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  God, did she actually feel the same way I did?

  Before I lunged toward her and made a total fool of myself I knocked my drink back in one, then spoke. “Thank you. I’m glad you see me as more than just a colleague or whatever. I see you as more than that too.” Christ, and that was a double entendre. I hadn’t meant it to be but if Nadia spotted it…

  Well actually, would that be such a bad thing?

  “Another drink?” My voice was bright, saccharine, and it sounded fake even to my ears. At this rate I wouldn’t even have to confess my feelings. She was a smart woman and would no doubt suss them out in no time from my strange behavior.

  “Um, sure. White wine, please.”

  I was gone before she could say anything else.

  Walking over to the bar, I berated myself. Get a fucking grip, Virginia. Do you want her to know you like her, or not? It doesn’t matter whether she works it out for herself or whether you spell it out, does it? However it comes to light at least you’ll know if you’re in with a chance.

  One more, I told myself. One more drink and I’ll feel braver.

  I reached the bar and the man behind it came right over. “Hey, what can I get you?” His smile was wide and I noticed his gaze drop briefly to my chest before shifting back up to my face.

  I grinned back, amused. Poor guy had no idea that he was barking up the wrong tree. Though if I’d been straight I probably wouldn’t have turned him down. Even I could see that he was cute, aesthetically pleasing. “A vodka and Coke and a white wine, please.”

  “Comin’ right up.” He turned away to make the drinks but not before tipping me a wink. Since he was no longer looking I rolled my eyes. Then I glanced back over to where I’d been standing with Nadia. She’d shifted a little closer to one of the huge pillars holding up the ceiling, clearly trying to hide herself away a little. I supposed I couldn’t blame her—if I’d been within a hair’s breadth of a major title and then lost, I wouldn’t want people banging on about it either.

  But then, it was a party—if she’d really wanted to avoid people, she probably shouldn’t have come. She must have had her reasons for attending—pressure from Austin possibly. Not in a spiteful way, of course—he just wasn’t that kind of guy. But he wouldn’t have wanted her to hide away in her room being miserable, I was sure of it.

  “Here you go.” The cute-if-you-like-that-sort-of-thing barman returned with our drinks and I thanked him before grabbing them and heading toward Nadia. I felt his gaze on me as I walked away.

  “Hey,” I said when I reached her, holding out the glass. She took it quickly and I noticed she’d finished the other drink. Wow—seemed as though she was downing the booze as much as I was. But then, we both had our grounds for needing it that night.

  “Thanks. I don’t normally drink this much—hardly anything, actually—but it’s been a bit of a shitty day.”

  “Yeah, I hear ya.” That was the moment when I decided to abandon my plan. I couldn’t do it, no way. And not because I’d chickened out either, but because of Nadia’s “shitty day” as she’d so bluntly put it. How could I lumber her with something like my feelings for her when she was having such a tough time? Even if she returned them she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk sex and relationships, I was sure. No, what she needed was a good old-fashioned fun night, no complications.

  My plan would go on the back burner for a more suitable time. Given that she was going to be around at least until the Australian Open I had bags of it.

  By now the room had filled up and I could see that things were really getting started. The whole team—players, coaches, support staff and more from the academy were now here. Except for… Oh no, there they were—Travis Connolly and Marie Sherratt, over in the corner by Austin’s table. They were both grinning from ear to ear as someone I suspected was one of Travis’ sponsors talked to them. Probably discussing their good news. Not imparting it—everyone in the world knew about it by now.

  I shuddered. Ugh. As happy as I was for the two of them I wouldn’t want my personal business out in the open like that. Sure, proposing right there and then had been romantic but imagine if she’d said no! Or if things fell apart between them. It was now common knowledge to any person on the planet who owned a TV or a radio or had internet access. God, they were probably trending on Twitter. His US Open win alone would have set those wheels in motion but coupled with the impromptu proposal…the Fail Whale had probably made an appearance.

