Chapter 23
After I had dropped The Russian home I spotted the coffee van, the very same one that visited the Saints office ... Wendy’s Caffeine Hit. It was written on the van. Too good. I followed her until she pulled up outside a grocery store, and I raced to catch up with her.
“Wendy,” I called. She stopped and looked around. Wendy was probably in her late forties, with bleached blonde hair and a small, wiry build. She looked like she had worked hard all her life.
“You don’t know me,” I said, coming up beside her, “but I’m Carla, The Russian’s girlfriend.”
“Ah, The Russian,” she said, her face softening ... hmm. “One of my favorite customers. Good to meet you, Luv.”
“And you. This is going to sound strange, but Sasha from the Saints’ office ....”
“The media lady?” Wendy asked.
“That’s her. Well, we’re trying to work out how The Russian beats her to the top of the queue each day and we were wondering if he asked you to text him when you were near.”
“Ah,” she said, and waggled her finger at me, “I’m like a doctor ... I don’t reveal anything about my patients’ coffee habits.”
I grinned at her. “I get that, I’m a journalist. But maybe, just maybe, we could do a deal. Perhaps you would like some tickets to a Suns or Saints game, or .... some merchandise ...”
“Hmm,” she rubbed her chin thinking. “Very tempting.”
I pushed a little harder. “In fact, we don’t even need you to reveal what is going on – if anything,” I added hastily. “Just once, if you could text Sasha first so she could race out to meet you ... just the once would be enough to beat him at his own game.”
She laughed. “You girls, that’s funny.”
I grinned at her. “Why don’t I leave you my number and maybe text me when you’ve thought about it?”
“We girls do need to stick together,” she said, handing over her phone as I put my number in.
“Thank you, Wendy. Hope to hear from you,” I said, with a smile.
“I’m not saying I have a system with The Russian, and I’m not saying I don’t, mind you,” she said.
“I hear you,” I agreed, “you’d make a fine reporter.” I said and gave her a wave as I walked away. Everything had a price ... my first boyfriend, a salesman, had taught me that one.
After I had gotten back in my car, I then got a phone call from Carlo, my physio. He was sick and had to cancel my appointment. He was trying to get someone to take it ... I had an idea. I told him about Captain Lucas’s live-in-lover and physio, Mia, who ran her own business on the side and told him Mia was keen to do some casual Suns physio work; here was her chance. Carlo said he was fine with it, so I rang Sasha who asked Alice for Mia’s phone number. I waited for Sasha to text through Mia’s number, called her, and she booked me in that afternoon at ‘their’ place at three-thirty. Done!
*****
It was easy to find Lucas and Mia’s place ... it wasn’t far from The Russian’s, and wow, another amazing place! There was security at the bottom of the hill and my name was on the list to come into the gated community. I drove up and parked on the street in front of the house. Mia was at the front door before I got there, dressed casually in what looked like running gear – sports shorts and a singlet. We gave each other a hug; I could look over her head while I was doing it – I must have had a foot on her.
“I am so glad you called,” she said, “we should have swapped numbers at the airport. Come on up.”
I followed her up the stairs and stopped to admire the view – it was a glasshouse with floor to ceiling windows showing off the stunning ocean views from every angle. Everything was white and the beach literally started at the front door.
“The Russian’s place is pretty good too,” she said, “ the same view, further along.”
“I know,” I agreed, “I don’t think you could ever tire of it.”
“I can’t imagine not seeing this view now, I’m spoilt for life. It’s this way,” she said, heading down a short hall. I followed her as she went into another large, clean, white room set up with all the gear she could possibly need. “This is my physio room; Lucas set it up for me. Mind you, he’s my biggest client.” She at least had the good grace to blush when she said it.
“Does he let you work on the other guys?” I asked, curious.
“Never,” she said, and rolled her eyes. “Nik suggested it once and Lucas almost increased Nik’s need for physio. So I don’t push it. I’ve got plenty of other clients and I prefer females while I work here alone.”
“Makes sense,” I said.
“Change into whatever makes you comfortable, but I suggest just your underwear so I don’t get any cream on you, and you don’t sweat on your clothes,” she said, and added: “Don’t worry Lucas is not here and he wouldn’t walk into this room without knocking anyway.”
