Team Tomás (The Saints Team #2) (4 page)

Chapter 7

Damn him and his sexy smile and hot body! It was day
four... I was in recovery mode... I was like
‘Tomás who?’
, okay that
might be crap, but really, I had stopped thinking about him every minute and
replaying the horror movie in my head. I had it down to about every couple of
hours now. I was thinking survivor thoughts and feeling sorry that one day when
he was an old, injured and retired soccer star, he’d figure out what he missed
and it would be too late because I’d be swept up by some other fantastic guy.

I felt my stomach flip as I opened
the text.

“Hi
bella
, event job going @
club. U should apply. Miss U. Tomás x”

What the fuck? Miss me? Call me
then! See me, take me out, do me, have me, unvirginize me or deactivate my
virginity for crying in a bucket.
I stopped now and took a deep breath. This
required a serious girl discussion to decide on the return text—did I aim for warm
and sweet, grateful, funny or a ‘go screw yourself’ text. I needed a straight
shooter, not Mia this time because even though she promised not to share
everything with Lucas, I didn’t want Lucas having any quiet words with Tomás.

This was a job for Cassie. I
hadn’t seen her since we went to the
Shaken Not Stirred
bar last weekend
and she witnessed me leaving the club with Tomás. But the best thing about Cassie
was that she didn’t pack any punches. She was a real redhead—fiery and a
straight shooter. I texted her and met her for a coffee on the way home from my
day with Planet Events.

“Reel him in like a fish,” she
said, without hesitation.

“What, really?” I studied her
trying to gauge if she was for real. Cassie looked gorgeous—she always looked
gorgeous even as a poor student. She had on a green velvet dress and with her
wild red hair, she looked like a beautiful witch.

“Are you going to eat your
shortbread?” she asked, looking at the complimentary biscuit on the edge of my
saucer.

“No, couldn’t fit it in,” I teased
her, and she smiled and grabbed it before I changed her mind.

“I’m serious,” she said with a
mouthful of shortbread. “You need to take charge with Tomás.”

“So you think I should be flirty?”
I asked.

She nodded. “Alice, get with the
program. The hottest goalkeeper in the country sits with you and your friends
at a club, is hot for you and he takes
you
home. He could have just done
you there and then... but he didn’t. How many guys would hesitate to take a
girl’s virginity? They all want to be the first in a nice tight virgin and
forever in your mind.”

“Eww,” I said, grimacing.

“It’s true,” Cassie said. “Instead,
as soon as he finds out it’s your first time, he doesn’t take advantage of you.
He steps away.”

“And then he goes completely off
me. What’s that about?”

Cassie leaned forward and lowered
her voice. “Maybe he doesn’t want the commitment of a relationship and he knows
that taking your virginity means you are going to be expecting that. Maybe he
just wants to play the field while he can, while he’s at the top of his game.”

I knew it, Mia knew it and Cassie
knew it but Cassie was the only one who said it out loud.

“Thanks, Cassie.” I swallowed her
words, trying to bury the hurt that cut me like ribbons.

“I’m sorry but...” she shrugged.

“No, I’m grateful, thank you for
calling it like it is. No point kidding myself,” I said.

“So reel him in.” She leaned back.

“But if he doesn’t want me, why
would I do that?” I said. I know I’m not the most experienced relationship
person in the world, but I was missing this one completely.

Cassie smiled. “Alice, it’s
Relationships 101.”

“Damn, I missed that class,” I
said.

Cassie laughed. “We always want
what we can’t have. Look at you... last semester you would have wet yourself
for a date with Finn Lalor. Now you’ve got one later this week and you haven’t
given it a second thought. In fact, Mia told me about the date, not you!”

“Right.” I tried to keep up. “But Tomás
could have me.”

“Tomás doesn’t know he wants you,”
Cassie said.

“Oh.” I nodded. “Nuh, still not
getting it.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “You’re
sweet, and cute, and a virgin. He likes you, he’s attracted to you, he’s
missing you—his words—and I bet you anything he doesn’t want anyone else having
you, but he doesn’t want to go the commitment you require just yet.”

