Final Score (23 page)

‘We should be in bed. We’ve got a plane to catch in a matter of hours.’

‘I’m not tired.’

He smiled at her, pulling her into his arms, gently stroking the hair from those beautiful pale-blue eyes of hers. ‘No. Neither am I. We should still be in bed, though.’

She returned his smile, tipping her head back slightly as he kissed her slowly, his hand lightly rubbing her back. ‘I couldn’t have wished for a more perfect wedding,’ she whispered, and she meant it. Just the two of them, nobody else there to invade their time, nobody else trying to hide disapproving looks or congratulate them when they really didn’t mean it. It was just the two of them. The way she’d always wanted it. ‘But we’re going back to things that aren’t perfect, Jim.’

He shook his head, pulling her in against him as they started walking back towards their hotel. ‘Don’t, Amber. We’re still here, and while we’re still here I don’t want to think about what’s going on back home or what may or may not happen once we’re there. Because we’re still here.’

She clung tightly onto his waist, holding her left hand up in front of her, smiling as she looked at her wedding ring against the backdrop of the early-morning Las Vegas sun. ‘I’d get used to this time of day if I were you.’

He kissed her forehead, rubbing the top of her arm as they walked. ‘And why’s that? You planning on waking me this early every day for some pre-dawn exercise?’

She laughed quietly, stopping for a second to slip off her heels, not caring that the sidewalk was actually quite cool against her bare feet. ‘Oh, you wish, handsome. But I think you’ll find your stepson will have one or two things to say about that.’

He stopped walking again, pulling her back into his arms. ‘My stepson…’

‘Yeah. We’re kind of equal on that one now. I’ve got Brandon, you’ve got Rico. Although, yours isn’t all that great as far as conversation goes at the minute.’

‘I’m gonna do my best to look after you both, Amber. I mean that. I… I know Rico’s not mine, but… I’m gonna love him as though he were.’

She smiled, reaching up to touch his face, that once-light stubble now forming a darker shadow on his strong jawline. ‘And he’s gonna love you right back, I know he is.’

‘But, right now…’ Jim squeezed her waist, his mouth moving closer to hers as he spoke. ‘Right now, I’m gonna take his mommy to bed, and love her like nobody else has ever loved her before.’

‘You’re such a sweet-talker,’ Amber breathed, closing her eyes as his fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her head back slightly as their mouths touched, his kiss plunging her deeper and deeper into a web she now never wanted to break free from.

‘Let’s go,’ he whispered, his hand slipping into hers as they resumed a pace that was almost a run now, both of them realising how little time they had left in this place. And neither of them wanted to waste any of it. ‘Six hours and counting.’

Chapter Fifteen

Max threw his head back and closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. He needed this the day news had broken about Amber’s ‘surprise’ Vegas wedding to Jim Allen. His phone hadn’t stopped ringing since the crack of dawn, and this was probably going to swamp anything else out there. And both stories breaking on the same day was just destined to give him a headache he could really do without.

He got up and walked over to the windows of his plush Covent Garden offices, staring down at the crowds of people darting this way and that, rushing to work or heading off early to the next tourist attraction London had to offer. He checked his watch before sticking his hands in his pockets. Amber and Jim were due to land back in the UK within the next hour or so – should he ask her to come in? Did he have time before his flight up to Newcastle? She wasn’t going in to work until tomorrow, he knew that, although he also knew Freddie Sullivan was arriving in London later that day with the baby. So dragging her away from home when she hadn’t seen her son for days wasn’t going to go down well. But he really needed to see her. However, Max knew he was just going to have to wait.

Giving up another heavy sigh he turned and walked back over to his desk, sitting down on the edge of it as he picked up his phone, scrolled down his list of speed-dial numbers and pressed
call
. It was answered within seconds, the voice on the other end of the line a little muffled. Probably because he’d woken them up.

‘What do you want, Max? Have you seen the frigging time? Even Rico doesn’t wake me this early.’

‘It’s twenty past eight, Ryan.’

‘I know, Max. That’s my point. What’s up?’

‘I’m assuming you haven’t seen the papers today? Or switched on your TV yet?’

‘No. Because I was asleep. And because Freddie now has Rico I assumed I’d get a bit of a lie-in this morning seeing as training isn’t starting until ten… why? Oh, hang on…is this to do with Amber? Shit! She’s gone through with it, hasn’t she?’

