The Beautiful Game (Man of the Match Book 1)

by A. Meredith Walters

  “Is there something I can help you with?” I asked shortly. Hearing his voice reminded me of where he was last night. And where he wasn’t.

  “What’s wrong? You have a tone,” he said, sounding confused.

  “I’m fine,” I answered.

  “Oh no,” he groaned.

  “What?”

  “When a woman says she’s fine, she is definitely not fine. I have a mother and a sister. I know these things.”

  I didn’t respond. I thought about hanging up on him but figured I could just use the silent treatment to make my point.

  “You’re angry with me,” he deduced.

  “I’m not angry. I’m just busy,” I countered. I was proud of how neutral I sounded. Unaffected. There was no way I’d tell him how pissed I had been to realize I had been blown off.

  “Okay. I won’t keep you. I only wanted to call and apologize for not showing up last night.”

  Was it customary for a one-night stand to call and apologize for standing you up?

  I had no idea.

  “It’s okay—”

  “It’s really not. I told you I was coming over and I didn’t. That’s not how I am. I’m sorry, Morgan. It wasn’t my intention to stand you up.”

  “Apologies aren’t necessary. You don’t owe me anything.” Cold as ice. I didn’t care. I wouldn’t let him rattle me.

  Lucas was quiet for a moment. “No, I suppose I don’t. But I wanted to give you one anyway.”

  That hurt. Damn him.

  “Well, thanks. Look, I need to get going—”

  “I got drunk. I didn’t mean to. But I was out with the lads and one drink led to two. Then three. When people buy them for you, you tend to lose count. And then I got a ride home. Actually I passed out on the ride home. I realized this morning as soon as I woke up that I never texted you to let you know I wasn’t coming and I felt like a right tit. I wanted to see you last night. I didn’t want you to think that I didn’t.”

  “I’m sure you had plenty of company. I understand that mine wasn’t required,” I couldn’t stop myself from saying.

  I sounded jealous.

  Yuck.

  “Pardon?” Lucas sounded confused.

  I rubbed my temple, feeling a pounding headache coming on. “I saw the pictures. At least I’m not front page news anymore.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about—”

  “Forget about it. Like I said, I’m at work, so I need to go.”

  “Morgan, hold on a minute—” He sounded as though he was getting angry. Well that makes two of us, buddy.

  “Take care, Lucas. Bye.” I hung up the phone before either of us could say anything else. There was a note of finality to it.

  I walked back into the office feeling a little depressed. Yep, people were definitely staring at me. I thought about flipping them all the bird on my way to my desk, but decided against it.

  Instead I buried my head in my work and put all thoughts of Lucas Bradley out of my mind.

  “YOUR PHONE IS buzzing again. Maybe you should turn it off when you’re at work,” Mark suggested an hour later.

  I had been staring at the same spreadsheet for the last thirty minutes trying to make sense of the budget figures that had been sent over for the project. I had never coordinated a full-scale project before and I knew that I was in way over my head.

  The headache brought on by Lucas was now a full-blown migraine.

  I hadn’t realized my phone was vibrating until Mark’s snarky comment about it.

  I ignored his passive aggressive attitude and pulled it out.

  It wasn’t a call. It was a text.

  From Lucas.

  Come outside.

  What the—?

  My finger hovered over the screen as I thought about how to respond.

  Instead I did as Mark suggested and shut off my phone, dropping it back in my purse, kicking it under my desk.

  I turned back to my work.

  Then the noise started.

  It began as a murmur. Then it became a cacophony of excited voices.

  “Bloody hell!” Mark exclaimed from beside me.

  I looked over the top of my computer to see what was going on and promptly sunk back down in my seat.

  Lucas was standing just inside the doors, looking around the room, a scowl on his face.

  “Is that Lucas Bradley? What’s he doing here?” I heard someone ask from behind me.

  “It is Lucas Bradley!”

  “Oh my god, it’s Lucas Bradley!”

  On and on it went until I wanted to scream.

