Page 20 of Couple Goals

‘I hardly think you can get mad at me for not telling you my real job whenyoudidn’t tellmethat you’re a football club director!’

‘I told you that I am a business manager which is essentially what a club director is.’

Adriana scoffs. ‘Football isn’t a business.’

Jacob raises an eyebrow. How dare he raise his eyebrow! At her, the queen of raising eyebrows!

‘Yes, footballisa business. And this?’ He waves his hand towards their football pitch. ‘This ismybusiness now.’

‘Well,’ Adriana can’t resist a dig. ‘It’s yourdad’sbusiness.’

Adriana sees something tighten in Jacob’s jaw. It was the wrong thing to say. He doubles down on his poker face.

‘It is technically my father’s business, that’s correct. However, I am on the board and a director. And since he won’t even–’ Jacob stops himself, his jaw clenching even harder. ‘I am the owner in absentia when he’s not here, overseeing everything to ensure the club is operating at maximum profitability.’

‘Profitability?’ Adriana tries to laugh, joshing his shoulder. ‘For heaven’s sake, this isfootballwe’re talking about! Football is a celebration of athletic mastery and camaraderie! Football is about unifying communities in the essential story of victory and defeat! Football is about being human, not always about the bottom line! Football has a soul to it.’

Jacob’s face is unmoved.He adjusts his tie. ‘You’re just doing your job, and I’m just doingmyjob. It just so happens that my job is essentially being your boss.’

Up to this point, Adriana’s natural cheeriness had been winning out. Sure, they were having a healthy sparring match, but while Jacob might be grumpy around her in the light of day, Adriana’s glow from their night together had been giving him a halo in her mind.

‘It doesn’t matter to me how you describe your job role,’ he continues. ‘Call yourself a “foot artist” if you want. It doesn’t matter to me whether you love your job or hate your job, it only matters to me whether you deliver good results on the pitch, worthy of a salaried place in the team.’

She shakes her hair furiously. ‘How dare you! I am not some product!’

Jacob shrugs a broad shoulder. ‘Well, you may not like it, but since my father bought this club, didn’t he implicitly buy its players too? Coach Hoffmann is here to offer her expertise and for any players that aren’t up to scratch, they’ll swiftly be moved on.’

‘Jesus Christ, Jacob, you sound so cold about it all.’

Jacob’s jaw clenched.

‘I think it would be better if you called me Mr Astor.’

‘Oh, do you indeed? I remember you wanting me to call you some other things just a few nights ago.’

The heat in Jacob’s cheeks rise. Adriana feels rather pleased with herself for this reaction. But it does mean that she senses the phantoms of their night together in the air between them again. As she looks up at his chiseled face – his jawline even sharper with his jaw clenched,his blue eyes even brighter as he’s frowning at her – something comes over her. She remembers how they were in that bar, in his corridor, in his bedroom. She remembers wrapping her arms around those broad shoulders and pressing herself against him. She remembers how wonderful it is to make this man lose his composure.

He adjusts his tie, even though it was already perfectly straight, and then adjusts his belt. But then to her surprise instead of leaning in and kissing her like she wants, he steps back from her.

‘I would like to remind you, Ms Summers, that we now work together,’ he says. But his voice isn’t angry, or stern. Just regretful. ‘Like it or not – and believe me, I do not like it at all – but I agree with you that it would be best for all involved for us to be completely professional from now on. You don’t want your teammates to think that you are receiving any… preferential treatment.’

She can’t help it. Right now, there’s a part of Adriana that would really, really like some ‘preferential treatment’ from Jacob. But then she remembers the difference between this Jacob and the Jacob she’d kissed the other night. This is exactly why she never gets attached to men. The more you like someone, the more they’ll let you down.

So she bites her lip and holds a hand out.

‘I agree,’ she says. ‘Purely business.’

Jacob’s large hand covers hers, and his eyes have softened now.

‘Purely business,’ he agrees.

Adriana doesn’t know if it’s her or him, but she does know that their hands linger held together for a little too long.

Chapter 8Maeve

Maeve showers in water so hot it scalds her.

The only person she has told about this locker room on the second floor is Adriana, which she slightly regretted at first, but thankfully her friend understood that it’s important to Maeve to have her own space sometimes. Adriana hasn’t shared it with anyone else, or even followed her here before. Maeve’s safe, for a short time, alone with her thoughts.

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