Striker (40 page)

*

‘Here you go,’ Freddie Sullivan smiled as he handed Amber a steaming hot mug of tea.

‘Thanks, Dad,’ Amber sighed, cupping her gloved hands round the mug as she stood on the sidelines, watching her dad’s team prepare for their evening match with an afternoon training session. ‘I didn’t much fancy going home. I’m not used to it, not at this time of the day.’

Freddie looked at his daughter, frowning slightly. ‘Kevin’s right though, pet. You
do
need a break. I can’t remember the last time you had a proper holiday. Why don’t you take yourself away somewhere, eh? You could go and visit your Nan over in
Marbella
; she’d love to see you…’

‘You know how it is, Dad. Ryan can’t take a proper holiday until the season’s over…’ She looked at her father, taking a small sip of hot tea. ‘You meant go without Ryan, didn’t you?’

Freddie Sullivan looked down at the ground for a second, scuffing his football boot along the muddy grass, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his tracksuit bottoms.

‘Maybe you should… maybe you should back off from him for a little while, Amber.’

She continued to look at her dad, not breaking the stare. ‘Why?’

‘Because he isn’t good for you, kiddo. He’s… he’s always had this reputation, this image that follows him around and I was never really sure how much of that was true, until I met him. Until he joined Red Star. He isn’t good for you, Amber.’

She turned away, taking another sip of tea as she watched her dad’s players take practise penalties at the far end of the pitch. ‘I think I can look after myself, Dad.’

‘Oh, I’ve got no doubt about that, Amber. But you shouldn’t have to look after him, too.’

She threw her head back and sighed heavily. ‘Will everyone stop blaming Ryan for the way I’m feeling right now? Please?’

‘Something else on your mind, then?’ Freddie asked, kicking a stray ball back onto the pitch.

‘No,’ Amber replied, probably a touch too defensively. ‘No. Nothing else is on my mind. Well, apart from the fact I’ve been forced out of the office for a few weeks.’

‘You should enjoy the time off, pet.’

‘Yeah, you should.’

‘What are
you
doing here?’ Amber asked as Ronnie joined them on the sidelines, taking the mug from Amber’s hands and taking a drink of tea.

‘I popped in to see you at work but Kevin said you were here. He said he’d ordered you to take a few weeks off, and I have to agree with him. You haven’t…’

‘Had a proper holiday in ages, I know. I get it.’

‘Anyway, I thought you’d be making the most of your free afternoon getting yourself a manicure or a new hairdo for the Red Star Christmas party tonight, seeing as Jim Allen seems to have ripped up his “no partners” policy for this year.’ He looked straight at Amber. ‘Any idea why he might have done that?’

She quickly looked away, his stare making her feel slightly uncomfortable, for some reason. ‘How the hell should
I
know?’

‘It is a bit strange, that,’ Freddie mused, stroking his stubbled chin. ‘Normally Jim’s a stickler for protocol, and with every club he’s managed, when it comes to the Christmas party he’s always been quite firm about no partners being allowed.’

‘Why? Because he takes them all out for an evening of depraved debauchery that he wouldn’t like the wives and girlfriends to know about?’ Amber said, slightly more sarcastically than she’d intended.

‘Well, your boyfriend might be able to advise him on the best places to go, if that was the case.’

‘Ronnie…’ Freddie said, a warning tone to his voice.

‘Yeah, Dad’s already covered the “let’s batter Ryan” side of the conversation, so don’t
you
start.’

Ronnie looked at Freddie, who just shrugged. ‘I’d better get back out there before this lot start slacking off.’ He quickly kissed Amber on the cheek. ‘See you later, kiddo.’

‘Yeah. See you, Dad. Thanks for the tea.’

Ronnie stood beside her, pulling the collar of his jacket up around his neck to shield it from the biting north east chill. ‘So, what’s your dad been saying, then?’

‘That I should back away from my relationship with Ryan and go and spend some time with Nan in
Marbella
. On my own.’

‘That’s not such a bad idea.’

