ROMANCE: BAD BOY ROMANCE: Mister Perfect: (Alpha Male Billionaire Football Star and BBW Pregnancy Romance)(A Best Friend's Brother Contemporary New Adult Sports Romantic Secret Baby Romance) (3 page)

              "Okay," Amber said with both reluctance and relief. "See you in twenty minutes."

*

When she arrived at Freda's, Amber felt as if something had snatched the air from her lungs. Taylor was sitting on the sofa with his massive arms outstretched, making it look more like
an elaborate armchair than a sofa.

              "Hey, you," he said, grinning.

              "What are you doing here?" said Amber and Freda scowled at her, but what she had really been
thinking was: "What am I doing here?" Since Freda would have wanted her brother all to herself, it seemed most likely that Taylor was back for an apology and he was loving it.

              "Taylor," she said. "I'm sorry about last time we met. I'm not normally like that.
Actually, yes, I am. I can be quite outspoken. And sometimes I say too much. Like now. But at Christmas, I was tipsy."

              "Drunk," Taylor added.

              "Tipsy. And I said some things without thinking. I seem to recall saying something about your face
being too big."

              "It's not been a problem so far. Is this an apology?"

              "Yeah. So I'm going now."

              "That was really brilliant," Taylor said, "but I'm not here for an apology. Sit down,
Amber." He gestured to a seat of the sofa on his right. "Do you want a drink? I'm afraid we're all out of special lemonade."

              Amber winced.

              "Stop it!" Freda said, and then to Amber: "He likes you, that's all. He only teases
people whose company he enjoys."

              "That's why I never tease you," he told his sister.

              "Try it and I'll kick your ass," she said.

              Amber sat with her back straight, as if she were about to be interviewed, except that she was dressed
in her customary jeans and a T-shirt. Admittedly, she'd have dressed smarter if she'd known that Taylor was here. As much as she'd slammed Taylor at the Christmas party, she was still attracted to him and, even
more, she now felt as if their energy were combining. They touched each other, over distance.

              "I want to pick your brains," Taylor said, looking as if he felt the connection between them
too. He popped a snack into his mouth, but his mind appeared to be elsewhere. He sat back into the chair, with his right arm remaining outstretched.

              If she were to sit back too, his arm would practically be around her. She felt a flutter as his his massive
biceps caused his T-shirt to ride up towards his shoulders. She could see the muscles of his chest and even his abs through the cotton material. Things like that demanded to be touched, just out of curiosity.

              "Freda tells me you're a gardener," he said.

              "I didn't call you a gardener," Freda jumped in. "I swear I didn't."

              "You make gardens," Taylor clarified.

              "No-one makes gardens," Freda said. "You grow them, they don't come out of a factory
like your shoes."

              "Will you leave us alone?" Taylor said and then to Amber: "What you said at Christmas moved
me."

              "It did?"

              "Yes. I've been taking it very seriously and I've decided to give up football."

              "Oh my God! You can't! You're ... you're the best."

              "Everyone's luck runs out some time," he said.

              "You can't give up football. I ruined Christmas, I can't ruin your career. I forbid you to
give up."

              He laughed at that.

              "The only people who tell me what to do are my coach and my manager," he said.

              Amber felt afraid of him then. He was big and powerful and could be mean when he had to be.

              "I trust those two guys and my sister more than anyone in the world, because they always tell it
how it is, no matter how difficult that reality is to face. I like it that you speak your mind."

              "I've been thinking about stopping football for some time. I have to fulfill another year on
my contract and then I'm a free man. In the meantime, I need to think about what happens after football."

              "Yeah, because a billion dollars can dry up just like that." She snapped her fingers.

              "It's amazing how fast anything runs out when you're not putting it back in. I'm not
just talking about money. I'm talking about the environment. I'm in a position to do some good, for our communities, for the whole planet. I want to do my bit, but I need help. I want to talk about green technology,
solar, geo-thermic energy. You know about all that right?"

              "You're talking my language," Amber said.

              He was saying something about installing green roofs across his real estate, both commercial and private.
He could have been saying anything at that point, however, because she was just thinking about the color of his eyes.

              "How many buildings do you have?" she asked.

              "Could I show you one?" he said.

              She expected him to pull out a brochure, but instead he stood up.

              "My car's outside."

*

"This is a test model," Taylor said, reversing, "but they tell me it's perfectly safe ..."

              Being electric, the vehicle was completely silent. The dark windows made traveling in the car an eerie
but beautiful experience.

              "I thought you'd be driving a Ferrari or something," said Amber.

              "I do have one of those," Taylor said. "I'm not perfect. I try to do the right thing,
but I'm a billionaire and sometimes I buy a really fast car and I drive it really fast and then I feel like it was all a terrible waste."

              "Most people think that about fast food," Amber said.

              "You think I'm not in touch with reality, don't you? I'm real. Sometimes I can't
help myself and I go after something that I want, even if I know that I shouldn't."