“Okay, I’ve got that loud and
clear,” I said, with a smirk.

“So you need to show him that if
he doesn’t want your virginity, someone else does… and he can play around all
he likes but look what he’s missing out on.”

“I’m bribing him with my
virginity?” I asked, just checking that I had the big picture here. It didn’t
seem like that big a prize.

Cassie nodded. “Reel him in,
Alice, starting right now. You’re going to text him this back...”

I grabbed my phone, opened his
text and looked up at Cassie, ready to type.

“Type this,” she said, “Thanks T.
Will apply tonight. Been so busy, hope all is well with you. Ax.”

I typed it, looked at Cassie, she
nodded and I sent it.

“That just sounds boring to me,” I
said.

“Ali, you’ve just said you’re
going for a job at a club full of fit, handsome soccer plays and you’ve been so
busy you haven’t had time to think about him. Hell, you’re even looking more
attractive to me.”

I laughed. “Really? Thanks Cass,
you’re a lifesaver.”

“You’ll see,” she said, “nothing
more desirable than an unobtainable woman. Wouldn’t hurt to drop in the fact
that you’ve got a date too, if you get the chance.”

I squeezed her hand and smiled
with relief.

“He won’t know other women exist
by the time you’re done,” she said, and sat back with a satisfied smile.

If only I was as confident in that
thought.

Chapter 8

It was a buffet of good bods... a smorgasbord of sexy
shapes... a feast of flesh... okay, you get the picture—it was my first day on
the job and who would have thought I’d be working in an office with so much eye
candy. I was ruined for life.

Arriving at my first day in the
office was a pretty easy process—the interview a few days earlier went really
well and I gave Deborah, the Human Resources lady, examples of my work
experience and my results so far, including what subjects I had been studying.
Deborah was also the accountant and managed the external technology contractor—such
is the way with small companies. We pretended Lucas wasn’t my referee but I got
the job within a day; it helped I’m sure. So excited. I transferred my remaining
subjects to night lectures and Deborah said I could have time off for study and
exams. So excited, did I mention that? I gave Lucas a call to thank him and he
brushed it off. Mia said he wasn’t good at compliments that were personal, only
professional. Fair enough. The best thing was that I hadn’t time to think about
Tomás or Finn while I sorted out my new job.

So, day one—I was now officially part
of the Saints’ marketing team and they were a great team. My boss was Jim Dixon
and he was fun. He was mid-forties, short, wiry with a dry sense of humor...
kind of like the Groucho Marx of sport admin. He looked after the advertising,
branding, reporting and his team of three including me.

Also in our team was Kay who took
care of the clubs and memberships from corporate sponsorships to the Saints’
kids’ club. She had the tough job of selling them, keeping databases and making
sure all the benefits were delivered. Kay said it wasn’t a tough job when the
team was winning, as everyone loved winners. She was in her late thirties, a mom
of two and a big lady who kept hugging me and telling me I would be just
fine... I loved her already.

The other member of our marketing
team beside me—Alice Peterson, events coordinator, the Saints... sorry I had to
say it all the time until it sank in—was Sasha Saxon who looked after media and
merchandise... you know, the hats, scarves, jerseys, headwear and so on. Plus
Sasha also wrote the club publications like the fan magazine and annual report.
I liked her too. She was about twenty-two-or-three and she had no airs and
graces. Sasha had bleached blonde hair, cut really short, and was thin and
fashionable; she designed and made her own clothes and loved hats. Everyone
remembered Sasha... especially when she introduced herself as, “Hi I’m Sasha
Saxon from the Santa Ana Saints, try saying that five times fast after a night
out!”

As well as events, I also scored
the social media for the club—I was now looking after the Saints’ website,
Facebook page, Twitter account and more. Oh the damage I could do... just
kidding. God I loved my job and I’d been there only a day! And I scored—no pun
intended, I was getting the hang of this, next I’d be talking about balls—I was
also assigned player allocation for events and according to my new boss Jim,
everyone out there wanted a Saint at their event.