  “Right,” I said, more loudly and emphatically than I’d intended, startling Nadia. Now it was her turn to slosh her drink over her hand. She gave me a sheepish look.

  “Oops, sorry. Didn’t mean to make you jump. But I’ve got an excellent plan. One that will turn your shitty day into an excellent one.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

  “It’s simple but effective, I promise you. And very British. It’s called ‘drowning your sorrows’.”

  “I think I’m familiar with the concept. And I’m all for it. Great plan, V.”

  Holding up my glass, I mentally applauded myself for my genius. The idea could have other benefits too—like maybe sending us into the drunken stupors so often associated with spilling secrets. We’d know each other’s deepest, darkest thoughts—maybe—and emerge from the other side of this party better friends than ever. Or maybe even more than that. “Cheers.”

  Taking my cue, Nadia clinked her glass against mine and we beamed at each other before slurping down our respective drinks.

  “Hey, V,” Nadia said a few seconds later. “Mine are obvious but what are your sorrows?”

  Just before I replied a slightly fuzzy thought wafted through my mind. I think that one was a double. Bloody hell.

  I waved my hand in what I hoped was a dismissive manner. “Oh n-nothing. Just commiserating with you, that’s all. You should be celebrating that damn title along with Connolly.”

  “Oh, did I just hear my name? Not taken in vain, I hope?”

  I spun to see Travis and Marie standing beside us, looking so loved-up it bordered on disgusting. At some point I’d have to find out how they got away with having a relationship without Marie losing her job. It was all a bit weird, if you asked me.

  “No, no,” Nadia said, swaying a little. I giggled, glad that the increasingly loud music drowned it out. I sounded insane and not a little stupid. “We were just talking about my shitty day, my unceremonious defeat. And V here was saying that I should be celebrating along with you. Which reminds me. Sorry, I’ve been a little distracted. Congratulations on your win, Travis. And also to both of you on your engagement. It seems your day has been as fantastic as mine has been awful.”

  Understandably the newly engaged couple looked uncomfortable. What exactly were they supposed to say to that?

  Then Connolly reminded me of how I planned to lift Nadia’s spirits.

  Inserting a great deal of lightness into his voice, he said, “Drink?”

  Chapter Three

  My first thought on waking was, Ow, fuck, my head!

  My second, What’s that bloody noise?

  Then my brain kicked in and I realized someone was thumping on the door, the hotel room phone was ringing, and my mobile phone was bleeping alarmingly. Slowly I gained more awareness and something made me turn and look at the bed behind me. I heaved a sigh of relief. I was alone and the pillows on that side were mercifully undented.

  God, how horrendous would that have been? Waking up to find that bloody barman in my bed? Or worse, Nadia. Though of course the first one would have been terrible full stop—I’d never slept with a man and I didn’t intend to start, either. The second only because of the circumstances. If I got lucky enough to have Nadia in my bed, or to be in hers, I wanted to remember every single second of it.

  Sitting up slowly and hoping my stomach didn’t decide to empty its contents onto the floor, I carefully edged my way out of bed and waited until I felt the carpet beneath my feet. Shuffling toward the
door, I grabbed the robe that had been tossed onto the floor and shrugged into it, tying it tightly around my waist. The banging and two sets of ringing continued and I flung open the door, hoping that action would make it all stop.

  Thankfully it did. Austin stood outside my room, red-faced and angry-looking, one hand poised to knock, the other clamping his cell to his ear. One punch of a button and mine stopped ringing. Then a few taps later and the main line did too.

  “Oh good,” he said coolly, stepping into the room without even asking and slamming the door behind him. Which of course did wonders for my pounding headache. “You’re not dead.”

  His tone of voice made it sound as if he wished I were. Had I been wearing any shoes my heart would have sunk into them. Instead it remained bathing in the broiling vat of discomfort that was my stomach. Bollocks, what did I do last night?

  “Um, no,” I said, sounding like a pathetic little girl—which I supposed at that moment I was. “I’m not dead. Why? I’m not late for anything. Our flights back to California aren’t until tomorrow, are they?”

