Had there been anyone else in the park?
It wouldn’t have mattered if there had.
‘So who is she?’
I tossed the phone back on the bed. ‘Remember that woman who ran into me at the parking lot the other week?’
‘The one who lost her shit?’ Kristy’s eyes reached saucer-wide. ‘Pretty hard to forget.’
‘Well, I ran into her at a charity thing we went to, and we’ve sort of been … seeing each other ever since. She’s training to try out for the women’s league, and we just … we’ve fallen into something. Something good.’ Even if it didn’t start in the most conventional way.
‘And she makes you happy?’
‘Yeah.’ I nodded. ‘She really does. Although …’
‘What is it?’ Kristy grabbed a pair of jeans from a pile on the shelf, holding them up for me to inspect. ‘These ones okay?’
‘Yeah, throw them in.’ I caught them as she tossed them over. ‘This is probably just a short-term thing.’
‘That’s good. Sometimes, jumping straight into one relationship after you’ve just come out of another can be damaging.’
‘Yes, but …’ But what if I want more? What if I’m not able to stick to my own two-week rule, and at the end of that time I can’t let her go?
‘No buts about it, baby bro. Remember? I am the relationship guru, and I’m telling you, a fling is exactly what you need to finally get Ava out of your system.’ She placed the final shirt into the suitcase, then stepped around me, headed toward the hall.
‘A fling,’ I repeated. A fling with a woman who turned me on like no other. A fling with a woman who made me laugh. A fling with a woman who—
Shit.
It wasn’t working. ‘So how do I make sure I keep my feelings out of it?’
‘You treat it like business. Like you’ll be working with her for two weeks, and then you’ll walk away, like you would if you didn’t win the trophy on Sunday. Like you would if you didn’t get a sponsorship deal or resigned from the Killers.’ She leaned against the wall, her face serious. ‘If you just make sure you’re realistic, that you’re honest about what you expect, then everything will work out fine.’
As she headed off to her place to pack her own bags before our flight up to Sydney, that one line rang in my mind. Be honest with her.
Was being honest letting her think I was all about our relationship having a two-week limitation?
Or was being honest telling her how I really felt?
Chapter 19
Zoe
‘I can’t believe you’re going to Sydney for the weekend to watch the grand final.’ Tahlia passed me a manila folder from behind the reception desk.
‘And to trial with some of the women who want to be part of next year’s Sydney team,’ I added.
That was the real reason butterflies raced in my stomach. Because I was about to find out if I could kick it with the professionals up there before I risked embarrassing myself down here.
Not because of Sawyer.
Not because we’d be spending the weekend together, sharing a room, and possibly going out together.
Not because I’d be spending the game with not just his ex-girlfriend, but also his sister, his sister who Sawyer spoke so highly of, the one who was definitely less than impressed when I accidentally almost ran Sawyer over that first night.
No.
My nerves had nothing to do with that.
‘I’m excited for you, but really, the grand finals.’ She tapped her nails on the counter. ‘As Sawyer Benson’s girlfriend. Player of the Year.’
‘If all goes well.’ Sawyer had told me about his nomination, but he’d mentioned how competitive these awards were.
‘You know, Football Fanatics has him listed as a favourite to win.’ Tahlia slid her phone from her pocket and tapped on the screen before swinging it around to show me the popular blog. ‘See?’
‘I—’
‘Zoe,’ Dean said, the door to his room swinging open. ‘Come in.’
‘Thank you.’ I stood and followed him in, closing the door behind me to Tahlia pointing at the site once more and winking. Lord.
‘Please, sit.’ Dean gestured to the familiar black chair opposite his desk, then sat in his own. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘Well, it’s been almost two weeks since we last spoke,’ I said, talking slowly in the hope of jogging his memory. This is the part where you jump in and mention the reference.
‘Ah! Yes. The meeting with Jarren.’ Dean clasped his hands together. ‘How was it?’
‘I-I …’ The ‘meeting’ was a nightmare! And what about my reference? ‘Well, dinner was very … intense.’