  I peeked over my monitor to see Lucas approach a woman carrying a mug of tea back from the breakroom. He put a hand on her arm and spoke to her, not looking very happy. She seemed about to pass out. Then she pointed in my direction and I quickly ducked behind my monitor.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  “He’s coming over here,” I heard Mark whisper to the guy beside him.

  I promptly dropped a pen on the floor and all but crawled under my desk to retrieve it, hoping he wouldn’t see me.

  “Hiding won’t work, love.” His voice poured over me like honey. Soft. Insistent. And pissed off.

  I scurried out from beneath my desk, my cheeks hot. I smacked my head on the corner as I got back into my chair.

  “Ouch,” I moaned, rubbing the tender spot.

  “Are you okay?” Lucas asked, his brows knitted together.

  “I’ll be just fine. Don’t worry about it.” I turned my back on him, hoping I was making the point I didn’t want to talk to him. “And I wasn’t hiding.” I sat with my shoulders straight, my chin high.

  Lucas turned my chair around so that I was facing him. “You’re being rude, Morgan.” He was seething. I could practically see steam coming from his ears.

  I glanced at Mark who was trying to be discreet as he eavesdropped on our conversation. And he wasn’t the only one. Everyone was watching us. The tips of my ears were on fire.

  “And you’re being heavy handed and bossy. Now, get out of here. Now,” I whispered, glaring at him.

  Lucas raised an eyebrow, ignoring the stares and whispers around us. “You hung up on me,” he said quietly.

  I snorted. “Are you serious?” I scoffed. “That’s why you’re here? Because I hurt your feelings?” I shoved his hands off my chair. “You interrupt my day, show up at my place of employment because you didn’t like how I ended our phone call? Give me a break and grow the hell up. Now please leave, before I get into trouble.” I cast a quick look around, relieved that Mr. Richardson had yet to make an appearance.

  Lucas hooked his thumbs in his jeans and stared down at me. I didn’t like the feeling of him standing over me so I got to my feet. We weren’t eye level, Lucas was quite a bit taller than I was, but I didn’t feel at such a disadvantage. “I don’t appreciate being shut down, Morgan. Particularly when I don’t understand the reason.”

  We were the center of attention. Everyone was staring. And whispering. And smirking. And gawking.

  I wanted to stand on my desk and scream at all of them. Mostly Lucas.

  I grabbed Lucas by the arm and yanked him towards the breakroom. He resisted at first. “I won’t have a conversation out here for everyone to hear,” I hissed.

  Finally realizing how on display we were, Lucas consented to my dragging him into the empty room. I shut the door behind us. People could still see us but at least they couldn’t hear us.

  “Do you not realize when people are staring at you?” I asked, turning my back on my nosy co-workers. I had to make this quick. It was only a matter of time before Peter realized his employees weren’t doing their job.

  Lucas shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

  “Yeah, well some of us aren’t.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Since it’s obvious you need to say something, get on with it. Some of us have work to do.”

  Lucas took a deliberate step towards me. Closing the gap.
Caging me in. “We were in the middle of a conversation. Then we weren’t. You’re obviously upset. And it’s my fault.”

  “You give yourself too much credit, Lucas,” I huffed, embarrassed by the whole situation.

  Lucas held his phone up in front of my face. The picture of him with the woman from last night was there in all its smutty glory. “I’m assuming this is what has your knickers in a twist.”

  I looked over his shoulder, refusing to meet his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Lucas shoved his phone back in his pocket. He took another step towards me. I took a step back. I was very aware we still had an audience. “Morgan, don’t give me that line of bullshit. You could have just asked me about it instead of shutting down and getting snotty with me.”

  “I am not being snotty,” I snapped.

  “So this whole primary school attitude is just how you are? Good to know,” he snapped back.

  I let out a breath, finally looking at him. Which was probably a mistake. Because looking at him was bad for my heart.

  And my hormones.

  Because looking at him made me remember kissing him. And touching him. And him touching me.

  Crap.