  “Luckily for you, no they’re not. Otherwise you’d have been paying the transfer fee out of your own pocket. Unluckily for you, though, I’m here and I’m pissed.”

  He was stating the obvious but there was no way I was going to say that. Strictly speaking, this man was my boss and he could kick my arse out of the academy if he chose to. And from the way he was looking at me, I suspected he was considering it. Christ, I’d done something really bad, hadn’t I?

  “Um, okay. Sorry?” I hadn’t meant it to sound like a question but that was how it had come out and Austin’s face almost turned purple as a result. The temptation to run and hide in the bathroom was almost overwhelming.

  “Sorry? Sorry!” He sighed heavily, stuffing his cell into his pocket and running both hands through his hair. “You don’t even know what you did, do you?”

  Knowing that whatever I said would only make things worse, I settled for shaking my head. I clenched my fists, hoping to gain some kind of strength from the action, because whatever came next wasn’t going to be good.

  “For Christ’s sake, Virginia. This is worse than I thought. So not only am I here to make sure you’re still alive, I also have to explain why you’re in such a state and why I’m furious with you?”

  “I’m sorry, Austin. I really don’t remember. The last thing I remember is Connolly coming over to Nadia and me and offering to get us a drink.”

  He huffed again, then walked over to one of the plush chairs in the sitting area of my suite and dropped into it. “Sit down, Virginia.”

  “C-can I get a coffee first? Would you like one?”

  “Yeah, that would be great.”

  I figured I was buying myself a couple more minutes of grace by making a coffee. Perhaps in that time Austin would calm down a little. Well, that and having some caffeine in my body would make me slightly more capable of handling whatever he was about to say and the ramifications of that.

  The noise of the kettle boiling almost made me want to cry, as did the spoon clanking in the mugs as I stirred in the milk and sugar. It was like standing on the edge of the platform as an underground train rushed in to the station. Soon, though, it was over, and I did my best to carry the two steaming drinks over to the sitting area without spilling any. Gingerly handing Austin’s coffee to him, I put mine down on the table before taking a seat myself.

  “Okay,” he said, looking at me steadily. “Firstly, you look like hell. Which is hardly a surprise. When you didn’t answer your door I genuinely thought I was going to have to call an ambulance. Or a coroner. I was one second away from getting the reception desk to bring me another key card. Secondly, you are in deep shit.”

  He paused, took a breath, then looked as if he was about to resume his lecture. Instead he took a slurp of his drink—God, he must have had a mouth made of asbestos—swallowed, then continued. “You honestly have no idea what happened?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing after Connolly and Marie arriving and him offering to get us drinks.”

  “Well perhaps it’s as well you don’t remember. There’s no way to put this politely, Virginia, I’m afraid. But you made a complete and utter ass of yourself and haven’t exactly raised the academy’s public image either.”

  “Shit, I’m sorry. Sorry, I didn’t mean to swear. C-can you tell me exactly what I did? Did I hurt someone? Break something?”

  “No, no. You didn’t hurt anyone or break anything. You, uh, basically got utterly inebriated and started being rather loud and obnoxious. You started going around the room and hugging people—whether you knew them or not—and telling them that Nadia Gorlando should have won the women’s title. That she was the better player and deserved to win. It was a few moments before we realized what was going on. As soon as we did Mitchell Adair jumped in and took you out of the room. Before he had a chance to find out what the hell was going on and try to get some water into you, you vomited all over him and pretty much everything else in the vicinity.”

  I’d put my head in my hands after his second sentence. By the time he was done I was groaning and wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole. Then preferably deposit me on a desert island, never to be seen again.

