Contents
Michelle Betham
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
About HarperImpulse
Copyright
About the Publisher
Michelle Betham
I’m an ex-media technician turned rock-music-loving author of hot, sexy romance and chick lit with a kick! My love of books began the second I could read, and some of my happiest memories are of me curled up in bed as a child devouring every Malory Towers and Famous Five book I could get my hands on. As the years progressed I read everything from horror to Harry Potter, Jackie Collins to Jilly Cooper, but I always knew that I wanted to write romance. I love the idea of escapism – of creating a world in which readers can lose themselves, and characters they’ll want to spend time with. And thanks to inspiration from the aforementioned Ms. Collins, I always knew that I wanted to write romance of the more racy variety, and to be able to do that every day is a dream come true for me.
After a spell living on the beautiful Canarian island of Tenerife, I’m now back in the UK and settled in County Durham with my wonderful husband and my gorgeous West Highland Terrier, Archie. A proud Geordie girl, I adore the north east of England, but I also love the odd glass of wine, Keanu Reeves, a decent TV drama, Peter Kay… and darts!
You can follow me on Twitter @michellebetham, find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/AuthorMichelleBetham or chat to me on my blog http://michellebethamwriter.blogspot.co.uk/.
This book is dedicated to all those who love The Beautiful Game … especially my husband Ian, who loves it more than most!
Chapter One
Jim Allen threw open the white shutters that covered the huge French doors, taking in the view of the cobalt-blue sea in front of him. The palm trees surrounding the small and private oval-shaped pool outside on the terrace swayed slightly in the gentle breeze, the sky cloudless and clear, heralding another beautiful day in paradise.
Shoving his hands in his pockets he turned away from the window, walking back over to the huge king-size bed in the centre of the room. She was still asleep, still oblivious to this new day, but he didn’t want to wake her, not yet. He just wanted to look at her for a few more minutes.
He leaned against the wall, closing his eyes for a second or two before opening them, directing his gaze at her as she lay on her back, one arm slung high above her head. And what he wanted to do more than anything right now was reach out and move the thin sheet that was covering her, just enough so he could see all of her, because he knew she was naked. He knew that, because they’d made love just an hour ago, before he’d had to leave her to go and join the Newcastle Red Star squad for a team breakfast. Even though he’d much rather have stayed there, with her.
He watched as she moaned quietly in her sleep, shifting slightly so the sheet fell down below her perfect breasts and he couldn’t help but react. She had that effect on him; she’d always had that effect on him. He’d loved this woman for over twenty years, yet they’d only been together – properly together, not like the last time – for a matter of months. At the age of forty-nine Jim Allen felt as though his life was only just beginning, and he couldn’t be happier.
She gave another, longer moan, shifting again, becoming more restless, and for him that was enough. He couldn’t watch her any longer without wanting to touch her, and as the sheet moved further down her body, falling just below her hips, low enough to give him a tantalising glimpse of heaven, he could feel himself growing harder.
‘Jesus… what you do to me…’ he groaned, pushing a hand through his slightly greying hair, watching as she drew one leg up, an action which caused the sheet to fall down even further, her nakedness now revealed in all its tanned and beautiful glory. ‘Shit, Amber. I’ve got so much work to do, honey, yet I’m gonna have to fuck you so hard first before I can get any of it done.’
‘Get on with it then,’ she murmured, without opening her eyes, a slight smile on her face.
He couldn’t help smiling, too. ‘You want more, huh?’
She opened her eyes, pushing herself up onto her elbows. ‘I always want more, Jim. I’m never satisfied.’
‘Yeah, tell me about it,’ he laughed.
‘Just get undressed, come on. We haven’t got all day.’
He shrugged off his shirt, letting it fall to the floor as he walked over to the bed. ‘We’ve got a few minutes.’
She looked up at him as he leaned over her, her eyes slowly closing as he kissed her gently. ‘We can do a lot in a few minutes, Mr. Allen.’
‘We sure can, Mrs. Allen,’ he whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed, pulling the sheet away from her body, letting his fingers trail lazily over her stomach before finally resting on her hip. ‘I love you, Amber. You do know that, don’t you?’
She reached out and gently touched his face, smiling at him. ‘Yeah. I know that. Now.’
‘Everything else is in the past, baby. It’s all in the past.’ Although even as he said the words he knew that could never really be the case. How could everything be in the past when the past was still there? Right there, with them, on this stunning island.
She said nothing, just leaned forward and kissed him, her slightly open mouth covering his in a painfully beautiful kiss, every movement her lips made against his making him want her more.
‘These past few months, they’ve been incredible, Amber. Finally having you here, beside me, with me, after everything we’ve been through…’
She put a finger to his lips, stopping him from saying any more. ‘You just said the past is gone, Jim. So let’s not go there, okay? We don’t need to go there.’
