“Oh,” Penny said, the flurry of information making her mind whirl as much as his arrival. “You could’ve said something.”
Alex shrugged. “Might have been a little embarrassed, about how I snapped.”
“Next time, just talk to me, okay? Don’t disappear.”
“Promise,” he said, pressing his lips against her forehead. She closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of the kiss, but her mind was still spinning, still unsure if she could let go enough to trust him completely “I stand by what I said, you two make me want to vomit,” Indy called from the opposite end of the room, balancing against the dresser to put on her black stiletto heels, pairing perfectly with an emerald green halter dress with a metallic sheen, hugging her long, lean figure tightly. Penny couldn’t help the soft snort of amusement against Alex’s neck. He hushed her lightly.
“You look lovely tonight, Indy,” Alex said and Penny lifted her head in time to see her friend blush.
“Thanks. Now get out of here before I ruin this gorgeous dress,” Indy said, grabbing her makeup bag and waving them out of the room. “I’ll be right behind you.”
They walked, hand in hand toward the elevator bay, but once they got there, Penny couldn’t resist. She stood on her toes, leaning against his chest and kissed him lightly once, twice, then slowly opening her mouth beneath his, letting her tongue nudge against his bottom lip. They broke apart and came together over and over again, neither willing to stop until they both pulled away, gasping for air, shaky breaths matching the trembling in her body.
“Jesus,” he breathed. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?” she asked as his hands fell to her waist, squeezing gently.
Alex shook his head. “I don’t even know. It doesn’t matter. Just do it again.”
Laughing a little, she pressed her lips to his again. “Your flight got in early?”
“Took an earlier one,” he said, reaching around her to push the elevator call button. “I wanted to get here in time for the gala.”
“So you could go with me?” she asked, only half-mocking him. “We can’t even stay that long. I have my first-round match tomorrow.”
“So I could see you in a dress like that and I don’t care how long we stay. In fact, I’m all in favor of making an early night of it.” He stepped back and let his eyes travel up from the floor over every inch of her body.
Penny laughed. “You’re so smooth.”
A deep chuckle echoed from his chest. “Apparently not that smooth.”
“Smooth enough,” she said, grasping the front of his crisp white dress shirt and pulling him in for another kiss.
A ding from the elevator behind them registered in her mind, but she didn’t care.
“Damn it, could you two not do that in front of me, ever?”
Alex pulled away at the sound of her brother’s voice. She fell back on her heels, turned and glared at Jack.
“Can we hold hands or is that too much for your delicate sensibilities?”
“Jack, nice to see you, mate,” Alex said, extending his hand toward her brother.
Jack frowned, but shook the hand offered. The handshake lasted longer than it probably should have, the knuckles of both hands turning red and then briefly white before they both released their grip.
“Are you done?” she asked Jack sharply.
He ignored her question. “Is Indy ready too? Dom’s downstairs holding a car for all of us.”
As if on cue, Indy appeared around the corner looking like someone who belonged on a runway rather than a tennis court, long blond hair in wild waves hanging down her back, smoky eyes and gloss making her lips shine. Penny saw Jack suck in a breath and a sudden heaviness cut through the small space. She glanced between her brother and her friend, but as quickly as she felt the tension, it was gone again.
“Alright, let’s go,” Jack said, calling the elevator again. The door opened immediately. They all stepped inside. As the door closed and the car started moving downward, Alex’s hand slipped around hers and squeezed.
***
“Penny! Alex!”
“When’s the wedding?”
“Look this way!”
“Give her a kiss!”
Alex stepped out of the car and then offered her his hand as the camera flashes assaulted them. Penny steadied her heels against the cobblestone street and stood, feeling his arm slide around her waist. Indy, Jasmine, Jack and Dom followed behind, but the reporters were in a frenzy for tennis’s new golden couple. No more unsubstantiated rumors. They were clearly together. And as if to emphasize the point, Alex’s hand slid a little lower. Penny bit her lip and glanced up at him through her lashes.
He winked at her and then nodded at the red carpet. The flashes were blinding and it was almost impossible to understand anything in the cacophony coming from the camera pool.
“You okay?” Alex muttered into her ear about halfway down the line.
“This is insane,” she said through her teeth, keeping her smile firmly in place, but moving closer to him, pressing her side into his.
She felt him exhale into her hair and then the brush of a kiss against her temple, his neatly trimmed five o’clock shadow scraping lightly against her skin. The paparazzi went wild. If it hadn’t sunk in that her life had changed forever when she arrived at the hotel earlier to a sea of cameras, the point was hammered home now. She wasn’t just a tennis player anymore. Penny Harrison was a celebrity.
Chapter 18
May 25th
“Wow,” Jasmine said as she watched Penny and Alex finish their red carpet walk and head into the party. Next to her, Jack, Indy and Dom were all gaping at the reporters going nuts for the couple ahead of them, but Jasmine just started making her way down the line. That jump-started the rest of the group.
The reporters weren’t quite as enthusiastic as before, but she and her new doubles partner got plenty of attention from the cameras.
“Stand together for some,” Dom muttered to them as he passed behind them about half way down the carpet. “Present a united front.”