I went into the dressing room and stripped off my shorts and shirt, returning to lay on the table as she directed.
“Well, I’m very pleased poor Carlo is sick, sorry Carlo,” Mia said. “You’re the first Suns’ player I’ve worked on.”
I braced as she began to work over my leg and knee. It was much better, but with the pressure the physios applied, there was always an element of pain.
“Speaking of that,” I said between sharp breaths, “I spoke with Carlo and he’d love to hear from you if you want some casual Suns’ work.”
“Really?” she asked, “fantastic, thank you!”
“Pleasure,” I said with a groan, and Mia laughed.
“I do have something that will be a pleasure,” Mia teased. “After we finish this session, the Saints’ boys should be training on the beach out the front. We could have a drink and watch? Purely on a professional basis ... physio, journalist ...”
Visions of The Russian working out on the beach flooded me.
“What a brilliant idea,” I agreed. “Brilliant.” I closed my eyes and tried not to think about my injury, while Mia worked her wonders.
Thirty minutes later Mia declared us done. I could hardly move; I think I was plastered to the table.
“I’m stuck here,” I moaned and Mia laughed, helping me up.
“Do you want to shower?” she asked.
“No I’m good, thanks. Really appreciate it, Mia, especially on short notice.”
“Happy to do it. I’ll just go wash my hands and then we can watch the boys suffer ... um, I mean, work out,” she said, with a smile and a glance at the clock.
I pulled my shorts and top back on, and, grabbing my bag, slipped out some cash to give her. She walked in seeing me holding it.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, graciously, “I’m happy to do it.”
I knew she didn’t need the money, but I insisted on paying her.
“I won’t feel like I can ask you for more physio in the future if you don’t let me pay,” I said, and slipped the dollars under her desk paper weight near the door. “Besides, the club reimburses me, so don’t give it a second thought.”
“Thank you, I’ll send you a receipt if you can message me your email address,” she said. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
I followed her from the white physio room back down the hallway to the front of the house. She entered the kitchen, opened the fridge and offered me a drink.
“I’m having a diet cola, want one?” she asked. “Or I have juice, water, normal cola ...”
“Diet cola is perfect, thanks.”
She handed me two glasses, grabbed the cans of diet cola and stuck a bag of pretzels under her arm.
“There’s something wonderfully decadent about eating and drinking while you watch the boys work out. Kind of like payback for all the times they annoy us,” she said with a grin.
“Well, The Russian and I are fairly new together, so he hasn’t annoyed me too much ... yet.”
“Just wait until they lose a game,” she said, heading to the balcony. Then she remembered I was a professional athlete. “Oh sorry,” Mia’s eyes widened. “You’d know what that’s like of course. I don’t mean to dismiss the sense of frustration and disappointment, it’s just that they can be unbearably grouchy for days after.”
I sat in a high, white leather chair opposite Mia with our drinks between us as we looked over at the beach. The chairs were deep but high, so we could see over the balcony edge with an uninterrupted view of the sandy beachfront and crashing waves.
“No apology necessary,” I said, “I’ve been known to be a bit unbearable to live with myself on those days!”
We both extended our bare legs to catch some sun and then Lucas drove into the garage below. He looked up to see us and gave us a wave and a surprised look in my direction.
“Good day, gorgeous?” he asked Mia.
“Very good,” Mia said, leaning over the balcony. “I’ve just been doing some physio on my client,” she said, with a nod in my direction.
“How’s the knee?” Lucas asked.
“Getting much better, thanks,” I said.
“Well enjoy watching us suffer,” he said, with a smirk in our direction as he grabbed a workout bag from the trunk of the car and headed straight down to the beach.
“Oh we will,” Mia said just to me, and we both giggled.
Then the Saints’ boys started to arrive. We were so close I could hear the coach and trainers ordering them to get a move on, and my heart rate went up as I spotted the beautiful, tall, dynamic presence of The Russian.
“They hate the beach workout,” Mia said, with a smile. “Did the Suns do it?”