Lucas was off limits as nearly
every single request asked for him and his contract stipulated he would appear
at ten events only per season as determined by his management. The rest of the
team had to contractually give me five appearances a season and I was to work
with the Football Manager, Shayne, to work these out. Give me five, oh yeah, I
could just see me calling for that. I wonder if appearing at my place counted
if I booked out Tomás for all five. I was so unprofessional.

As for the rest of the office... well
it was very, very satisfying with a mix of current and former players holding
office positions. The Saints had their own security staff who worked in a small
office next to mine; the two men were both current Saints players—The Russian
(I still didn’t know his real name) who was a forward on the team and defender
Eddie Mosley who I heard just got engaged. Both gorgeous, both just on the
other side of the wall from me—a plaster sheet away. The Football Manager
Shayne Williams was an ex-NY Red player who finished his contract and wanted to
move back to California. He now worked in the Saints’ admin and was eye candy
if you liked your man a bit more mature. The coach, Johan, had his office in
the same building and so did the assistant coach, the assistant football
manager, the physio, the stats guy... too much to take in for one day. There
were a few ladies as well, like Deborah in Human Resources, Brenda the Personal
Assistant to the CEO and Suzie the receptionist. I’m sure they appreciated the
scenery too.

Throughout the day players came
and went as they dropped in to see whoever they had to see, but Sasha told me
they didn’t come to our side of the office much unless they needed additional
tickets, merchandise or were visiting The Russian and Ed. Today though, just
before training started onsite at four p.m., Lucas wandered in and dropped down
in the chair in front of my desk. Kay and Sasha’s mouth dropped open. Jim
walked by and greeted him. Lucas knew Jim by name—I guess Jim was a bit of a
fixture at the Saints.

“Hey Lucas.” I looked up at Mia’s
man and captain fantastic.

“How’s your first day going?” he
asked.

“Taxing,” I teased. “Much harder
than going to college for three hours a day. But I’m loving it. Hey thanks
again.”

He held up his hand. “They didn’t
even call me for a reference,” he said. “I think Deborah knew your lecturer and
that person you work with at... the lost planet or something.”

I nodded. “Planet Events. Ah
you’re very modest, but I suspect you had some impact on me getting my dream
job,” I said with a big grin.

Lucas smiled and shook his head.

“You’ve met Kay and Sasha haven’t
you?” I asked, introducing the two ladies in my shared workspace—technically it
was their workspace, as I’d been there one day.

Lucas rose and shook their hands.
“Sure, Sasha’s always trying to get me to talk with journos and Kay’s scored me
some merchandise for friends.” He smiled at them. My, he was charming.

“Anyway,” Lucas said, “got to get
to training. If she becomes too much trouble, ladies, just let me know,” he
said with a grin towards Kay and Sasha. He turned back to me. “I’ve got some
tickets for Frank and Ryan for the next game if they want them,” he said
referring to Dad and my brother.

“They’ll love them, thanks.”

With a wave he was gone. I saw
Sasha Saxon of the Saints fanning herself.

“I am never washing my hand again,”
she said.

“Eww,” I said and Kay grimaced.

“Isn’t he a lovely lad?” Kay
smiled. “I would just love to hug him and feed him a roast.”

Sasha and I looked at her.

“My feelings are not at all
maternal,” Sasha assured her.

And then The Russian went past—all
six-foot-five of him—and we all stopped to watch. I caught Kay out.

“Was that maternal?” I asked,
looking at her suspiciously.

She blushed and bit her lip before
answering. “I may be married with children but I’m not dead. Besides, I’m a big
girl, I like them big,” she said.

Sasha and I giggled like naughty
kids.

“No I didn’t mean that, I meant
tall, well-built... oh never mind.” She shook her head at both of us and looked
away, still smiling but trying not to. “You might be a bad influence, young
lady,” she said with a look to me.

“I hope so,” I teased her.

