Punt: A British Bad Boy Football Romance (2 page)

Audrey blew out a breath and pulled her long braid over her shoulder, running her hand down it as she click-clacked across the marble lobby to the front desk.

“Are you with Mr. Packham?” the secretary asked, flushing a little.

“Yes…” Audrey said. “I’m supposed to give you my information so that I can receive some employment documents.”

“He’s really something, isn’t he?” the young blonde said, shaking her head. “I’ve seen photos of him online. He’s covered in tattoos, did you know that?”

Yep
, she thought.
When he wears a tight t-shirt, you can see that he’s got full sleeves on both arms AND tatts peeking up from his collar.

Audrey didn’t say that, though. She went for a more discreet sort of
mmm?
sound of pretended interest, and the blonde handed her an address card to fill out.

“There you are,” came Liam’s booming voice. That accent of his, the deep timbre of his voice… She didn’t have to turn around to know it was him speaking.

Audrey jumped, accidentally scrawling half her zip code. She turned to see Liam striding toward her, and rushed to finish and hand the card back.

“Haven’t gotten very far,” she said when Liam stopped mere inches from her.

“No, you seem to have a funny habit of reappearing in my life, don’t you?” he asked.

Audrey flushed and glanced around. This close, she was acutely aware of the fact that Liam was over a foot taller than her, and a good deal wider to boot. She’d worn her tallest heels today, but she couldn’t begin to compete.

“Relax,” Liam said, looking down at her as that smirk bloomed on his face again.

“I hate when people tell me that,” Audrey blurted out.

Liam’s brows went up.

“Type A personality, are you?” he asked.

Audrey crossed her arms and cocked her head.

“I’m just… on top of things,” she said. “Somebody’s got to be.”

“Right you are. Well, you’re about to be on top of me, aren’t you?” Liam said.

“I— I’m sorry?” Audrey choked out, going scarlet.

“In charge, like,” he said with a wink. “You know, you’ve been hired as my babysitter, pure and bloody simple. That’s what that whole meeting was about, if you didn’t figure it out.”

Audrey bit her lip, then blew out a breath. “You know who I am.”

Liam gave her an odd look. “Are you checking to see if I’m mental?”

“Be serious for a second. You remember me or not?”

“Drunk birthday girl, ‘bout a year past?” he asked, arching a brow. “That what you mean, love?”

“Yes.” Audrey crossed her arms, feeling annoyed.

He stuck his hand in his pocket and produced, of all things, two sticks of Airheads sour taffy. He offered one to Audrey. “Like a lick, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me that,” she said, pulling a face. “And keep your voice down, I don’t need anyone hearing that and getting the wrong impression.”

Liam shrugged and peeled one of the wrappers open, shoving the whole bright blue wad in his mouth. That didn’t stop him from goading Audrey, of course. Why should a mouth full of candy stop the beginnings of sexual harassment?

“It’s just fucking candy.” He eyed her for a long second. “Do you know what I think? I think, darling, you’re afraid they’ll get just the right impression. And you didn’t mind my dirty talk the last time I saw you, did you?”

Audrey glared at him. “If you think you’re going to use that against me, think again. It’s written in your contract, no fraternization with employees.”

His brows lifted, like he was surprised she thought him the type to blackmail.

“I didn’t mean a thing by it, Audrey, I swear it.” He paused for a second. “That’s a pretty name, Audrey.”

She couldn’t stop her blush, but she didn’t like his flattery.

“Thanks,” she said, like he’d just handed her a bag of dog shit.

“Right!” Liam said, stretching and looking around. When he lifted his arms, his dress shirt rode up and came free from his jeans, showing an expanse of perfectly sculpted, tattooed stomach. “I guess we’re due at practice then, Ginger.”

“My name isn’t Ginger,” Audrey snapped.

“I like the name Ginger.” He turned and started to walk toward the front doors, apparently leaving with or without her.

“Wait, what about Jack? I drove him here,” she said. “And three seconds ago, you said you liked Audrey!”

“Ah, yeah. I do like Audrey, I just like Ginger better. A nickname, like. Leave your keys with the secretary, Ginger. Your brother’s got loads more business here. You’re riding with me.”

Mouth open, Audrey looked back and forth between his quickly-receding back and the conference room, where her brother was probably signing away half his life just to play for Atlanta Unified.

“Audrey, hurry up!” Liam barked as he pushed out the glass front door.

He surprised her, just the tiniest bit, by holding it open for her. Waiting…

With a worried sigh, she dragged her keys out of her purse and flung them at the receptionist, with instructions to give them to Jack.

Then she turned, squared her shoulders, and rushed out to begin her new job.

“
L
iam
, what in the FUCK!!” Coach Marten Havershom screamed, going red in the face. “That’s the third bloody pass you’ve missed in the last hour. Get your FUCKING head in the game, lad!”