  “Okay, so I might have gotten annoyed that you didn’t show up because you were with someone else. Not because I was jealous,” I quickly pointed out. Lucas smirked. Neither of us believed me. “You can do anything and anyone you want. I’m not a factor.”

  Lucas cupped my elbow and pulled me towards him. “Nothing happened. That woman gave me a ride home. That’s it. I got drunk and passed out. And I woke up alone.”

  I glanced out of the breakroom window and saw Mr. Richardson on the floor. “It doesn’t matter—”

  Lucas’ eyes flashed. “It does matter. I don’t want you to think that I would say I was coming over and then screw another woman. I know what the rags say about me. Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they don’t. This time they were very, very wrong.”

  I felt relief. I didn’t want to feel it, but I did.

  “Okay, good to know.”

  “I like spending time with you, Morgan,” Lucas went on.

  “Why?” I demanded.

  Lucas smiled. “Because you don’t put up with my shit. Because you like going to dusty old buildings for fun. Because you’re easy to talk to. Is that good enough?”

  “I wasn’t fishing, Lucas. I just think you shouldn’t go to all this trouble for a booty call.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “God, I hate that term,” Lucas muttered. “Yes, I like fucking you, Morgan. The sex is fantastic. Your tits and arse make me hard when I think about them.” He adjusted himself to make his point. “I like shagging you because you don’t make it easy. I have to work for it.”

  I could see Hayley talking to Mr. Richardson. I hoped she was running interference. I turned back to Lucas. “That was downright poetic.”

  “You’re a ball breaker. You know that?”

  “It’s not the worst thing I’ve been called,” I said and I couldn’t help but smiling. I honestly thought by now a man like Lucas Bradley would walk away. If I made getting into my pants too much trouble, he’d take his amazing cock elsewhere. It was flattering that he wasn’t.

  “You’re also smart as hell and fucking stunning.”

  I tried not to show how flattered I was by the compliments.

  Lucas reached out and took my hand. “Admit it, Morgan, you like spending time with me too.”

  I bit down on my lip, trying not to grin like a fool. “Okay, yes, I like spending time with you too.”

  Lucas smiled. I melted a little. I couldn’t help it. He ran a hand up and down my arm. “Good. Because I have a proposition for you.”

  “I don’t think anything good begins with the words ‘I have a proposition for you,’” I chuckled.

  Lucas laughed. “You want to hear me out before you decide whether it’s too scandalous for you?”

  Mr. Richardson was now walking away from Hayley and heading towards the breakroom again. I had to move this along quickly.

  But then Lucas laced his fingers through mine and brought our joined hands to his mouth. He kissed my knuckles and I forgot about my boss. And where we were. And the dozens of snoopy co-workers watching everything we were doing.

  “The team has a match down in the smoke this weekend. We’re playing Barnet United. It’s our first big match. I’d like you to come. We could get a room. Spend a couple of days in the city.”

  I was distracted by Mr. Richardson, who was now just outside the door.

  “You want me to go where?” I asked, glancing towards my boss again. He didn’t look particularly angry. That was good, right?

  “London. I want you to come to London with me for the weekend.”

  The door opened and Mr. Richardson came in. “Mr. Bradley, it’s an honor having you in the office,” he said, his voice too loud in the small space. I pulled away from Lucas and retreated towards the open door. Mr. Richardson held his hand out for Lucas to shake, which he did, though his eyes were still on me.

  “I’m the Head of Production and Infrastructure here at CFL. I just wanted to say I’m a big fan—”

  “That’s great. Look Mr.—”

  “Peter. Peter Richardson,” my boss filled in.

  Lucas gave him a pained smile. “Mr. Richardson—”

  “Call me Peter,” Mr. Richardson insisted.

  “Peter, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m just finishing a conversation with Morgan.”

  Mr. Richardson glanced back and forth between us. I expected him to reprimand me. To tell me to get back to my desk and get to work.

  But he didn’t. Instead he nodded as if that was a reasonable request. “Of course. Help yourself to tea or coffee. There are biscuits in the tin.”