‘Hmm, when Jarren gets excited about something, it really shows.’ Dean smiled, picking up a photo frame from the corner of his desk. He traced a finger over it, then turned it around to show me a younger Dean with his arms around a dark-haired woman, a toddler in her grasp. His face was screwed up in a grimace. ‘This was taken after he’d finished his icecream one day at the beach, and we wouldn’t give him anymore.’ He chuckled, soft and low. ‘He’s always been the type to give something he likes his all.’
I narrowed my eyes. Did Dean … know? Did he know that his son had been a sleazy jerk? ‘I have to admit, I found some of the things he said a little too … familiar.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Just …’ How could I say it without sounding like a complete prude?
My mind raced over the events of that night. Him kissing my hand upon arrival. Insisting I share his wine. Controlling what I ate. Calling me beautiful, then backtracking to cover it with a beautiful person. All of the events when listed individually sounded harmless, but when mixed together became a cocktail of dread in my gut, rolling around. I felt as I had that night, as if I needed a shower.
‘Jarren has heard me talk of you with high regard for some time now. If he’s been too familiar, as you say, perhaps it’s my fault.’ Dean squared his jaw. ‘Unless there was something more to it?’
Was there? Was this something I should tell Dean, let him judge for himself?
‘N-no,’ I eventually stuttered out.
‘Good. Because Jarren said he found the time with you extremely beneficial, which is why I told him it’d be a good idea for him to come in and shadow you for the day. See what you do in person.’
What? ‘But I thought you wanted to keep his role here private.’
‘We do. Jarren’s business sponsors the Killers—it’s how we got those players in here a few weeks ago. I thought we could bring them back, and you could show him around the place.’
‘What about the other jobs he’d need to know about? Tahlia’s, for example?’ Not that I wanted her to have to deal with that creep, but I didn’t understand why all Jarren’s attention was being focused on me.
‘Jarren has a background in management. He understands how to run an organisation efficiently, and since Tahlia does admin, it’s not the sort of position he’ll struggle to get his head around.’ Dean waved his hand to the side, as if pushing the importance of her role away. ‘As for the chefs, the cleaners—well, they’re not integral to the house like you are, like Lucinda is, like Jenny is. You three are what really makes this building tick. No ordinary nurse could do this job. The relationship you have with the patients is key.’
My cheeks heated. He … he thought I was that good at what I did?
I knew I did okay. I was professional, on time, thorough, kind—if I was bad at my job, I wouldn’t have been kept on for four solid years. But to hear it from his mouth still made my chest swell with pride.
‘So I’ll book that in for next week, if that’s okay with you.’ Dean turned to a diary in front of him, flicking through the pages. ‘Thursday okay? That should give the players some time to recover from the grand final.’
‘That’s fine.’ Jarren couldn’t flirt with me in the workplace. Not without it being obvious.
But he did threaten to
have his dad rip up your reference …
‘While I’m here, I was wondering if you’ve made a start on that reference as of yet,’ I said, trying to sound casual.
‘Oh!’ Dean shook his head, looking up at the ceiling. ‘I plum forgot. What with preparing for the takeover, and my health …’ He gestured up and down his body again, a grimace twisting his mouth. ‘I’ll get to that. When is the absolute latest you need it by?’
‘Two weeks,’ I ground out. Granted, technically I had two weeks and three days to get it handed in but being early was better than leaving it all till the last minute.
‘No problem. I’ll make sure you have it well and truly before then.’ Dean scribbled something in his diary, then nodded, his eyes not leaving the paper in front of him. ‘Thanks for today.’
‘Th-thanks.’ I pushed back in my chair and left his room, unsure if I’d progressed in my application or not.
Chapter 20
Zoe
I slammed the taxi door and craned my neck at the building towering above me. Windows were dark reflective pools amongst the sandstone walls thanks to the late-setting sun eking the final fingers of orange across the sky. This was it. The hotel where the players were staying, and easily the fanciest-looking building I’d ever been inside in my life.