Their united front would last as long as their doubles run did because as soon as the junior girls’ singles started it would be every girl for herself. Indy didn’t look any more thrilled than she felt, but they smiled for the photographers’ pool together. As if their personalities didn’t clash enough, the tangerine sheath dress and funky purple belt Jasmine was wearing up against the green, metallic fabric of Indy’s dress didn’t really make a pretty picture.
They finally made it to the end of the row and immediately stepped away from each other and followed Dom into the party. The music was loud, but the buzz from the crowd was louder as people mingled in the dimly lit room. She looked around for a familiar face and couldn’t find one. Things had changed a lot since her dad retired. Before, she would’ve known half the party before stepping through the door. Now she was in a crush of strangers, people who were supposed to be her peers, but none of them knew who she was and never would unless someone pointed her out as John and Lisa Randazzo’s daughter.
“Screw this,” she mumbled and turned back to the entrance. She’d have one of the staff call her a car, go back to the hotel and order some room service. She didn’t need this party or these people. The only thing she needed was to get some rest and train well tomorrow. If she wanted to prove everyone wrong, she had to be at her best.
“Wait, where are you going?” Indy asked, grabbing her arm.
“Let go of me,” she said, pulling free. “I’m going back to the hotel. This is such a waste of time.”
“Don’t be stupid. We’re at the French Open. This is…You shouldn’t miss this,” Indy said, swiping a hand out at the party.
“Do you know how many of these I’ve been to?”
“Yeah, but how many of them because you were playing?”
Jasmine’s shoulders dropped and she looked back out into the sea of partygoers. “But I don’t know anyone.”
Indy bit her
lip. “We know each other.”
“Yeah, me and you,” Jasmine said, crossing her fingers and holding them up for Indy to see, “we’re like that. Why don’t you go find Penny, she’s your new best friend, or is she just too busy for you tonight?”
“She is my friend,” Indy said, “and she’s obviously a little busy, but you’re my doubles partner.”
“Whatever,” Jasmine said, trying to push past the taller girl, but Indy stood her ground.
“No, not whatever. Every time we take a step forward, we take like ten back. We have a couple of days of training to get past it before we have to go out in front of the whole world and compete together. We’re both professionals. We should be able to put the personal stuff aside and just be…” She waved a hand through the air.
“Professional?” Jasmine finished for her.
“Exactly. Look I know you don’t like me, but I mean look around, we’re at the French friggin’ Open. How many people can say they’ve been here? We should soak this in. Who knows if it’ll happen again? We should just have fun and enjoy the whole thing.”
She made a good point. Jasmine didn’t know when she would be back at a tournament like this, especially if doubles didn’t work out. She was only age eligible to play as a junior through the end of the year and then what? If Hodges was right, she was probably headed to the Challenger circuit, the minor leagues of tennis, or maybe even to a college team, thanks to her parents making her hang on to her NCAA eligibility. Maybe she could go to Duke with Teddy. They could rule the ACC together. That’s what everyone expected of her now. They didn’t think she should win just because her parents won all the time. Indy was right. There was no pressure…at all.
Her shoulders loosened, the tension she’d been carrying there, maybe for years, suddenly fell away. It didn’t matter. None of it did. She just had to live in the moment. She could worry about the future and other people’s expectations later…or maybe never again.
“Jasmine?”
She looked back at Indy, and for the first time, she didn’t see the girl Teddy thought was hot or the girl who beat her at the OBX Classic. She saw her doubles partner. “Maybe we can just find a table or something.”
“Great,” Indy said, standing on the tiptoes of the five-inch heels that made her tower over most of the crowd even more than she already would have. “I see an empty one, come on.”
Jasmine had to take two steps for each of Indy’s long strides, but they got to the table and slid into the small booth. As soon as they were seated, Jasmine lifted her hand to call over one of the passing waiters. She was going to enjoy this party and that meant she wanted some champagne.
“Won’t Dom mind?” Indy said as she took her own glass from the waiter’s tray.
“He might for you. You’re still seventeen, right?” Jasmine said and took a long sip.
“Yep,” Indy said, pushing her glass away as her eyes focused on the crowd, darting from group to group. “Not eighteen until November.” Then her gaze locked and Jasmine followed her line of sight straight to where Jack Harrison was standing, talking and laughing with a few party guests including several really gorgeous women. Despite that, his eyes seemed to be constantly searching the room, but couldn’t find whatever he was looking for.
“So it’s Jack, not Teddy, huh?”
“What?” Indy said, snapping her eyes away from the floor and staring at Jasmine wide eyed. “No.”
“And yeah, that just confirmed it.”
Indy pulled her glass back, taking a swig. “Fair is fair, I guess. I know about your secret crush and now you know about mine.”
“So he doesn’t know?” Jasmine asked, leaning forward in her seat.
“Oh he knows, but he’s too…he’s too Jack to do anything about it.”
Jasmine giggled. “Too Jack?”
“Yeah, too good. I guess.” Indy took another sip of her champagne, longer this time, nearly draining the glass.
“Plus, there are laws about things like that.”
Indy snorted. “No, there aren’t. I looked it up.”