Liam didn’t mind Havershom’s foul mouth. He’d gotten used to it to it playing for Manchester United, where Havershom was a defensive coach. Having him here in Atlanta felt like having an ally.

Well, when Liam was focused and playing at the top of his game. Today… not so much. There was a certain ginger lass in the stands that kept distracting him…

Honestly, though. Who could blame him? Audrey Cross was too bloody hot for her own good.

Normally when he got worked up over a girl, he just fucked her and then forgot all about it. The problem here, of course, is that every time Liam looked at Audrey, he felt guilty.

Audrey made him think of Jack, and Jack…. Well, his former friend wasn’t doing so well. According to Jack, he was knee-deep in bad debt, struggling with keeping his drug and gambling habits under control, and hiding it all from his pretty little sister.

It wasn’t all that different from the first time Liam laid eyes on Jack, come to think of it. First week of their Swiss boarding school, Liam came around the corner of the dormitory building to find Jack getting the hell beat out of him by four brawny upperclassmen.

An initiation of sorts, or a culling of a new schoolmate who the other boys thought was too weak to represent their school colors. Something along those lines.

“Keep walking,” one of the older boys told Liam in quick, harsh French. “Or you’ll find your time at Academe Augustin unpleasant, I promise you.”

Liam understood only a small portion of what the kid said, since he barely spoke the language.

Half of Liam wanted to keep walking. After all, it was none of his business. There was likely a reason the kid had been singled out. But the look on Jack’s face, the furious way he stood up to the other boys and fought back against them…

It sparked something in Liam, inspired him in a way. So often in his young life, he’d felt just that way. Fighting like a mad dog against bigger, meaner beasts.

Besides that, Liam never could stand a bully. He’d seen enough of those in his life already. So he’d walked over and knocked one of the upperclassmen out, a single punch right in the face. The other three scattered and Liam helped Jack to his feet.

What Liam didn’t realize was that, by being a scholarship kid and helping another scholarship kid escape the torment of his older and richer classmates, Liam had just put a big target on his and Jack’s backs. The next four years were incredibly tough on both of them, on the football pitch and off.

It would bond Liam and Jack in ways they’d never experience again in their entire lives.

Unbeknownst to Liam, that single moment of charity had started a lifelong friendship. Even after they finished school and Jack moved back to the States, even after Liam’s career took off while Jack’s languished… they’d kept in touch.

Even though being sent to the US for a season was a sort of punishment, getting to help Jack get a spot on a pro team was a silver lining.

If Liam could keep his head in the game and stay the hell out of trouble, that was.

“Liam! Move those bloody feet! You look like you’re playing in wet cement!” Havershom yelled across the field.

Liam shook himself, using the hem of his jersey to wipe sweat from his eyes. He stalked back to his starting position in the Olympic-sized field’s center circle, squaring off against one of his teammates. The whistle blew and he went at the ball with a vicious determination.

Unfortunately, so did Carlos, the second-string starting center. Carlos had something to prove, moreso even than Liam. Two young lads with huge chips on their shoulders, competing for the same position on a team… it was a recipe for chaos.

Liam and Carlos went head to head, attacking each other with knees and feet, wrestling for control of the ball. In a live match, this would be the moment where Liam was meant to break away and pass to a midfielder. Unfortunately, instead of making the play, he looked up over Carlos’s shoulder and spotted
her
.

Audrey was impossible to miss, with that flaming auburn hair. Not to mention those ice blue eyes and a body more tempting than an apple in Eden.

The same body he’d explored rather freely when they were both nameless strangers in the VIP booth of a popular Atlanta club.

She’d just been a pretty redhead, didn’t have the faintest idea who Liam was. It was refreshing, and soon he had her on his lap, his hand in her panties, her soft gasps of pleasure driving him wild.

Liam froze for a second, thinking about it, and Carlos took full advantage. Coach blew his whistle frantically, then started spewing expletives.

“Fucking worthless bloody wanker!!” Havershom screamed. “Liam, get off my pitch, you son of a whore! All of you get off the fucking field. Wind sprints for the rest of the session!”

Everyone groaned. Liam could feel the weight of his teammates’ glares. He’d just scored them two hours of brutal drills, running until their lungs were about to collapse.

He kept his head down for the rest of the practice, and after he hit the showers he couldn’t get out of the locker room fast enough. Carlos was making cracks about Liam being overpaid, about how maybe the Brits weren’t as godly as they thought.

Liam knew he was going to have a go at Carlos eventually, that the other man would pop off with the wrong thing at the wrong time and Liam would lose his temper. It was as sure as the sunset.

But not today.

No. Today, he was itching to blow off some fucking steam. He was also aggravated that he couldn’t stop thinking about his friend’s little sister.