He gently took hold of her wrist, pushing her back onto the bed, nudging her legs open with his knee. ‘No. We don’t.’
She smiled again as she closed her eyes, putting up no fight, despite the fact he was holding her wrists quite tightly now. In fact, if anything, it seemed to be turning her on more, which in turn made him twice as eager to go back to that safe, secret place he’d visited just an hour earlier.
She arched her back, pushing herself up against him, inviting him inside, and he wasn’t going to hang about. He wasn’t even going to waste time removing the rest of his clothes, there was no need. He was hard and he was ready, so why wait any longer?
Keeping that tight grip on her wrists, her arms up at either side of her head, he carefully pushed inside her, taking his time, loving the way she felt, all soft and wet and warm. And then he was there, buried deep within her.
Finally letting go of her wrists, he placed his hands on her knees, pushing her legs back up against her stomach, enabling him to go deeper, her moans urging him
to push harder, making it difficult for him to hold back any longer. And as she thrust her hips up against his again, he felt that burning release begin to build until he had no option left but to let go, spilling out inside of her, holding onto her as she wrapped her legs around him, keeping him there, holding him in.
But that wasn’t the end. It wasn’t over. It would have been selfish of him to assume that, so slipping an arm around her waist, he pulled her over in one swift movement, groaning loudly as she climbed astride him, naked and beautiful and yet to come. But she was going to do it now, just for him, and he had a front row seat.
He watched as she threw her head back, reaching down to touch herself and it was almost crazy how quickly he felt himself grow hard all over again. With his hands on either side of her thighs, he carefully moved her forward, lifting her up slightly before lowering her back down, sliding into her once more with an ease only those who’d made love so often possessed.
With him firmly back inside her, she quickly resumed the journey to her own climax, closing her eyes and pushing her breasts out, her hand taking position back where it had been before, and Jim watched as she continued those slow, circular motions, every move her fingers made against herself bringing him closer to another crashing finale. Jesus, he never wanted this to end! Never. And he’d come so close to this not happening at all, to losing her, so he had to bring out his A-game this time. To make sure he didn’t lose her again.
‘Amber, baby…’ he groaned, not taking his eyes off her hand as those once-gentle circular motions became more frantic, signalling her imminent arrival at her own endgame, but he wasn’t to be outdone. As that familiar, beautiful tingle started creeping its way up his body he knew they were going to come together this time. And they did, almost simultaneously, their bodies shuddering to that blissful halt as one, leaving them both spent and breathless. ‘Jesus, that was good. That was so fucking good!’ Jim sighed as Amber collapsed on top of him, her head on his chest.
‘Yeah.’ She smiled, a more-than-satisfied smile, her eyes still closed. ‘It was.’
He kissed the top of her head, burying his fingers in her dark red hair. ‘I’ve really got to go in a minute, honey. We’ve got a game to prepare for, and if I’m not on top of it all…’
She raised her head slightly, finally opening her eyes. ‘I’d much rather you stayed here, on top of me.’
He returned her smile, kissing her long and slow. ‘Yeah. And there’s no place I’d rather be, beautiful. But, unfortunately, I’m here to work. And so are you.’
She groaned, throwing her head back down on his chest. ‘I know, I know.’ She closed her eyes again, making the most of those final, few precious seconds together before reality returned and took over. ‘I just wish I didn’t have to.’
Reluctantly pushing herself up and off him, Amber got up and walked over to the French doors, looking out at the stunning view of the pool and the palm trees and the sea that stretched out ahead of them like a never-ending blue blanket.
Jim couldn’t take his eyes off her. His beautiful wife of just five months. The woman he’d never thought he’d get close to again, after everything that had happened. Their past history was complicated, but from the second he’d walked back into her life he’d had no intention of losing the fight, not this time. Even though there’d been days when he’d thought he was going to have to concede defeat.
‘Isn’t Ronnie coming over to the island today?’ Jim asked, hauling himself off the bed and joining her at the French doors, slipping his arms around her from behind, pulling her naked body back against him.
‘His flight lands at lunchtime. I said I’d go pick him up. They were going to send a car for him, but…’ She stopped talking and turned round in his arms, running her fingers lightly over his rough jawline, ‘… he’s my friend, and I want to… You don’t mind, do you?’
‘Why would I mind?’ Jim laughed, his hand gently stroking the base of her spine.
‘I don’t know.’ Amber shrugged, pulling away from him, suddenly realising what a stupid question that had been. Why would Jim mind? She and Ronnie were good friends, best friends, and now they were work colleagues, too, but that was all. Okay, so they’d once had a brief relationship, back in the days when he’d been a professional footballer and she’d been the Sports Editor at News North East, a popular regional TV news programme based in her native North East England. But that had been years ago. All forgotten. She didn’t feel that way about Ronnie, and he didn’t feel that way about her. Not anymore. ‘I just didn’t know if we were meeting up later, that’s all.’