Max closed his eyes for a beat, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. ‘Yes, she’s gone through with it. But that’s the least of your worries, kiddo.’

‘You think? Jesus! I can’t believe she’s married him – again!’

‘What did you think would happen, Ryan? That she’d arrive in Las Vegas, suddenly realise what a massive mistake she was making, get on a plane back home and run straight into your arms?’

‘What the fuck is wrong with
you
this morning?’

‘Switch your TV on, get on the laptop, read a newspaper… then call me back. I won’t go anywhere until I hear from you.’

‘Max? Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?’

‘Just do it, Ryan. Then, please, call me back.’

*

‘Did you organise this?’ Amber gasped as she walked into the nursery of their new London home. When she’d last seen it the room had been a canvas of beige, with nothing but a chest of drawers and a wardrobe filling the emptiness. But now the walls were painted a vibrant yellow, a huge wooden cot sat in the centre of the room, an oversized chocolate-coloured corner couch rested against one wall and on the other side of the room was a long sideboard decorated with cuddly toys and assorted baby paraphernalia. There was a new changing table, a large flat-screened TV on another wall, and yet more toys and baby clothes were piled up in boxes next to the couch. It was too much for Amber to take in.

‘I wanted him to have a perfect place to come home to.’

Amber smiled as Jim walked around the nursery, making sure everything was in place. ‘Thank you.’

He looked at her, returning her smile, and once again Amber felt her stomach contract in a barrage of waves that made her feel weak – both physically and mentally. That was what this man did to her, and she was just going to have to learn to deal with it.

‘We’re a family now, Amber. And I want this to be a perfect family home, for all of us.’

She walked over to him, sliding her arms around his waist. ‘I love you, Jim Allen.’

He pulled her closer, kissing her gently, and just that brief touch of his lips on hers caused her to fall against him, like some invisible magnet was drawing her to him. ‘I love you, too, honey.’

She looked up into his eyes, touching that beautiful mouth of his with her fingertips. ‘I guess we’re back to reality now, huh?’

He took hold of her hand, his fingers closing around hers as he lifted them to his mouth and kissed them. ‘Nothing is going to tear us apart again, Amber. Nothing.’

‘Promise?’

‘I thought you didn’t want me to ever promise you anything?’

‘Do you promise, Jim? Do you promise me that nothing will ever tear us apart again?’

He stared into her eyes so deeply he felt as though he was falling. But he wanted her to believe him this time, he needed her to do that; to believe him. ‘I promise,’ he whispered, his mouth lowering down onto hers again, his thumb gently stroking her cheek. ‘With every beat of my heart, I promise.’

Amber felt her own heart skip those proverbial beats and those butterflies fly loose inside her as his lips touched hers, and she pulled away only briefly to let out a tiny gasp as he pushed her back towards the couch.

‘In the nursery?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow, a slight smile on her face.

‘Hey, come on. His mommy and step-daddy have got to make sure this couch is comfortable.’

‘Seriously?’ But she wasn’t really putting up much of a fight. She was already pulling the belt out of her jeans, her eyes telling him she wasn’t exactly going to object.

‘Seriously.’ He pushed her gently back onto the couch, that smile of his almost sending her crazy.

‘What are you waiting for, Mr. Allen?’ She smiled back, pulling off her t-shirt and whipping off her bra, throwing her arms above her head, arching her back as he slowly pulled her jeans down over her legs.

‘I have no idea,’ he groaned, his hands on her knees, pushing her legs apart. ‘You know, we really have to start behaving ourselves, beautiful. Or neither of us are gonna get any work done.’

‘Just get inside me, handsome. Before I get bored and do the job myself.’

He grinned, lying over her, his hand covering her breast, and just the touch of him set her skin on fire. ‘Baby, as long as I can watch, you can get there any which way you want.’

‘I want
you
inside me,’ she breathed, burying her fingers in his hair as she moved her mouth close to his. ‘All that solo stuff, I’ll leave that for the days when you’re not with me, when the only choice I have is to think of you and touch myself. But right now you’re here, and I want
you
inside me.’

‘Oh, Jesus, I love you so fucking much.’

‘I know. Now stop talking and show me how much you love me.’

‘You’re such a turn-on when you’re like this, do you know that?’

She couldn’t help smiling, reaching down to take him in her hand, their eyes still locked together. ‘Yeah, well, I’m back home now, aren’t I? So I need to lose that lovesick wreck of a woman and bring back the professional presenter the rest of the country sees.’