“Once a week,” I said. “It’s agony, but good if you’ve got injuries. Running in the water helps, as you know.”
“Personally, I love it, you must come by again around this time,” she teased. “I’m sure we can find something to do even if you don’t need physio!”
“We would look much more the part if we were sitting here sipping Martinis,” I said.
Mia’s eyes lit up. “Oh yes. We should have a WAGS cocktail party on beach training day.”
“Won’t the coach be cheesed off if we’re sitting up here distracting them?” I said.
“Then we won’t distract them of course,” she said, with almost an evil grin. “Besides, they should be focussing on the task at hand.”
“Agreed,” I said, expecting to get a cocktail party invitation anytime in the next few weeks. A little red sports car pulled up and Alice alighted, waving up to us.
“Hey,” she said to us as Mia buzzed her in down below. She was obviously on the gate VIP list since she’d driven straight through. She came upstairs in her business wear.
“Look at you two workout gals,” she said, eyeing off our sportswear. Alice gave Mia a kiss on the cheek and did the same for me, which was very sweet.
“How did you get an early mark from work?” Mia asked, narrowing her eyes, as she jumped up to grab a drink for Alice.
Alice slid onto a chair beside Mia and let out a long breath as she watched the guys run out of the surf. “Marvellous.”
I giggled beside her like I was part of a secret Saints watching club.
“The boss, Jim, is away today, so while the boss is away, the mice play,” she said, accepting the drink and thanking Mia. “Besides, I’ve done my share of weekend match days to steal back a few hours.”
The Saints were wet, their bathers were wet, their chests were wet and their tanned torsos gleaming.
I sighed. “So good.”
“So good,” Mia repeated and nodded.
“You could sell tickets to this,” Alice suggested to Mia.
“Enterprising,” she agreed. “But we’re going to have a girls’ cocktail party instead, right here, one training afternoon just for the WAGS. It was Carla’s suggestion.”
I shrugged. “I can’t take all the credit, I drew inspiration from out there.”
“You’re working wonders on The Russian,” Alice said, “he seems sort of calmer. Sasha has worked with him for much longer than me but she said he is definitely happier. She keeps dropping your name to get a reaction.”
“Really?” I grinned, pleased to be working some magic on him. “What sort of reaction?”
“He gets this lovey-dovey look on his face ... I think it is very sweet but you know how Sasha loves to stir him.”
“Ha, that’s funny,” I said, laughing. “But it’s early days yet, I’m sure he’ll go back to being his usual self in no time.”
I was pretty sure that Lucas hadn’t told The Russian I was up here with Mia, perhaps he thought The Russian would know I was coming over for physio, but I hadn’t spoken to him since I had left Tia’s concert this morning. I watched him with the team. He truly was a beautiful looking man.
The trainer ordered them to hit the sand, and the Saints players all lay on their backs; they seemed to know the routine.
“Here comes the abdominal core circuit,” Mia said.
“I remember it well,” I said, subliminally wincing and Mia grinned.
The countdown began and the guys began on the crunches. In between repetitions the trainers demanded the guys plank, I could feel the burn. Mia and I both groaned; Alice was more of a yoga girl. Watching The Russian plank was so sexy; his arm muscles just bulged and his core was so tight, even better when his body began to shudder with the pressure and he dropped his head to control his body ... so sexy.
Mia fanned herself, not taking her eyes off Lucas.
“We can always go for a cold swim after,” she suggested, with a glance towards the plunge pool in the corner.
“We might need to,” I agreed. Next came the push ups ... those arms, that tight butt ... and then the boys stood to begin sprints and The Russian grabbed a towel to wipe his face. So frigging sexy again. Lucas came up beside him to do the same and must have given me away because The Russian looked up towards the balcony and right at me. He gave a slightly discernible smile; we both knew it was best not to look too happy at training ... you’ll be worked harder. He kept his gaze on me as he reached for a bottle of water, drinking and spilling some of it over his chest ... fuck me now, seriously.
Then I swear he worked out even harder after that, like he was making sure I got the show of my life.
*****
Lucas ran up the sandy front yard of his beach mansion and into the house, coming up the internal stairs. On the beach out the front, the Saints had finished their session and were dispersing. He came out to us on the balcony and wrapped Mia in a bear hug.
