‘She’s looking good,’ Gary whistled as Amber bent down to pick up something she’d pulled from her pocket and promptly dropped on the floor. Ryan continued to watch her as she slowly stood back up, laughing at something Jim whispered to her on his arrival by her side, his arm snaking around her hips in a protective, almost proprietorial manner. Ryan felt his heart shudder in his chest, unable to tear his eyes away from a scene he didn’t really want to witness. His ex-fiancée and her new husband – his manager – acting all loved-up right there in front of him, even if they had no idea he was watching. He didn’t think they cared, anyway. It had been like that for the past couple of days, ever since they’d all arrived here in Tenerife for the last leg of their pre-season tour. So far all they’d done was chill out and relax before they played their match against one of the island’s local teams tomorrow evening. But relaxing had been difficult for Ryan. He couldn’t ignore Amber and Jim, couldn’t ignore their stolen kisses and not-so-subtle attempts at touching each other when they thought nobody else was watching. And Amber had looked so hot as she lay round the pool in a tiny black bikini – no wonder their boss couldn’t keep his hands off her. After all, Ryan knew exactly what Jim was getting once he got his new wife back inside the privacy of their hotel room. That thought alone depressed him more than anything, despite the fact he had a beautiful woman of his own back in Newcastle, just waiting for him to come home. It was nothing serious, of course, because Ryan didn’t do serious, not anymore. He’d tried it once and look what had happened. But he had someone there if he needed her. And he did need her, or he needed a distraction, anyway, and Ellen was proving to be just that – a beautiful distraction. A role she was rapidly making her own.
‘You okay, mate?’ Gary asked, squeezing Ryan’s shoulder.
Ryan nodded, finally tearing his eyes away from Amber. Although he hadn’t missed Jim’s hand slipping down onto her perfect backside, giving it a sly squeeze. Shit! He’d been such a fucking idiot to let her go.
‘You never stood a chance, Ryan,’ Gary said, as if reading his mind. ‘Not with the past those two had.’
‘Yeah,’ Ryan sighed, following Gary out of the room, a headache starting to form right behind his eyes that he could well do without, especially with a training session in 30 degree heat looming. ‘So everyone keeps telling me.’
Amber swung the car into a parking bay and quickly jumped out, recoiling slightly as the midday heat almost knocked her backwards. Twenty minutes in a lovely, cool, air-conditioned car made you forget how incredibly hot it was outside.
Sliding her sunglasses down over her eyes, she walked quickly out of the car park, almost jogging across the small road that led onto the busy coach park at Reina Sofia Airport as she made her way towards the arrivals entrance.
Walking into the busy airport, she pushed her sunglasses back up onto her head and stood still for a second, breathing a sigh of relief. She was just glad to be out of the heat for a little while. It was so hot on the island right now, so stifling, that any shade or escape was welcome, no matter how brief.
Looking up at the huge screens that hung from the ceiling, she scanned the list of arrivals to see if Ronnie’s plane had landed on time. It had. Five minutes early, to be precise, so she quickly headed over to the arrivals gate, joining a handful of other people who were waiting for friends/relatives/clients to arrive on this beautiful Spanish island.
Amber Allen was living a life she hadn’t expected to be living. But she was more than grateful that her life had turned out the way it had. Just a year ago she’d been the Sports Editor for News North East. It was a job she’d loved, a job she’d been good at. And she’d honestly thought she’d always be there, that she’d never leave. Because she hadn’t wanted to, not really. But a lot had happened over the past year. She hadn’t banked on becoming involved with one of the most high-profile, most talked-about footballers in the game – Ryan Fisher. She hadn’t banked on that, and she certainly hadn’t banked on everything that had come with that relationship. She hadn’t expected to let it get so far, to care so deeply about a man who had so many problems. A man so much younger than her. A man who had caused her to break her strict, self-enforced no-footballer rule. She hadn’t expected any of it. And she certainly hadn’t banked on Jim Allen – the love of her life; a man who’d hurt her so badly in the past, not once but twice. A man she hadn’t really thought she’d ever see again. She hadn’t banked on him walking back into her life. But from the second he’d taken the manager’s job at Newcastle Red Star a year ago she should have known that everything would eventually come to a head. Still, she certainly hadn’t expected – less than twelve months on – to be Jim’s wife. Mrs. Amber Allen. Something she’d dreamed of being since the age of sixteen. Just thinking about that made her stomach flip over in a barrage of glorious somersaults, and she couldn’t help but smile to herself, staring down at the ground for a brief second in case people thought she was slightly crazy, grinning away like some demented idiot.