  “Damn. Damn, damn, damn. There’s not really much else I can say, is there?” I lifted my head and looked Austin square in the eye, hoping he’d see how much I meant what I was saying. “I am so, so sorry. I really am. I intended to get a little drunk and have a good time, I admit. Hopefully take Nadia’s mind off what happened. But I never meant to get so drunk that I made a fool of myself, and certainly not throw up over Mitchell. Poor guy.” I was going to have a serious dry-cleaning and probably hotel bill—I just knew it. “Should I ask how I got back here? I haven’t left a trail of vomity destruction behind, have I?”

  “Other than the first lot, no. Mitchell took good care of you. He and Nadia brought you back up here. I’m led to believe that Nadia held your hair back as you hugged the toilet, then Mitchell deposited you on the bed and excused himself while Nadia stripped you down. She waited a while to make sure you weren’t going to be sick again, then left. She wanted to stay with you but I pointed out that probably the last thing you needed when you woke up this morning was a reminder of what happened. Though of course now I know that it wouldn’t have reminded you anyway.”

  “Mitchell… Nadia? Wow, I owe a whole lot of apologies and thanks, don’t I? I didn’t even have that much to drink. Though that last one I fetched from the bar was really strong. I think the barman gave me a double or something. So, uh, what happens now? As well as totally humiliating myself I know I’ve brought shame on the academy, for want of a better description. I didn’t lose you any sponsors or anything, did I?” I pulled in a shaky breath then said something I really didn’t want to but felt I ought to. “When do you want me to leave? As soon as we get back?”

  Austin frowned. “Leave? What do you mean?”

  “Well it’s hardly behavior becoming a professional athlete, is it? I’ve pissed off a whole bunch of my colleagues and ruined the academy’s reputation. You should sue me, really. Except I’ve got no money.” I let out a harsh laugh.

  “You’re being a little dramatic, Virginia.”

  “I…I am? But you’re so mad at me.”

  “Yes, I am. I’m hopping mad, as they say. But I’m not kicking you out. Yes, you got very drunk and made an idiot of yourself. Yes, you’ve pissed off some people. And yes, the sponsors aren’t very happy. However, it was a private party and with some help from the security team I managed to ensure that no one had any photographic or video evidence of your behavior. I also asked everyone to keep quiet about what happened. So far there have been no leaks to the press and I’m confident there won’t be. So the only people who know what happened were in that room. I assured the sponsors that it was a one-off and won’t happen again. You’re a rising star, sweetheart, and you’ve never even been an inch out of line before, so
I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. All right?”

  If it hadn’t been for the mug of hot liquid in his hand I’d have thrown myself into his arms and kissed his cheeks until he blushed. As it was, I settled for a much more appropriate response. “Oh Austin, I don’t know what to say.” I really didn’t. I’d been absolutely convinced that I’d kissed goodbye to my time at the academy, to my access to the world’s top tennis coaches, to the mentoring of top-seeded players and everything else that went with it.

  “I really am truly sorry for what happened. I’ve never done anything like that before—I don’t know what happened. But I’ll do everything within my power to put it right. Apologize to every person who was there, including the sponsors and hotel staff. I’ll even clean up where I made a mess. Anything to put things right.”

  Austin raised a hand. “Hey, sweetheart, easy. Easy now. Don’t you worry about the sponsors. I’ll sort it. Though a few words with your colleagues wouldn’t go amiss, I’m sure. And as for the hotel staff…well, I’m sure it’s not the first time they’ve seen something like that. I’ve already spoken to management to smooth things over and make sure the staff keep it under wraps. Honestly, though, with the amount of money the academy has sunk into them over the course of this tournament they’re not going to piss me off any time soon. So don’t worry any more, okay? Just go get showered and then get downstairs for some food. Or maybe room service would be a better option.” He’d obviously realized that I wasn’t yet in a fit state to face the world and no number of showers would fix that.

  “As far as I’m concerned, as long as you sort things out with anyone from the academy you may have upset, then we can get back to normal when we arrive back in Cali. You’ll be under probation, of sorts, but as long as you return to the sort of behavior I’ve come to expect from you over the past few months then we’re good. We’ll say no more about it, okay?”