Chapter 9

Finn Lalor looked very sexy in jeans and a black bomber
jacket over a white T-shirt. Actually, he looked more like he was going to sign
up for the Navy Seals. Finn had this new buzz cut which made his face look lean
and angular and his eyes noticeably bluer. His fair hair was shaved to stubble
length and it was the sexiest I’d ever seen him in our three years at college.
He was so different to Tomás—fair to Tomás’s dark hair, blue eyes to Tomás’s
chocolate eyes and broad while Tomás was trim, muscled and agile. I felt small
beside him, which was kind of nice.

I was still in my work gear... a
cream sleeveless dress with a full circle godet skirt and matching high heels.
I got the dress on sale and just love it; there was a red version too but I’ve
got so much red in my wardrobe—where was I? I get a bit carried away when it
comes to shopping, but I’m very, very good at it and I was dressing to impress
in my first week given the office talent was so impressive.

“You didn’t come to our game on
the weekend,” Finn said, once we had settled into a booth at a bar near our college.

I’m sure that was the first time
ever Finn noticed that I wasn’t at a game. He didn’t notice when I was present-and-accounted
for last season, and I bit my tongue from mentioning that. Saved by the
waitress—I ordered a cola and Finn ordered a beer, producing his I.D. He placed
a leg around each of mine—straight into the intimacy. How many times had Finn
done this and how many girls had welcomed it? Might be best not to go there.

“So did you win?” I asked.

“Of course.” He grinned at me.
Yep, he was the package.

I told him about my new job and he looked kind of
impressed. He told me what he planned to do after college, how he was sweating
on a NFL contract to play in the big league and how his parents wanted him to
get his career started. I listened attentively like a good groupie.    

 The bar was getting noisier and
when we finished out drinks, Finn glanced at his watch. “Want to get out of
here?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said, expecting him to
say he had to be somewhere and ditch me. I reached for my purse.

“I’ve got this,” he said.

“Thanks, Finn.”

Nice, very nice. We rose, he took
my hand and led the way out of the bar. My heart beat was starting to pound
again and just the feel of his skin on my skin had my girl parts very happy. Did
I mention how good he smelled? An aqua scent; I could lick it right off him.
And nice butt too... I was just far enough behind him to get a good glimpse of
it and those broad shoulders.

We got to the parking lot and Finn
moved towards his car. “Let’s go back to my room and hang for a while. I can
drop you back later to get your car if you like?” he said.

I was so busy watching his arm
flex as he reached into his back jeans’ pocket for his keys that his words
caused a delayed reaction—my alarm bells started ringing. God I hate being
sensible but we weren’t going back to his place to play Scrabble and if I said
no...

“Um, that might be moving a bit
fast for me.” There I said it. The night was still young enough for him to find
a replacement.

“All good.” He shrugged. “We’ll
just hang for a bit. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

I nodded. “Okay. Why don’t I follow
you there in my car and then you don’t have to go out again later?” I
suggested.

“Yeah, that would be good. Is that
you?” He pointed to my small blue car.

“That’s me.”

I looked at my Toyota Yaris—Dad
had bought it for me when I started college. He was going to buy Ryan his first
car too. Mom’s life insurance was a bonus none of us wanted. When she died, it
paid off the house, set up a college fund for Ryan and me, and gave Dad some
money to help raise us. We would have given it back in a heartbeat to have one
more day with her.

“Okay, don’t lose me,” he said,
with a grin. I kept his black car in sight and five minutes later we pulled up
at his student apartment block near the college.

“I’ll give you the tour,” he said,
and again grabbed my hand and raced me through the building.

I hurried to keep up with him.
Finn greeted other students as we passed through, some of which I recognized
from classes or seeing them in the library or at games.

We got to Finn’s floor and the
door to the area was open. Two guys sat with consoles on their laps trying to
beat each other at some war game and a girl sat on the arm of the couch
drinking cola and watching them. She gave us a wave. It was like a large, open
plan area with lockable bedrooms around the borders and a bathroom every few
rooms or so. Finn unlocked a door and hustled me in. He relocked it.