But marriage to the Premiership’s hottest – in more ways than one – manager wasn’t the only change in Amber’s life. She’d finally bitten the bullet and left News North East for pastures new. Top footballing agent, Max Mandell, had been on her case for months, telling her she could easily become the female face of football on national TV, bombarding her with texts and phone calls, job offers that just seemed too good to be true. She’d never been someone who enjoyed being the centre of attention, never been one to court publicity or feel that urge to become a celebrity of any description – despite her father being a famous ex-professional footballer himself, and her husband being about as high-profile as you could get in the world of football right now. But Max had worn her down with his almost dogged persistence, and with Jim’s encouragement she’d joined Max in London a few weeks ago for a series of interviews and meetings, which had culminated in her landing the job of presenter/reporter for Cloud Sports, a major satellite TV sports channel. She had, indeed, become their new face of football, and the fact it now meant that she also got to work alongside Ronnie – her best friend – well, that just made it all the more perfect. Of course, it was going to mean working in London a lot more, and long periods away from Jim loomed on the horizon, which she wasn’t particularly looking forward to, but she was enjoying the challenge. Football was her world. The people involved in the sport were her life. It was where she wanted to be.
As bodies started to stream out of the arrivals exit, Amber craned her neck to see if she could spot Ronnie. She knew he’d be travelling light, just hand luggage, so he wouldn’t have to hang around by the baggage carousel. He should be one of the first out of there.
Ronnie White. Her best friend. An ex-professional footballer-turned-TV pundit, they’d known each other for years, slept together a few times, and remained as close as two people could be, on a purely platonic level. He’d just remarried his ex-wife Karen, and as far as Amber was aware that was all going well, second time around. She couldn’t be happier for him. But the summer break had meant they hadn’t really seen all that much of each other since his wedding, and she couldn’t wait to see him now. To start working with him. It was just another amazing chapter of this dream-come-true life she’d suddenly found herself living.
She checked her watch. Jim would have the squad out training now, despite the fierce lunchtime heat. He wanted them to be ready, to be used to the temperatures this island could throw at them, even though all their games would be evening kick-offs, when the temperatures were cooler – but only just, at this time of year.
She smiled again at the thought of Jim. Jim Allen, her handsome, beautiful, all- American man. With his grey-flecked hair and that low, deep accent of his, she didn’t think it was possible to be more in love with anyone than she was with him. In some shape or form he’d been her world for over twenty years, made love to her when she’d been just sixteen years old and a star-struck teenager, and he’d been a twenty-seven-year-old teammate of her dad’
s at Newcastle Red Star.
Their history had been chequered, to say the least. There’d been a lot of pain, a lot of heartache; people had got hurt – Ryan had got hurt, her father had got hurt, and that was something she really hadn’t wanted to happen. Telling him that one of his oldest friends had slept with her when she was still a teenager was a memory Amber couldn’t erase. The look on his face when he’d found out about her and Jim, it still made her flinch. But all that mattered now was that Ryan seemed to be okay, her dad was slowly coming to terms with everything, and Jim was finally where he belonged. With her. The way it always should have been.
She felt her stomach give another flip as she remembered Jim touching her that morning, waking her up with a kiss before pulling her against him, stroking her breasts and kissing her neck as he’d gently pushed inside her from behind. Oh, Jesus, why had she started thinking about that now? She could feel the tingling between her legs already taking effect and it really wasn’t the time or the place for that to be happening.
She shook out her hair, taking a deep breath at the same time, looking up again at the trickle of people still filtering out of arrivals. And then she saw him – all tall, dark and handsome, dressed casually in a pair of dark trousers and a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hand-luggage holdall slung over one shoulder, his sunglasses perched in his short, dark hair.
He saw her almost immediately, his face breaking into a wide grin, his pace quickening as he approached her. Amber couldn’t stop her heart from beating faster as he got closer, dropping his bag on the floor as he scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tight, kissing her quickly on the mouth.
‘Hey, gorgeous! How’s my beautiful new work colleague doing?’
Amber repositioned her sunglasses on the top of her head as she smiled at him. He’d picked up a bit of a tan since they’d last seen each other, and it suited him. ‘I’m doing just fine, thanks. You?’
‘Yeah, things are okay. They’re okay.’
Amber frowned slightly as she watched him pick up his bag and sling it back over his shoulder.
‘Been looking forward to heading out here, though,’ he went on, shoving his hands in his pockets, his eyes now fixed firmly on hers. ‘Kind of itching to get back to work.’
She raised a questioning eyebrow. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah,’ he laughed, following her as she headed out of the airport, bracing herself for the wall of heat that was going to hit them the second they stepped outside. ‘Really. How’s it all going over here, anyway?’
They were both due to cover the Newcastle Red Star match in Tenerife, although Amber had a feeling her new employers were easing her into her new job gently by giving her this particular trip to cover. Her best friend had just joined her to give her a bit more support, and she’d had her husband by her side all the way. But she didn’t need ‘easing’ into anything. She’d managed fine so far. Still, she wasn’t complaining. She was going to be apart from Jim a lot more than she really wanted to be once the new season kicked off, so any time she could spend with him, no matter what the circumstances, was precious. She wasn’t going to knock it.