Especially since the second he walked out of the locker room, showered and dressed in fresh jeans and a t-shirt, Audrey was right there waiting for him. Leaning against the wall, glaring at her mobile as she sent a text.

“We’re done for the day, Ginger,” he said, heading toward the stadium’s exit.

“What happened to your thick Cockney accent from before?” she asked, giving him a long look. “Was that all a show?”

“I went to a very posh boarding school. I can turn the accent on and off, depending on which version of myself will get me what I want. The suits like to think I’m some rough and tumble playboy, so I let them. When I’m mad or drunk, though, the accent tends to come on strong.”

She looked thoughtful, then shrugged. “Okay. Where are we going now?”

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m going about my own business.”

“Errr, actually…” Audrey rushed after him. “I’m stranded here. Jack took my car straight from the law firm to run errands.”

Liam glanced at her. She seemed full of nervous energy, like she’d had too much coffee while he was at practice. It made him feel even more tired than he already was.

“Fine. I’ll drop you home, then.”

“Ummm…” Audrey said again.

He stopped cold and turned to pin her with his gaze.

“Spit it out,” he demanded. “I got places to be, don’t I?”

“I got my employment contract from your manager,” she said, waving her phone at him. “I just read it. I’m on from ten in the morning till eight at night, minimum. I don’t leave your side during that time, apparently.”

“And?” Liam asked.

“Well, it’s only six,” she said, looking at her delicate silver wristwatch. “I have two more hours to go.”

“You’re gonna stick to the letter of the contract, are you?” Liam said, shaking his head. He started moving again, hitting the parking lot and walking toward his Range Rover.

“Well, yeah,” she said, her brow puckering. “I signed it, which means I gave my word…”

Liam repressed a sigh, reaching the car and walking around to open the passenger door for her. “Get in, will you?”

She did, giving him an odd look, but he just closed the door on her. He slid into the driver’s seat.

“You’re going to want to put a belt on,” he said. “I haven’t completely got the hang of driving on the wrong side yet.”

Audrey’s eyes went wide as he backed out and pulled the car from the massive stadium lot. He took a left turn right out of the gate, and Audrey slapped the dashboard.

“You just took a left turn at a red light!” she cried. “You can’t
do
that.”

“Right. Well…” Liam rolled his eyes. “You always follow the rules, do you?”

She was quiet for a moment, then she nodded. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Where am I taking you?” Liam asked.

“Nowhere,” she said, crossing her arms. “I’m with you for at least two more hours.”

“I don’t think that’s a great idea. You aren’t going to like my plans for the evening.”

Audrey gave him a hard look. “Doesn’t matter. I’m doing my job, not going to Disney World.”

Her answer made Liam’s lips twitch. It also made Liam want to test her, push the boundaries. It was his way, seeing how far he could get people out of their comfort zones.

And he knew just how he wanted to make uptight little Audrey uncomfortable.

“You’re going to need a change of clothes,” he said, eyeing her conservative suit.

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” she asked.

“Nothing, if you’re gonna spend the evening darning quilts or something. If you’re going out with me, though, you’re going to need to put on a proper frock.” He paused, then added, “Like you wore at the club that night.”

She went red, crossing her arms.

“I don’t exactly own a lot of clothes like that,” she said, sounding exasperated.

“I’ll tell you what. One of my errands today is picking up a rack of clothes from my shopper at Bloomingdale’s. I’ll text her and have her pick some clothes out for you. I can’t have my assistant looking shabby, now can I?”

“I— I can’t afford that!” she protested.

He arched a brow. “I would gladly pay to see you burn that suit.”

“It is not that bad.”

“I disagree.”

“It would be inappropriate for you to buy me… going out clothes,” she said, smoothing her hands over her trousers.

“It’s inappropriate for you to be seen with me while you’re dressed like that. It’s bad for my… you know, brand or whatever.”

She paused for a beat.

“You want people to think I’m… more than an assistant?”

“I don’t want people to assume that I have a fucking babysitter following me around. You’re dressed like a sober companion, like I just got out of the clinic for a smack addiction or something.”

Her brows rose.

“That’s… oddly specific,” she said.

He pulled over to the side of the road, tires screeching. He dug his phone out of his pocket and fired off a couple of texts.

“What size are you?” he asked. “In everything, down to the panties. Don’t make me guess.”

She blushed to the roots of her hair. She rambled off some measurements that meant less than nothing to Liam, and he sent them to his personal shopper.

“Done,” he said, tossing his phone at her. Audrey caught it and blinked at him, looking confused. “Let’s hear no more about it for the time being, yeah?”

Little did she know what he was preparing her for…

Liam repressed a smirk, curious to see how uptight Audrey handled the rest of the evening.