I glanced down at my jeans, the comfy white T-shirt I’d worn for the flight. Was I underdressed? Were you supposed to look nicer when you arrived at a place like this?
No. It didn’t matter.
I’d been comfortable in my skin all my life. I couldn’t let this football player stuff ruffle me now.
I pressed my shoulders back and walked toward the doors, my suitcase rolling behind me.
‘Let me take that for you, ma’am.’ A man in a white shirt and pressed black trousers held his arm toward my bag.
‘Are you sure? It’s no trouble for me to take my own luggage.’
‘I insist.’ The man smiled, stopping beside a similarly dressed woman holding open the hotel’s grand double doors.
‘Welcome to the Regency,’ she said with a flourish, gesturing me through.
‘Thanks.’ My arms felt so empty as I walked toward the check-in desk. I glanced behind. The bellboy stood to the side, and seconds later a grand trolley was brought over. He placed my bag on it and gave me a short wave, as if to say, see? Still here.
I was grateful, sure, but to me, it didn’t make sense. My bag already had wheels. Why put it on another set?
‘Checking in, ma’am?’ the woman behind the desk asked me.
‘Yes. Sorry.’ I fumbled in my purse, pulling out my ID. ‘I’m Zoe Taylor. I’m staying in the room with Sawyer Benson. He said he’d leave a key for me.’
‘Of course.’ She nodded, tapping away in her computer.
Noise from the street rushed in to the room, cars honking, wheels speeding past, and with it came the high-pitched laughter of a group of women.
I turned my head, and—
Ava.
She was here.
And she looked like she belonged.
She strutted across the foyer, her heels clicking against the marble floors, and stopped when she reached my side. Her lips rounded in the perfect O of expected surprise. ‘Hi, sweetheart.’ She leaned in and air-kissed either side of my cheeks. ‘What a pleasure to see you again.’
‘Hi.’ I wish I could say the same.
She turned to the concierge. ‘I’m just here to pick up my room key? I left it under Braden Rivers.’
She didn’t present ID, and the concierge didn’t bat an eyelid. Instead, he pulled a small cardboard folder out from under the desk and handed it to her.
‘Here’s your key, ma’am.’ The woman in front of me handed me over a cardboard folder. ‘Sorry for the delay. Mr Benson had mentioned you would be staying with him, but there was no note on your arrival time, so I had to get a new key scanned for you.’
‘That’s fine. Thank you.’ I took the key and headed for the lift she pointed me toward, thankful at least that had gone relatively smoothly.
‘Did Sawyer screw up your booking?’ Ava asked as I joined her and three others I recognised from the game at the lift. ‘He is terrible at paperwork.’
‘No.’ I eyed her, defensive. ‘He added me on just fine.’
She smiled, smug. What had Sawyer seen in her? The woman was pure evil.
The lift doors opened and the five of us shuffled in. I scanned my key and entered my floor. Ava scanned hers and entered the one above it.
‘Penthouse.’ She smiled almost apologetically. ‘Braden likes to make sure I have a good time while he’s otherwise occupied.’
‘Of course he does,’ I muttered. Why was she telling me this? Couldn’t she see I didn’t care what Braden did or didn’t do when it came to her and her wellbeing?
‘He’s so thoughtful like that,’ she added, smiling bright.
I just didn’t understand how Sawyer had dated her for, what was it? A few years, had he said? She was so superficial. So false. So—
So insecure.
It made sense. The bragging. The constant negativity, with her putting Sawyer down.
Perhaps she’d made a mistake.
Maybe their breakup wasn’t as one-sided as Sawyer had led me to believe.
‘You should come to pre-game drinks with us on Sunday. Just the girls, a few bottles of champers, some nibblies …’ She scanned my figure. ‘Although you are quite slender. You do eat, don’t you?’
One of the women laughed. Somehow, she’d managed to make something that I would normally consider a compliment to sound like an insult. ‘Yes, I eat.’