“I’m just saying, it’s not as simple as I like you, you like me, let’s make out.”
“Right,” Indy said, “and it still sucks.”
“I know,” Jasmine said, “believe me, I know.”
They sat in silence, a much more comfortable one now and watched the party swirl around them, people dancing, flirting and lots of fake smiles followed by eye rolls behind someone’s back. They drank their champagne slowly, but never let a waiter pass without grabbing another glass.
“So what do you think?” Indy said, nodding at a short, extremely buff man in his forties with an orange tan and way too much hair gel. His arm was wrapped around the waist of a girl nearly a foot taller than him, but probably half his age. “Still lives with mom, right?”
Jasmine nearly spit out a sip of champagne, but then smiled wickedly. “No way, he has a huge penthouse apartment to compensate for his other deficiencies.”
A man stopped in front of their table and Jasmine looked up, her smile fading. “Hi, Dom,” she said, cringing at their table of champagne glasses, some still full, but most of them drained.
“Ladies, I see we’re having a good time,” their coach said, a massive crease between his brows as he frowned down at them.
“We were,” Indy muttered, “but I’m guessing that’s over now.”
“Damn right,” he said, shaking his head. “Let’s go.”
They followed him through the party and to a side door where Dom had one of the tour officials call them a car.
“Straight back to the hotel,” he told them before leaning in the window and telling the driver where to go.
Driving through the streets of Paris was an experience all its own. The streetlights reflected against the windows of their cab and each street looked like it was the set of an epic love story. Indy sighed from the seat next to her.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Jasmine asked.
“Almost too beautiful to be real. Have you been here before?”
“Yeah, with my parents.”
“Right, duh. Me too. My mom and I did the London and Paris thing when I was thirteen. I definitely didn’t appreciate it at the time.”
The car pulled up to the front of the hotel and the driver got out to open the door for them. As they stepped out onto the sidewalk, the Eiffel Tower—lit up for the night—twinkled in the distance, the rest of the city’s lights a mere stage for the famed landmark to stand upon.
“Why didn’t your parents didn’t come?” Indy asked as they moved through the lobby toward the elevators.
Jasmine frowned. No one else had thought to ask that. Not even Dom, although it was possible he already knew why. “I asked them not to.”
“Why?”
“I…” She hesitated as they got into the elevator car. “I wasn’t sure how well we were going to do and I didn’t want to, I don’t know, disappoint them, I guess.” Then feeling a lot more exposed than she had in a long time, she shot back, “Why isn’t your dad here?”
“I doubt he even knows I’m playing.”
Jasmine raised an eyebrow in disbelief and the elevator dinged signaling their arrival on the sixth floor.
Indy sighed and kept talking. “My dad loves his job. He loves his job more than he loved my mom and he loves his job more than he loves me. When my mom died, I started boarding at school, and in the summers, he just let me keep on living in the house I shared with my mom instead of bringing me to live with him. He hired a housekeeper, pays for the maintenance, and keeps my bank account full. I get a card from him on Christmas and a present on my birthday, but his secretary sends them.”
“That sucks.”
“Whatever. Life’s not fair and all that. I have it a lot better than most people.”
“I guess we both do.”
“Yeah and look, I didn’t mean what I said about your serve.”
Jasmine snorted. “Yeah you did.”
<
br /> “Okay, maybe a little, but it’s not terrible and you were right, my net game could really use a lot of work.”
“If you miss, I’ll be behind you to get it.”
“Good to know.”
Jasmine smiled. She should leave this newfound peace alone, but she couldn’t help herself. They were getting everything out in the open, so why not this? “So if we get into the third round, which will it be?”
“What?” Indy asked, eyes wide.
“Women’s Doubles or Girls’ Singles?”
“How did you…?”
“Indy, I’ve been around professional tennis my entire life. I know how this works. Endurance isn’t exactly your strength. I won’t hate you forever or anything if you choose singles. I get it.”
“No, it’ll be doubles,” Indy said finally.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah and not just because you’re standing here asking me. I honestly wasn’t sure until right now, but really, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime to play in the main doubles draw at a Grand Slam tournament. I wouldn’t be able to drop it, not even for a chance to win the girls’ tournament.”
A sudden surge of gratitude swept through Jasmine like she’d never felt before. Why should she be grateful to a girl she didn’t even like all that much for taking advantage of an opportunity to play at a Grand Slam? It didn’t really make sense and it was probably fueled more by champagne than anything else, but before she could stop herself, she hugged Indy.
“Thanks,” she said, pulling away before the other girl had a chance to react.
Indy narrowed her eyes. “You’re welcome,” she said, her voice lingering on that last syllable, making it more of a question. Jasmine ignored it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning for training.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Indy turned and started down the hallway before she stopped and called back, “And I know I said we didn’t have to be friends, but you know, I think I might like that.”
Jasmine turned the idea over in her head as she stepped into her hotel room. She kicked off her heels and rummaged through her suitcase for some pajamas. It had been a long day and curling up in her bed sounded like a pretty good way to end it. After scrubbing off her makeup and washing her face, she stared at her reflection. Maybe Indy was right. Maybe they could be friends.
Game. Set. Match. Page 18