‘It’s all good, Ronnie. Jim’s incredibly relaxed, which means the squad is relaxed, so the atmosphere is really nice. Oh, and the hotel is amazing!’
Ronnie smiled as they crossed the road and headed back towards the car park. ‘So married life’s suiting you, then?’
She looked at him as they walked, throwing him a sideways smile. ‘Yeah. It is.’
He arched an eyebrow and she couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Here we are,’ she said, pressing the key fob to open the doors of the small white Citroen hire car. ‘Climb in and I’ll take you to the hotel.’
‘Do you fancy stopping off for some lunch first?’ Ronnie asked, throwing his bag onto the back seat of the car. ‘I’m starving, and we don’t have to go back to the hotel straightaway, do we? And, we’re not technically at work again until tomorrow.’
She looked at him over the roof of the car. ‘Yeah. Okay. It can’t do any harm, I suppose.’
‘Of course it can’t do any harm, what are you talking about? Come on. You’ve been here a couple of days now, you must know somewhere decent to grab something to eat.’
She smiled at him before climbing into the driver’s seat. ‘Yeah. I do.’
He climbed in beside her and shut the door, sitting back and letting out a huge sigh as the air-con kicked in almost immediately. ‘Then take me there, beautiful. I’m gasping for a pint.’
Chapter Two
The last of the evening sun beat down on the balcony as Ryan stepped outside, pushing a hand through his dark hair as he stared at the stunning view that greeted him, at the island of La Gomera out in the distance. The sun was just beginning to set, and the colours it created as it began to dip below the island were just beautiful, turning the sky a mixture of red and gold as the light changed at the rapid pace that was common in the Canary Islands.
He was really starting to appreciate shit like this now, after everything that had happened, everything he’d been through. It had opened his eyes to what was important in life – to a point, anyway, because Ryan Fisher hadn’t turned into a saint. He still liked a drink, still loved the women – and the women still loved him, and being here, on this holiday island, well, it was like being in some kind of human sweet shop where he could have access to anything he wanted at any time. He only had to step outside the hotel and women of all ages were suddenly surrounding him. Once upon a time that would have been a dream come true, but there were times now when it just felt like something he had to do in order to keep up an image he was slowly becoming tired of. But even though he had someone back home who would quite happily help him to settle down – he only had to say the word – he just couldn’t bring himself to take that step forward. He just couldn’t seem to let it all go, not yet. He’d tried it once and it hadn’t worked, so why put himself through all that again?
No, he was quite happy just to let things tick along the way they were. Commitment wasn’t something he was thinking about right now. Serious relationships had been put very much on the back-burner. He was going to start living again, start enjoying himself, start making the most of this new beginning he’d been lucky enough to salvage from what could have been one hell of a mess. A mess the old Ryan had created. And despite the old Ryan being someone he couldn’t completely say goodbye to just yet, he wasn’t altogether sure he was that person anymore – the one who partied ’til all hours, slept with as many women as he could before breaking their hearts as he told them goodbye without a second thought to anyone’s feelings but his own. He couldn’t say he wanted to leave all of that behind him, but it wasn’t as exciting as it had once been, because it had been that lifestyle that had pushed Amber away. The old Ryan had made her leave and he regretted that every single minute of every single day.
The phone ringing back inside his room made him jump slightly, pulling him back from his thoughts of a life he hadn’t realised he’d wanted, until it was way too late. A more settled life. A life with Amber.
He wondered whether he should answer it – he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone right now. He’d been looking forward to a bit of time alone before they all met for another squad night out – Jim had organised dinner for them in a sea-front restaurant not far from their hotel in another of his pre-season ‘team-bonding’ sessions, and Ryan needed time to prepare himself for the fact that Amber would be there, with Jim, doubtless looking beautiful and elegant and sexy as hell. And she wasn’t his anymore. His own fault.
Whoever was calling him was certainly persistent, and he turned and walked back into the room with a heavy sigh, closing the door behind him to keep the air-conditioning working. He sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up the phone.
‘Yep.’
‘Ryan, it’s me.’
He didn’t know whether he was glad to hear her voice, or slightly angry at her for botheri
ng him when he’d really wanted to use this time away from her to grab a bit of space. ‘Hey, babe. How you doing?’
‘I miss you.’
He closed his eyes, the pause he left adding nerves to her voice.
‘Ryan? You don’t mind me calling you, do you? Only…’
‘No,’ he sighed, opening his eyes and staring out at the beautiful sunset that was happening right there in front of him. ‘No, of course I don’t mind. It’s good to hear your voice. Everything okay back home?’
It was her turn to pause, and when she spoke again the nerves were back. ‘I wouldn’t know. I’m not at home.’
Ryan frowned, running a hand along the back of his neck as he continued to stare out at the now rapidly setting sun. ‘Huh? Where are you, then?’
‘I’m here. I’m in Tenerife.’
Extra Time Page 2