‘Good. Meet us at the hotel bar tomorrow at two. Kristy will be there, too—have you met Sawyer’s sister yet?’
‘Yes, actually. I have.’ Not in pleasant circumstances, but you don’t need to know that. And while I didn’t exactly want to go to drinks with this toxic woman, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to her than I’d first thought. Perhaps she was missing her ex. Perhaps she hated seeing someone else with Sawyer as much as he’d hated seeing her with his best friend.
Ouch.
‘Drinks sound fun. I’ll see you then,’ I said.
The lift dinged, saving me from anymore awkward conversation.
‘Bye girls.’ Ava waved us all off as we stepped out of the lift, leaving her the lone occupant as the doors closed and it zoomed up to the top floor.
The other women peeled off to various hotel room doors, and I walked to the end of the corridor, finally swiping my entry card at a door on the left-hand side. The little light turned green, and I pushed the door open to—wow.
A large white bed sprawled in the middle of the room. The flat-screen TV opposite looked big enough to double as a full-body mirror. A kitbag and a suitcase were laid out on the luggage rack in the corner, and a plump grey chair sat in front of a timber writing desk, a spot that looked so inviting, I almost wished I was here for business.
But that didn’t take my breath away.
It was the view.
The window spanned from floor to ceiling, stretching across one entire wall of the room. Below us, the water of Darling Harbour sparkled, a deep, beautiful blue despite the low light in the sky. Boats bobbed up and down, both moored and farther out to sea. The Harbour Bridge stretched above it all, and as I watched, the lights twinkled on, illuminating this majestic icon against the purple sky. I stepped closer, dropped my handbag on the bed, and pressed one hand to the window reverentially. It was … beautiful.
The door clicked behind me. ‘Never gets old, does it?’
I spun around, unable to hide my grin. ‘Sawyer!’
‘Hey.’ He opened his arms, and I ran into them, leaping at the last moment and wrapping my legs around his waist. He clutched me to him as I pressed a kiss to his mouth.
‘This room is amazing,’ I gushed, then shook my head. ‘You’re going to think I sound like such an idiot, but seriously—wow. That view. It’s gorgeous!’
He smiled, dotting another kiss on my lips before loosening the tight grip he had on my butt. I slid to the floor, thrilling in the way it felt as my body pressed against his hips. He smiled, that smile that made it impossible not to grin along with him, the low light of twilight darkening his sexy eyes and turning them the same colour as the harbour. My mouth ran dry. Hot damn. He was so good looking. I just wanted to rip that white T-shirt over his head, explore that chiselled chest and lower still, until …
No.
No sex. How was I going to stay in this room with this man and not have sex for three whole days?
‘I’m glad you like the room.’ He grinned. ‘In fact, if I’d known it was going to secure me that sort of a greeting, I would have booked the penthouse.’
Ugh. The penthouse.
‘What’d I say?’ He frowned, cupping my cheek with one hand.
‘Nothing. I just ran into Ava in the lift, and that’s where she’s staying.’
His hand dropped away. His face fell. I could practically feel him mentally leaving the room and checking into the penthouse upstairs.
He wasn’t over her. Not by a long shot.
It doesn’t matter. This is only for two weeks.
Then why did the thought of him leaving leave this panging in my chest?
‘Well, I guess I can get us the penthouse next time,’ he practically growled, walking past me and slumping down into the desk chair in the corner of the room.
‘O … kay.’
A knock sounded at the door, saving me from the awkwardness of the conversation. Why was he acting so weird? We’d talked about Ava before and he hadn’t seemed to completely flip his lid.
‘Bellboy,’ a voice called from behind the door, and I went to open it.
I opened the door to the man from the lobby, the trolley with my luggage behind him. ‘Thank you.’
‘No problem.’ He nodded, walking into the room and placing the luggage beside Sawyer’s on the stand. As he saw the man sitting moodily at the desk in the corner, his eyes widened. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then promptly snapped it shut again.
A Whole New Ball Game Page 10