LITMIR.BIZ

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as she laughed at something Ronnie White said to her, ‘… they can chaperone me all they like.’

      ‘I thought it was hate at first sight with you two,’ Max said, guiding Ryan towards another local sports reporter who wanted a quick word.

      ‘Hey, I never said I hated her. I hated being ignored by her. That’s different.’

      ‘You hate being ignored, full stop. Now, turn on the charm and do what you’re here to do. The sooner we get this out of the way, the sooner we can all go home.’

      Amber smiled and waved at a fellow sports reporter she knew from a local radio station as he made his way out of the training ground. He’d had his five minutes with Ryan Fisher, whereas Amber had yet to approach him. It just wasn’t something she was particularly keen to do, even though it was the reason she was there. She’d spoken to a couple of the other players to see how they felt about their new team-mate, but so far she hadn’t set foot near the man himself.

      ‘I think I know why you don’t want to go near him,’ Ronnie said, leaning nonchalantly against a wall, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his more-than-likely stupidly expensive designer jeans. He was a footballer, after all.

      ‘Do enlighten me with your theory, then,’ Amber sighed, watching from across the other side of the pitch as Ryan Fisher charmed the pants off another female reporter. It was quite a sight to see. He almost had it down to an art form.

      ‘You fancy the arse off him.’

      Amber swung round and fixed Ronnie with a stare that would kill, given half a chance. ‘Sorry? Did you just accuse me of fancying the arse off Ryan Fisher?’

      Ronnie shrugged. ‘It’s obvious.’

      ‘Oh, is it? Care to fill me in on how you came to that conclusion?’

      ‘How many footballers have you been around, Amber?’

      She said nothing for a second, aware that she still had to talk to Ryan at some point before he disappeared off to do whatever it was footballers did for the rest of their days once training was finished, otherwise Kevin would doubtless have something to say.

      ‘Loads,’ Amber replied, checking her watch before looking over at Alec.

      ‘Okay. So, how many of them have you deliberately avoided talking to? For any reason.’

      She looked at Ronnie again, narrowing her eyes. ‘None. And what the hell are you talking about?’

      ‘You fancy him. Come on, Amber. You said yourself you avoid relationships with footballers, but you’ve never actually avoided talking to any of them, especially not in a professional capacity. But look at you! Even you know you’re actually looking for an excuse not to go over to him. Am I right? Or am I right?’

      Amber gave Ronnie one last glare through still-narrowed eyes, turned on her heels, and strode purposefully over to where Ryan Fisher was busy talking to his agent.

      ‘Have you got a couple of minutes to say a few words to News North East about your first training session with Red Star?’ Amber asked, her stomach – for some completely unexplainable reason – turning somersaults. Mind you, that was probably due to the fact she hadn’t had any breakfast that morning. Yeah, that had to be it. She couldn’t think of any other reason.

      Ryan turned to look at her, a smile – or was it more of a leer? – spreading slowly across his undoubtedly handsome face. ‘For you, sweetheart, I’ve got all the time in the world.’

      Amber groaned inwardly. What the hell was Ronnie thinking? Her? Fancy Ryan Fisher? He needed to give her a little more credit as to the kind of men she went for, because this man here, with a wage packet that was probably as over-inflated as his ego, was so far away from the kind of men she wanted to spend time with.

      ‘Two minutes, Ryan,’ Max said before leaving them to it.

      Yeah, Ryan thought. Two very long minutes, if he had anything to do with it. ‘Loving the new hair colour,’ he smirked, taking another swig from his water bottle, his eyes not leaving Amber’s. ‘Makes you look even sexier than yesterday.’

      Was this guy for real? ‘Anyway,’ Amber began, shaking all other thoughts out of her head, ‘…the training session…’ She looked around for Alec, whom she’d assumed was right behind her. He had been a second ago. Where the hell had he gone now? She wanted this interview done and dusted as soon as possible, but she couldn’t do a thing without her cameraman. ‘I’m sorry. My camera guy seems to have disappeared…’

      ‘I’m in no rush,’ Ryan said, leaning back against the wall, draining the last of the water from his bottle. ‘So, Amber… can I call you Amber?’

      She just looked at him before turning round to see if she could spot Alec anywhere.

      ‘How do you know Ronnie White?’ Ryan asked, running a hand through his dark hair, fixing her with another look as she turned back round to face him. ‘I’m assuming you do know him, because the two of you look pretty friendly to me.’

      Amber toyed with the idea of telling him to piss off, but then thought better of it. ‘We’re friends. I met him when he was still a player, about ten years ago, not that that’s any of your business. My dad introduced us at a charity dinner we were all attending at the Civic Centre.’

      ‘What’s the relationship there, then? You seeing each other? I’ve heard he’s recently divorced…’

      ‘What the hell has any of that got to do with you?’ Amber interrupted, quite unable to believe that someone could ask such personal questions of somebody they didn’t even know. ‘I’ve told you, we’re friends.’

      ‘I’m just interested,’ Ryan shrugged, still refusing to divert his eyes away from hers.

      Amber shuffled from foot-to-foot, becoming slightly agitated at Alec’s absence now. She just wanted to get this over and done with and get back to the safety of her desk back in the News North East offices.

      ‘Good friends, are you?’ Ryan asked, arching an eyebrow, which did nothing to lessen the agitation Amber was feeling. She was beginning to dislike him more and more with each passing second. Ronnie couldn’t have been more way off the mark – how on earth did he even think that she could possibly go for someone like Ryan Fisher? If he was the only man left on earth, she’d rather stay single for the rest of her life. ‘Best friends with benefits, huh?’ Ryan winked.

      Amber swore she could actually feel her blood begin to boil, and she was about to furnish him with some sort of reply to let him know just how inappropriate that comment had been when Alec finally showed up.

      ‘Sorry, Amber. Got talking to Jason from North News Tonight. Lost track of time. Are we ready to go here?’

      Amber kept her eyes very much on Ryan as she spoke, suddenly feeling the need for that night out with Ronnie more than ever now. ‘Oh, we’re ready to go, Alec. We couldn’t be more ready.’

      And, as far as Ryan was concerned, she couldn’t have spoken a truer word.

       Chapter Three

      The bar was unusually crowded for a Wednesday night, but for Ryan that just meant more choice. He’d had a more than pleasant afternoon sampling the delights of the lovely Ellen; so pleasant, in fact, that he’d been almost sorry to leave the sanctuary of his bedroom behind. She certainly knew how to keep his attention, but Ryan didn’t care too much for playing with the same friend for too long. He liked variety, and plenty of it.

      ‘Hey, you okay, mate?’ Gary Blandford, the club’s Sunderland-born star defender asked, sliding onto the stool next to Ryan. Gary had a bit of a reputation himself, never one to shirk the lifestyle or benefits that

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