He followed her into the bathroom, watching as she switched on the shower, shaking out her hair before throwing him a look over her shoulder, smiling knowingly at him.
‘Want to join me?’
Fuck it! Everything else could wait.
‘Do you miss her?’ Gary looked at Ryan out the corner of his eye as they finished up the last of their coffee over what had been an unusually long and somewhat more leisurely than expected breakfast. This pre-season trip to Spain and the Canary Islands was turning out to be a more relaxed affair than anyone could have anticipated, but that was mainly because Newcastle Red Star’s recently-married manager, Jim Allen, was still very much in the ‘honeymoon period’. And because of that, he was being far more lenient with his rules than was the norm.
‘Miss who?’ Ryan asked. A purely rhetorical question, of course, because he knew exactly who Gary was talking about.
‘You know who,’ Gary said, leaning back in his seat and stretching out his legs.
Ryan looked at him. He knew what he was trying to do, but it wouldn’t work. He wasn’t going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing how he was really feeling. He was stronger now; there was no time to be weak, not anymore. Being weak had cost him big in the past, and he wasn’t going there again. ‘Why would I miss her, Gary? I’m with Ellen now, aren’t I? And she understands the kind of relationship I need; a relationship that doesn’t involve any kind of commitment.’
Ryan Fisher was twenty-seven years old, tall, dark and indecently handsome, in a rough-and-ready sort of way. With his multitude of tattoos adorning both highly-toned arms, and most of his back, constant stubble that sometimes materialised into a beard when he was feeling particularly lazy, unruly, dark brown, messed-up hair and a smile that seemed to give him the ability to attract any girl he wanted, he was the kind of man that a lot of women fantasised over. A bad boy, a troublemaker, that was Ryan Fisher. Or, at least, it had been.
A highly talented, ridiculously well-paid professional footballer with Newcastle Red Star – one of the biggest and most successful teams in the top flight of the English game, and current league champions – Ryan was lusted after by a never-ending succession of wannabe WAGs, and envied by those men who would do anything to have his life, to be who he was. But Ryan’s life hadn’t always been perfect; it still wasn’t. It probably never would be. But the outside world didn’t need to know that. His past had had enough of an airing over the last few months. It was time to leave all that crap behind him now and concentrate on the forthcoming season; it was time to show them all that Ryan Fisher was back, bigger and better than he’d ever been.
‘So?’ Gary persisted, standing up and pushing his chair back under the table.
‘So, what?’ Ryan sighed, following suit.
‘You’re telling me you’re really over her now? Amber, I mean.’
‘Yeah, I know who you mean, thanks, Gary.’
‘And it can’t be easy at the minute, can it? Having her around all the time.’
‘She isn’t around all the time, Gary,’ Ryan said, shoving his hands in the pockets of his combat pants.
‘Yeah, but she’s here, isn’t she?’ Gary went on, obviously not taking the hint to drop a subject that Ryan really didn’t want to talk about. ‘In fact, she’s right here. Look.’
Ryan turned his head slightly as Gary nudged him, catching sight of Amber as she walked into th
e breakfast room, all flowing dark red hair and tanned skin, her incredible long legs shown off to perfection in a short white dress and wedge-heeled sandals. Amber Allen. Beautiful, crazy, ice-queen Amber Allen. Or, at least, she’d been a bit of an ice-queen when he’d first met her a year ago, on his return to the North East of England. Back then he’d been Red Star’s multi-million-pound new signing, their star striker, and she’d been Amber Sullivan, a beautiful, feisty sports reporter with too much attitude and a smile that had floored him the minute he’d set eyes on her.
But their first meeting hadn’t exactly been all sweetness and light. Far from it. There’d been no flirting, no secret smiles or furtive touches. They’d practically hated each other on sight, even though he’d known he wanted to fuck her the second she’d walked into the room. But that was Ryan Fisher. He was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it, and Amber Sullivan – as she’d been back then – had proved to be a challenge he hadn’t been able to ignore. He’d almost won, too. Almost. He’d fallen in love, for the first time in his life. Once he’d thawed the ice-queen, knocked down those barriers she’d built around herself, the ones that had stopped her from finding the love she really deserved to find, he’d honestly thought his life had changed for the better. He’d thought he could finally put his playboy past behind him and settle down. But he hadn’t banked on her past catching up with her. And he certainly hadn’t banked on that past being his boss. Jim Allen was a hurdle he just couldn’t get over, and he’d let that get to him, just a little too much – with almost career-ending consequences. But he’d fought back; he’d come through it all, everything that had happened. He’d come through it all. But nobody had promised him it would be easy from now on. Ryan had loved Amber. He’d loved her, simple as that, and even he wasn’t deluded enough to think that that was going to change any time soon, even if she was now Amber Allen, wife of one of the most successful football managers ever to grace the Premier League. She was his boss’s wife. And he just had to deal with that. Somehow.
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