s daughter didn’t look as though she even knew there were rules.

She turned, as though sensing his scrutiny. Heat slammed into Gabe’s body. Her make-up was minimal. Only a clear, shiny lip gloss decorated bee stung lips but she didn’t need anything else. Her body screamed 1940s sex symbol despite her attempts to cover it in an over-sized, unflattering suit.

“Can I help you?” Her voice dripped over him like warm honey.

“I’m Gabriel Morgan. Westchester’s star striker. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

“No.” She peered at him for a moment over dark framed glasses. “I don’t watch football.”

“Have you been in England long?”

“Long enough to know I don’t like the weather. I’m very busy, Mr...” She removed papers from the filing cabinet in front of her without looking back at him.

This didn’t happen to him. Even before he’d signed a professional football contract, women didn’t reject him. They
always
looked at him when he spoke. He moved further into the room and rested his backside on the corner of her desk.

“I’m Gabe.” He held his hand towards her. “Shall we start again? It’s very nice to meet you.”

Hesitatingly she stepped towards him and put her hand out to meet his. “I am Allegra.”

Her accented English was killing him. He wanted to unbutton her suit, and her attitude, and hear her whispering naughty things into his ear.

“My father...” she darted a look at the door then back at him.

“Is downstairs talking to the rest of the squad.”

“Shouldn’t you be down there too?” For the first time, she looked at him, really looked at him.

“I should, yes.”

“You’re not afraid of what he will do if he finds you missing?” Gabe diagnosed her reluctance to talk to him.
Daddy complex.

He inclined his head. “He could fine me.”

“You don’t mind losing your wages?” Allegra sat back at her desk, pushing her chair as far away from him as she could. She picked up a pen, turning it over and over in her fingers.

“I think if you know the right people, fines are not an issue.”

She smiled and his gut tightened. The transformation when she smiled and forgot to be shy was stunning.

“You think knowing the right people will stop a fine from happening?”

He grinned, leaning forward. “I’d hope if I was friends with the right person they’d forget to
take
the fine from my wages.”

“And why would someone risk their job and do that?”

Gabe shrugged. “My boyish charm?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You have quite the opinion of yourself, Mr Morgan.”

“Gabe,” he corrected.

“Gabe,” she repeated, a slight breathlessness in her voice the only sign he was getting to her—that he had any effect on her at all.

This was usually the time he went in for the kill. But she was different. Allegra wasn’t going to fall for any of his usual lines and land neatly in his lap.

He leaned forward, not far enough to invade her space but closer. “Sometimes a fine is worth taking.”

“You’d take a fine for talking to me?”

“I’m not sure what the punishment for talking to you would be.” Gabe slid off the desk. “Your father only mentioned touching you.”

Gabe lowered his voice deliberately, the last two words spoken in a hushed, intimate tone that brought color to Allegra’s face.

She crossed her legs. “And what was the punishment for that?”

Gabe shrugged as though it didn’t matter to him. “He said he’d sell whoever dared to touch you.”

“Really?” She uncrossed her legs. “And is that something you would risk?”

He should’ve stayed where he was. On the desk. Or even better, over near the door. Belatedly he realised his groin was in her direct eye line. If she moved her legs one more time, he didn’t know if he could resist reaching out and running a hand over her plain skirt. He
needed
to know whether she wore tights or stockings.

The latter would fit much better with the naughty librarian fantasy he had going on. Ugly clothes, glasses, hair tied at the nape of her neck. His eyes travelled down the rest of her body. How had he missed those shoes?

She’d stood behind her desk, then sat in her chair, feet hidden from view. Now he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the serious fuck-me red stilettos on her feet.

Allegra re-crossed her legs, one foot bouncing up and down in an impatient gesture.

She’d asked him something.

“Um...risk?” He stumbled over his words.
Real smooth
.

“Yes, would you risk being sold because you touched me?”

She copied his inflection on the last two words of her sentence.

“Too fucking right I would.” He spoke before he engaged his brain.

No fucking way.

He couldn’t afford to be sold out of the English Premier League. Not this year. He didn’t have too many years left playing football at the highest level. If he wanted to eclipse his father’s achievements, he needed to win the FA Cup. Nothing else would suffice.

Then he could stand over his father’s grave and gloat.

The man who had sired him had been cruel and dismissive of his talents, never one to encourage his only child. Too preoccupied with the waning of his own career to support his son’s fledgling one.

Maybe gloat was too strong a word. Be quietly proud he’d achieved what his father hadn’t. That sounded much more reasonable.

Except that was bullshit.

Hate for his father and what he’d done to his mother had driven Gabe through years of working harder and longer than anyone else.

When his team-mates finished training and went home, he stayed at the training ground practicing. At one time or another he’d convinced every goalkeeper at the club and employees from the groundsman to program sellers to stand in the goal so he could practice shooting and taking penalties.

He was sick of the media suggesting he’d got where he was because he was Joey Morgan’s son. His father might’ve been the darling of the English football team for years, but Gabe knew who he really was. The man who’d reduced his mother to a shadow of her former self. A cruel man who cared only about himself.

Allegra put her hands on the desk and used it to shove her chair further back. Getting to her feet, she went back over to the filing cabinet and opened a drawer.

“Then we’d better ensure we don’t let that happen. We can’t have my father forced into selling his most prized asset.”

She
did
know who he was.

The knowledge didn’t improve his sour mood. Thinking about his father was never a good idea. Fortunately he had his very favourite thing in front of him. The one thing guaranteed to shove thoughts of his less than ideal childhood to the back of his mind.

Gabe allowed his gaze to travel the length of her legs, take in her shoes before lazily roaming its way back up her body to her face. He wanted to see her in nothing but those shoes.

He’d have to work hard if he wanted her in his bed. And he did. His stiff cock told him so. She’d be the first challenge he’d had in years.

#

W
eak English sunshine bathed the pitch in a glow of pale light as Westchester United played their first game of the season. Allegra watched the game from the comfort of the directors’ box, insulated from the noise of the fans and the excitement of thousands of passionate supporters.

She’d told Gabe she didn’t watch football and that had been the truth. However, her father had a new rule this season. Every member of his staff had to be present for each home match. No exceptions.

Allegra could think of a dozen other things she’d rather do. Spreadsheets needed updating, data had to be collated, new systems introduced.

It wasn’t that the previous Finance Director hadn’t performed well. Allegra had to be better. No, not better.
The best.
The best her father had ever seen.

Sitting through a dreary game of football had definitely not been on her to-do list, but as the game started her gaze was drawn to one player.

Gabe.

The previous day, she’d done her best to hide her reaction to him. Of course she’d known who he was. A person didn’t need to know a thing about football to be aware of who Gabriel Morgan was. His off-field exploits were legendary.