  My mouth practically fell open. Lucas patted my boss on the shoulder and the older man looked as though he were going to openly fan girl at any moment. “Thank you, Peter. You’re a proper gent.”

  Mr. Richardson left, closing the door behind him. Lucas opened the tin and took out a few chocolate cookies, offering me one. I shook my head.

  “This stuff happens all the time doesn’t it?” I asked.

  “What stuff?” Lucas spoke with a mouth full of cookie.

  “People letting you get by with just about anything.”

  Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Not all the time. There are people that don’t let me get by with anything.”

  “You need to kept in check, Bradley. Otherwise you’ll become truly insufferable.”

  Lucas wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and opened the fridge, getting a bottle of water. “So, London?”

  I had been dreaming of going to London since I was old enough to dream about anything. When I was a girl I would read history books, pouring over facts about the lives of the people that lived in the English capital. I had imagined a million times in my head, so the idea of actually going there made me giddy.

  But…

  “I’ve been saving up so I could take a trip to London, but I can’t really afford it yet. Maybe in a few weeks—”

  Lucas waved away my comments. “It’s on me. I’ll get a room and train tickets for you.”

  I balked. “No. That’s not necessary.”

  Lucas looked confused. “I want to do it. I want you to come. It’s no big deal. A hotel room won’t break the bank, love.”

  He was so blasé about money. It was mildly infuriating.

  “Then let me pay you back,” I went on, not letting it drop.

  “Stop being ridiculous. I’ll get the train tickets and book the hotel—”

  “I can book the train at least.”

  Lucas drained the bottle of water and dropped it in the recycling bin. “What’s the big deal? I can afford it, you know.”

  I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. “I know you can afford it, Lucas, that’s not the point. I don’t want you to think you have to pay for things for me
. I’m not a mooch.”

  “A mooch?” he asked.

  “Yeah, a mooch. I don’t want you to think I expect it.” I was feeling embarrassed. Maybe I was being silly, but the last thing I wanted was for him to think that I wanted him to spend tons of money on me. I could imagine other women would be fine with that. Not me. I wanted to make my own way in the world, or not at all.

  “I know you don’t expect it. But isn’t this normal? When a man asks a woman he’s seeing to go away with him, it’s customary to pay for it.”

  We were ‘seeing’ each other? Since when?

  “I don’t like it, Lucas,” I replied stubbornly.

  Lucas sighed and closed the distance between us again. He cupped my elbows and pulled me towards him. “This is a big deal to you, isn’t it?”

  I nodded. “I know I probably sound stupid, but my mother raised me to never depend on anyone for the things I want in life.”

  His hands swept up my arms to cup my face. “She sounds like a smart lady.”

  “She is,” I agreed.

  “Okay, if it makes all of this easier on you, I’ll get the hotel room and you purchase your own train ticket. Does that work?”

  “I can pitch in for the hotel—”

  “Do you have any idea how expensive London hotels are? You can buy me a pint.” He kissed my lips. A quick peck. But it was sweet.

  “Okay. That sounds good.” I smiled. I started to feel the bubble of excitement in my stomach.

  “See, not everything has to be a battle,” he said.

  “Maybe not. But you can’t have everything too easy.”

  Perhaps this was more than sex. Perhaps this was something else entirely.

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  Sleeping together was one thing. Trips and weekends away were something else.

  “You’re anything but easy, Morgan,” Lucas assured me.

  Lucas

  “The reservation is under the name Johnny Parks.” I dropped my bag on the pile in the middle of the pavement and climbed the steps onto the team coach. I headed up the stairs to the upper level of the double decker. I found my usual seat towards the back.

  I wiped my face with the hem of my T-shirt. It was pouring down rain and I was soaked through. It would make for a less than comfortable trip to London. It was eight o’clock in the morning. The game was scheduled for a three o’clock kick off. It took four hours to drive to the stadium, more if traffic was bad. We’d head straight to the grounds, no stop offs. I had arranged for Morgan to check into the hotel that was booked under an alias. The hotel had been accommodating.