She looked at him, taking her mug of tea back. ‘Oh, really?’

‘Yeah. Christ, if
I
had that much time off I’d be over there like a shot. Sunshine and sangria over there in southern
Spain
, or snow and Christmas adverts being shoved down me throat in
England
? It’s a no-brainer.’

‘It won’t work, Ronnie. I’m not going anywhere. And anyway, you don’t even
like
sangria.’

‘That’s not the point, missy.’

‘Whatever.’

‘You’re beginning to sound like him, now.’

‘So, I take it you agree with my dad, then? You think that I should back away from Ryan, too?’

Ronnie shrugged. ‘I’m not telling you what to do, Amber. All I’ll say is, be careful. And remember, your dad doesn’t even know the half of it as far as Ryan’s concerned, because, if he did…’

‘He doesn’t. And he doesn’t
need
to know.’

‘And then there’s Jim…’

‘Can you shut up, please?’

‘Well, like I said – just, be careful.’

She frowned, looking at him over the rim of her mug as she drained the last of the tea from it. ‘What’s
that
supposed to mean?’

‘I think you know what I mean, Amber.’

She held his gaze, nodding slowly. ‘Yeah.’ It just remained to be seen whether she heeded those words of warning or not. ‘I’d better go home. I’ve got to find an outfit for this party tonight, and I don’t think jeans and a t-shirt are gonna cut it, somehow.’

‘You’ll look great whatever you wear,’ Ronnie said, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets as he stared straight ahead.
 

‘Yeah, well, I’ve still got a lot of work to do, haven’t I? And it’s not like I’ve got anything else to be getting on with so I might as well go home and pamper myself.’

Ronnie turned to look at her again. ‘Amber… If there was anything you wanted to talk about, you’d come to me, wouldn’t you?’

She smiled at him, slipping her arm through his and squeezing it tight, quickly kissing his cheek. ‘Yeah. You know I would.’

‘So, you and Jim Allen…’

She let go of him, putting the now-empty mug down on the ground before she started walking back towards the car park. ‘Like I said, Ronnie, I’d better go home and start getting ready.’

‘So, there’s nothing going on between you two, then? Only, when you told me what had happened at Tynebridge a few weeks ago, in his office…’

‘Yeah, well, maybe I shouldn’t have told you anything at all.’

‘No, Amber, hang on…’ He gently grabbed her arm, swinging her round to look at him. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry, it’s just that… Kevin said he was really worried about you. And whatever’s going on, well, I don’t think it’s
all
to do with Ryan. Is it?’

Amber just looked at him for a few seconds before pulling her arm from his grip. ‘I let things get on top of me, Ronnie. Okay? But I guess I’ve got the time to deal with it all now, haven’t I?’

She resumed the walk to her car but Ronnie wasn’t giving up. ‘Amber, come on, kiddo. What’s that supposed to mean, huh?’

She turned round as she reached her car, leaning back against it. ‘It means, I can concentrate on making sure Ryan doesn’t throw his career away. Nothing more, nothing less.’ Would he believe her? She hoped so. It was partly the truth, anyway. ‘And not a word to Jim about Ryan, do you hear me?’ She turned to open the driver’s door before facing Ronnie one last time. ‘So far nothing he’s done has affected his football, and I intend to make sure it stays that way.’

*

Ryan lay back on the bed and smiled as he stared at the ceiling. That had certainly been one way to while away an afternoon, and all for less than a day’s wages. He felt exhilarated, fired-up, ready to go all over again.

He turned his head to check the time on the clock by the bed. Amber should be home soon. He’d timed this perfectly, made sure everything had ran like clockwork, and he’d managed to get the kicks he’d so badly needed without Amber having to know a thing. Jesus, he was good!

The sound of the door banging shut downstairs told him she was home and he smiled again, reaching down to gently touch himself. Hard and ready to greet his gorgeous girlfriend with a welcome home she probably wasn’t expecting, but one he was sure she was going to love.