He looked at her, his fingers slipping between hers as he gently pushed inside her. She was his beautiful girl, his necessary escape; his whole fucking world. And as he sank deeper into her, losing himself in that warm and welcoming heaven, he never wanted to leave. Never wanted to stop feeling how she made him feel. He never wanted to lose this.

‘Don’t, baby,’ she whispered, stroking his cheek as she stared into his eyes. ‘Whatever you’ve got on your mind right now, forget it. For the next few minutes just forget everything. Please. Because we don’t have all that much longer left of this. Of it just being you and me. We don’t have long left. And I don’t want to lose that yet.’

She bucked her hips up against him and he groaned quietly, his eyes diverting briefly from hers to look down at her perfect breasts as they rose and fell quickly, inviting him to touch them, and who was he to say no?

For the next few minutes, at least, he was exactly where he wanted to be. With the only woman he wanted to be with. And he’d promised her, hadn’t he? He’d promised her nothing would ever tear them apart again, and that was all he’d done. He’d made sure nothing would ever do that. All he could hope was that he’d played the game to the best of his ability, and that his opponent had no comeback.

*

‘I need you here, Max,’ Ryan said, a feeling of panic enveloping him, and he wasn’t used to that. He didn’t panic, he handled things. That’s what Ryan Fisher did.

‘I’m on my way, Ryan. My flight’s just landed and I’m on my way to the training ground right now.’

‘The new boss wants me in his office, Max, and I…’

‘Wait until I get there, okay? Don’t do or say anything until I get there. I’ll call Dave, make sure he knows the score. Ryan, it’ll be okay. It’ll be okay, do you hear me?’

‘I didn’t do this, Max. I didn’t. I mean, I…’

‘It’ll be okay. I’ll sort it.’

‘Who the hell leaked this? Huh? I thought we’d covered all those bases, made sure that had been the end of it when I left London. I came back up north to leave all this shit behind, Max, because they promised me it wouldn’t get out. So who the hell went back on that, huh?’

‘Ryan, just calm down, alright? I’m sorting it, and that’s all you need to know.’

‘Jesus! As if I haven’t got enough to fucking deal with.’

Max waited a beat before asking the next question. And even though it was probably a subject he shouldn’t have brought up, if it took Ryan’s mind off what was going on right now, that could only be a good thing. ‘Have you spoken to Amber yet?’

Ryan sighed, throwing himself back against the dressing room wall. ‘No. Not yet. Is she home?’

‘She’s home.’

‘Have
you
spoken to her?’

‘No.’

‘Does she know about this?’

‘I have no idea, Ryan. As soon as I’d called you I went straight to the airport, but I haven’t heard from her. So I’m assuming she hasn’t heard anything yet.’

‘She’ll be too busy playing mummy and daddy with Jim fucking Allen.’

‘Jesus, Ryan, grow up.’ Yeah. Bringing up Amber had been a bad move.

‘My son is living with a man who… Max, my head is so fucked up right now, I don’t think I can do this.’

‘Ryan, listen to me. Listen to me! I’m almost there, so just stay where you are and I promise you, I’ll sort this.’

‘I need to speak to her, Max.’

Max sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose again as he stared out of the window. Familiar sights flashed by in a blur as his car headed towards the Newcastle Red Star training ground, reminders that he was back up north; back to sort out yet another chapter in the ridiculously complicated life of Ryan Fisher. ‘Leave it for now, son, okay?’

‘I really need her, Max.’

‘Five minutes, Ryan. I’ll be there in five minutes.’

Ryan slid his phone back into his pocket and slumped down onto the bench, dropping his head into his hands.

‘Hey, mate, you alright?’

Ryan looked up, shaking his head. ‘It’s all turning to shit again, Gary. I thought it was bad enough Amber leaving me, bad enough that she had to go and marry him, again. Because she’s broken my fucking heart, she really has. The way it happened, I thought I’d be okay about it, y’know? I mean, she’s never really made it a secret that she and Jim Allen – there was always something there. And I should have known this was going to happen, and maybe I could have handled it so much better if Rico hadn’t arrived, but he has, and now she’s taking
him
away from me, too, and she’s breaking my heart all over again, Gary. She’s breaking my fucking heart…’ Ryan quickly wiped away a stray tear as it slid slowly down his cheek. ‘But this… this could finish me.’ He looked at his best friend, an almost defeated tone to his voice. ‘This could be the fucking end, Gary.’