              He was staring at her so intently that he forgot he was reversing and bumped into the parked car behind.

              "Wait a minute," Taylor said and got out to check for damage to the other car.

              Forever, she thought. I'd wait for you forever if I really thought we could be together.

*

Rather than park up in the first available space, Taylor wound the car up the multi-story parking lot, round and round, until they got to the top where he parked with a squeal of tires,
the first sound the electric car had made, on the east-facing side. They got out.

              "There," he said, pointing.

              "You own that building!?" Amber said, looking towards a building next to the mall.

              "No," Taylor said. He pointed again. "From there ..." He moved his arm in a steady
arc from left to right. "... to there."

              "All of that?"

              "It's ugly and it's inefficient," he said. "With your help, it could be beautiful."

              "I'm not an architect."

              "I have those. I need someone who thinks beyond that stuff, to how what we do impacts those around
us. That's you, on every level."

              "You never stop thinking, do you?" she said. "Making connections."

              "That's my job. Whether I'm on the field or not."

              She told him a few things about green roofs and solar, exploding a few myths, which he took with good
grace. She told him that they'd have to do a lot of research and it would be a lot of work, but she was interested. She could advise him on which ideas to pursue and which contractors to hire.

              "This is really exciting," she said. "But, you seem to have something else on your mind."

              "You're very observant," he noted. "Not like my sister. She doesn't notice anything.
Between you and me, I have a problem now."

              "What's that?"

              "I'm very attracted to you," he said.

              Her face went slack.

              In this old crap, she thought, glancing at her jeans.

              "I'm sorry for being forward," he said, "but I have to ask you now, because if I ask
you after you start working for me, that could be grounds for a lawsuit. I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner? Or a drink? With me."

              "I don't understand."

              "I'm asking you out, then I'm going to make the job official."

              "What if I say no to the date?"

              "Then I'd like you to start work on Monday."

              "And if I say yes to a date?"

              "Then we go out Friday night and you still start work on Monday."

              "Then yes," she said.

              She felt like they should kiss or hug or something, but it wasn't even a first date.

              "Does Freda know you were going to ask me out?"

              "I didn't know," Taylor said.

              "Can I tell her we're meeting up?"

              "Absolutely not," he said. "I can't date. It's actually a condition of my contract.
I have to keep my mind on the game and the team. And in terms of advertising, the ladies have to think I'm single. Apparently my face sells more coffee that way."

              "They've got you wrapped up pretty tight."

              She could see that he was angry, not that she had pointed it out, but that it had crept up on him bit
by bit until it was true.

              "So where are you taking me?" Amber asked, "if we can't be seen together in public?" 

"What you said to him must really have worked," Freda said, "because he's already on his third visit since Christmas."

              "Incredible," said Amber.

              She hated herself for lying, but at least it meant that Freda got her brother back and that she and Taylor
got to spend time together. It was true that not only might Freda feel weird about her best friend and her brother seeing each other, but if she discovered that her best friend was dating her brother then the world would know
about it too soon enough; Taylor would be in trouble with his coach and manager and investors, and she wouldn't be able to walk out of her door anymore for all the reporters and photographers.

              She spoke quietly so she wouldn't disturb Taylor who was in the next room. They were in yet another
of his apartments and he was at his computer, on an emergency conference call with his manager and the coach and some other officials. He'd apologized and asked her to wait and she'd obliged, although she didn't
like the physical experience of treading on tip-toes and sneaking around in the shadows, even that was what she had been doing psychologically for weeks. She didn't like it. She didn't like it a bit.

              "Have you seen Taylor?" Freda asked.

              "We've exchanged a few emails," she said. Make that a hundred, plus texts, in addition to
hours of time logged on instant messaging.

              "About work?" Freda asked.

              "Yeah, about the job."

              "Isn't he wonderful? No wonder he's so busy. He's always in demand."

              "Yes," Amber said, watching Taylor through the glass door.

*

Later, Amber cautiously pushed open the door. His screen had timed out and the web cam was off, but he was still sitting there slumped at his desk. As she approached, she heard gentle snoring.

              "Some date this is," she said, but there was no power in her words, because she was looking
at his sweet, handsome face and she couldn't be angry. He was exhausted. He was trying to be everything at once, a good teammate, a successful businessman, a solid brother and a loving boyfriend. They were beyond dating,
really, the lurid and romantic content of their international emailing had settled that, but they were yet to make love.

              It was time to change that.

              She put her hands on his shoulders and kissed his head, gently waking him.

              "Come on, Taylor," she said. "I'm taking you to bed."

              He looked ready for her, but she noticed that he quickly checked his computer to make sure that he hadn't
been broadcasting their brief interlude.

              "We've got to find a way to be together," Amber said. "This isn't working."

              "I know," he said. "I'll fix it. But first."