‘Ryan! Are you up there?’ Amber’s voice drifted up the stairs and Ryan sat up, tying the towel he had wrapped round his waist a little tighter.

‘Yeah. I’m in the bedroom!’ he shouted back, unable to keep the smile off his face as he heard her run upstairs.

‘Oh, good. You’ve already had your shower,’ Amber said, throwing her bag onto the chair by the door, loosening her belt and slipping off her watch.

‘Nice to see you, too,’ Ryan mumbled, watching as she moved around the bedroom like she was on some kind of mission.

She swung round to look at him. ‘Huh?’

‘You. What happened to “
Hello, Ryan, hope you had a good day
”.’

‘Well, I hope you
did
have a good day, because I’ve had a crap one.’

He stood up, walking over to her, slipping his arms around her from behind, kissing her neck. ‘Oh yeah? What’s happened? Tough day at the office?’

‘You don’t know the half of it,’ she sighed, leaning back against him, wanting to feel angry with him because it was partly
his
fault she was in this mess, but she couldn’t be angry with him. What good would
that
do? They might as well enjoy the Christmas party and work out where they went from here tomorrow. After all, she had plenty of time now, didn’t she?’

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ Ryan asked, really hoping she’d say no. He was in the mood for sex, not conversation.

‘Not really,’ Amber replied, stepping out of his arms and slipping off her top. ‘Suffice to say, Kevin’s ordered me to take some time off from News North East. At least until after Christmas.’

‘Really?’ Ryan frowned, wondering if that meant she was going to be around the house more often. If she was then maybe The Goldman was going to have a lot more of his custom. ‘Why?’

She turned to look at him. ‘Because my work has turned to shit lately, Ryan.’ She threw her head back and sighed, pushing a hand through her hair. ‘Look, it doesn’t matter. I could do with some time off, and I was thinking of taking a fortnight over Christmas anyway. It’s all good.’

‘Is it?’ Ryan was slightly confused now. He’d always thought Amber was the epitome of professionalism – the archetypal work-a-holic. Was it
his
fault she’d let her work slip?
 

‘Hey, come on,’ she smiled, slipping her arms around his waist, kissing his slightly open, unsuspecting mouth quickly. ‘It’s not
your
fault. Not entirely, anyway. But I guess what you
are
guilty of is being on my mind so much I lose all concentration.’
Just not always in a good way
, she thought.

He smiled, too, sliding his hand down her jeans, making her gasp out loud as his cold fingers touched her warm skin. ‘Well, maybe having some extra time together isn’t such a bad thing, huh?’

‘Maybe not,’ she whispered, pulling his towel away and taking a small step back to look at him, all toned and hard – very, very hard.
 
‘It doesn’t take long to get
you
in the mood, does it?’ she smirked, reaching out to touch him, the feel of him in her hand sending a million shivers coursing through her. And despite the doubts she had constantly in the back of her mind about their relationship, and just why she was with him – because sometimes her reasoning was slightly blurred and there were times when she was never sure whether she was with him because she wanted to be, or because she felt a certain duty to help him – she didn’t want to think about it right now. She wanted to have a good night; she wanted them
both
to have a good night. Everything else could wait. She had the country’s most talented footballer right here in front of her, naked and sexy and hers. Right now he was hers, so she put any thoughts about the things he might have done or the women he might have been with to the back of her mind, and let her heart take over. Tonight was a night to let go and forget. And Ryan couldn’t have agreed more.

Chapter Sixteen

The Newcastle Red Star Christmas party was being held in one of the most exclusive hotels the region had to offer, although, much to Ryan’s relief, it wasn’t The Goldman.
 

With the use of its largest function room, and overnight accommodation booked for everyone so that nobody had to leave the party early, it was all set to be a night filled with celebrations and festivities that had cost something in the region of a small fortune. But, at a time when more than a few top-flight clubs had cut back on the Christmas party budget, Red Star had thrown money at theirs to celebrate the successful first half of a season that now saw them settled nicely in the top half of the league table, with a real chance of winning the title.