“Welcome to my pad,” he said,
taking off his jacket and throwing it over a chair.

It was a decent size room with a
double bed, desk near the window, a two-seater couch and a small table with a
TV on it. I put my bag down on the edge of the couch.

“Kick your shoes off,” Finn
invited.

I took them off and put them near
my bag and suddenly he was right next to me. He cupped my face in his hands and
I looked up at him. He was something, and so close I could see his body
definition through his T-shirt.

“You’re very pretty, Alice.” He
smiled at me and then began kissing along the edge of my neck.

Oh God, this was good. Then his
hand began to move down my body and up under my skirt.

“Finn,” I whispered. I had never
had sex but I was pretty sure all my feelings were from pure sexual
frustration. I ached below in that area that wanted his tongue on it and my nipples
were on full alert. Virginity was such a curse. I wanted Finn, but this was
just what I experienced with Tomás, this was just sex and if I was just into
sex it would be great. But for the record, Tomás would have been my first
choice in that category; Finn and I were still on our official first date if
you could call it that and not quite at the jump-my-bones stage.

His fingers began to slip between
my panties and my skin. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Finn,” I said, again trying to
get his attention.

“Mm?” He moved to my lips and
began to kiss me, wet kisses, his tongue touching my lips and pushing between
them.

Just do it
, my heart was
saying. But then my brain joined in...
‘Really, is this what you’ve been
waiting for? This is what you call special?’
Shut up head space, I argued
with myself.

Finn steered me towards the bed
and I felt myself falling back on it. He was on top of me, his hand making its
way up my dress again which was an open invitation given it was a full-skirt
and fairly short anyway. Fuck, I was in serious trouble now, this was going
places I wanted to go but didn’t want to go, if that makes sense. I didn’t mean
to lead him on and I did follow him to his room to hang for a while... I think
our definitions of hanging out were different.

“Finn.” I pushed his hand away and
brought it up to my waist.

“Sorry,” he said. “Too fast?” and
without waiting for an answer he began to kiss me again—his hand running over
my top, over the fabric of my dress and over my breast. I could barely think;
the sensation was wonderful and I wanted that nipple to be free and sucked. Down
below I was aching with a dull kind of vibration, a needy feeling. From the
huge bulge pushing against my leg I was pretty sure Finn was thumping too. My brain
was still issuing warnings that sounded like a car alarm.

There was a loud knock at the door
and someone just barged in.

Finn looked up and frowned. “Fuck,
what?”

I quickly pulled my dress down.

“Sorry brother, but your car alarm
is going off.” I recognized one of the team and he gave me a chin up movement
and a smile. He then ran his eyes down my legs. Finn jumped up and I followed.

“Fuck it,” Finn said. “Sorry
Alisha, won’t be a minute.”

“Alice,” I said.

“Yeah, sorry, Alice.” He grabbed
his keys and pushed past the guy at the door who continued to stand there. I
straightened my dress and my hair.

“I’m Matt,” he said, still eyeing
me up and down. I wondered if the team shared.

“Alice,” I said, and moving past
him, I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my bag.

“You’re leaving, so soon?” he
said.

“Yeah, I’ve got to get home. Can
you tell Finn I’ll call him?”

“You could check out my room if
you like,” Matt said. He gave a nod to the door across the room.

For fuck’s sake, what am I? The
college bike.

“Thanks, but I told my dad I’d be
home by seven. I’d better shuffle.” I held my breath as I moved past him,
hoping he didn’t grab me or do anything stupid. I hurried down the stairs,
expecting to see Finn but I didn’t pass him on the way. As I drove out, I saw
him at his car, leaning against it and talking to some girl.

Thanks Finn, you ass
. I
breathed a sigh of relief. Finn was never interested in me, just interested in
a one-night stand and doing the girl he thinks one of the Saints is doing. It
made me realize that Tomás had been a gentleman... he could have had me but he
didn’t. God, men! I wish I was a lesbian.