“I’ve been sent up to get you girls for a swim. C’mon, surf’s up,” he said.
“Eww, get off me,” Mia tried to wriggle out of his grip. “You’re sweaty and awful.”
“You like me sweaty,” he said, kissing her as she wriggled.
Who wouldn’t like him sweaty? He was something else: his blue eyes looking so blue, and his pin-up boy looks.
“I only like you sweaty when I’m sweaty,” she grimaced. Lucas released her, pulling her up from the chair and tapping her butt.
“C’mon, orders from The Russian and Tomás, get your gear off and report to the beach.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” I said, rising from the seat into action. Lucas gave me a smile and raced back out of the house again.
“Do you need swimmers?” Mia asked me.
I shook my head. “No thanks, I’ve got swimming, running and gym bags in my car ... you never know.”
“I thought you would,” she said. “Alice?”
“Can I wear that red two-piece suit?” she said.
Mia rolled her eyes. “I’m giving it to you, as long as you leave it here so you’re always covered when you drop in. You always liked it more than me.”
“Yes!” Alice said, going to change. She gave me a grin. “I’m a bit partial to shopping.”
“It’s her middle name,” Mia said, following her to get the swimsuit.
When we were changed, we headed to the beach, where The Russian emerged long enough from the surf to drag me in with him. Sexy beast.
*****
Twenty minutes later, I came out of the surf before him and headed over to get my towel. I didn’t realize Lucas was behind me until he called my name.
“Hey,” I said, shaking the sand off my towel before it stuck to me.
“Can we talk a minute?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said, looking around. Mia and Alice were still in swimming. If Lucas was going to ask me not to distract his forward before a match, there was going to be trouble.
“I just wanted to check you were okay,” he said, toweling down.
“Oh,” I said, surprised. I wasn’t expecting that. “I’m fine, why?” I frowned at him.
Lucas cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. “The Russian told me what happened, sort of, between grunts and shrugs, you know,” he said, not doing much better than The Russian did I imagine. “He was really worried he blew it with you... he’s a good guy...”
“I know,” I said, cutting Lucas off. “I know he’s a good guy, and you’re a good friend to speak for him.”
I spread my towel out and sat down. He did the same with his towel and lowered himself beside me. I saw him glance quickly to the surf to see where The Russian was before continuing.
“I want to give you some context, but you never heard this from me and you can’t ever tell him you know, unless he shares it with you,” Lucas said.
I groaned.
Lucas frowned. “It’s important. If you understand what’s happened, you might cut him a break when he’s an idiot. Besides, it’s my job to look out for the guys ... well I’m trying to step up in that area.”
I grimaced. I can imagine it would be hard given most guys keep everything bottled up.
“I don’t think I want to know,” I said.
Lucas shrugged. “I just don’t want him to blow a good thing.” He looked uncomfortable using that term. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” I said, and thought about it for a few moments. “Okay, thanks, best you tell me then.” I could feel my stomach clenching, not to mention my heart.
“It’ll stay strictly between us?” Lucas asked.
I nodded. “I promise.”
Lucas drew a breath and began. “Leesa has pretty much ruined his ability to trust in any relationship.”
“I know about Leesa,” I interrupted. I saw The Russian, Mia and Alice leaving the surface.
“Did you know she got pregnant, with The Russian’s kid?” Lucas didn’t stop. “Then she had a big night out when she was a fair way along and miscarried.”
“Crap.”
“It gets worse,” he said, hurrying up his story. “When The Russian left her, she tried to kill herself. Since then she’s been seeking security from every man she can, by the looks of it. It’s done his head in.”
I didn’t have time to take it all in or ask questions as the rest of our group dropped down beside us. I nodded my thanks to Lucas and looked over at my man. What was I supposed to do with that information? It did explain why he hadn’t just walked away from her sooner. In fact, it explained a lot; that would put me off having a relationship for a long time. Let’s not even begin on the trust issues.
I wondered if he would ever tell me. Wow, he had been through some pain. And I couldn’t mention a word of it to him.