He wasn’t going to let her off.
She would have to play the set of tennis.
Maybe she could surprise him by beating him. He didn’t know she was an A-grade player. If his male ego got hurt, that might make him a lot less attractive. And he might not want to play with her any more. In any sense.
It was the only hope she could hold onto for staying on here without this constant feeling of vulnerability where he was concerned. She had to beat him this afternoon. Had to.#p#分页标题#e#
CHAPTER SEVEN
EVERYONE had helped clean up after the party before leaving. There was nothing for Daisy to do except play tennis with Ethan. At least both of them had changed back into their morning clothes so she didn’t have such an acute physical awareness to distract her. As they strolled down to the court, she tried to keep the conversation between them light and natural, commenting on the guests’ enjoyment of the day, pretending to be completely relaxed.
The tennis court was blue with a green surround and a high green wire fence to keep in wayward balls. ‘Were you pleased with the surface when you played this morning?’ she asked on their way down the flight of steps to it.
‘Yes. No bumps anywhere. No odd bounces. They’ve done a great job with it.’
‘I didn’t watch the game.’ She shot him an arch look. ‘Are you terribly good? Will you wipe me off the court?’
He laughed, shaking his head. ‘You’re quite safe. I’ll play to whatever your standard is, Daisy.’
She didn’t feel safe, not from the attraction that was so difficult to squash. However, his promise to accommodate her tennis standard did give her the chance to beat him. Hopefully that would be a hit to the ego that had just assumed he was the better player and he’d be so put out he wouldn’t want to play other games with her.
‘I think you should serve first so I can judge for myself,’ she said, anticipating that he would go easy on her to begin with.
‘As you like.’
He put down a medium-paced serve which any reasonable player could return and Daisy suspected he deliberately over-hit the ball to let her win the first rally. On the second point she cunningly sidelined him, laughingly declaring it was a lucky shot. The third point was more seriously contested and she was relieved when he netted the ball, giving her three game points. She managed to win one of them with a drop shot he wasn’t expecting, which gave her the first game.
‘Hmmm…’ His green eyes were twinkling suspiciously as they crossed at the net. ‘Am I playing with a closet professional?’
‘How can you even imagine that?’ She grinned at him. ‘I never shriek or grunt when I hit the ball.’
She sliced her first serve so wide it was ungettable. She put her second serve down the T, leaving him standing again. He netted her third serve. The fourth he managed to return in court, but his shot was high enough for her to smash a winner from it. Two games to love. It was a great start.
He walked up to the net, no longer under any delusion that she was an easy beat. ‘Where do you usually play?’
‘At the Chatswood Tennis Club.’
‘How often?’
‘Most Saturday afternoons.’
Until the annual membership fee became due again. She couldn’t risk paying it, not when her job future was still so uncertain and every dollar earned might be important. Her tennis-playing days could soon be over for a long while, but today she was still in good form and very grateful for it.
‘A-grade?’ Ethan asked.
‘Yes.’
He suddenly grinned, which wasn’t the reaction Daisy needed to get from him. ‘What do they call you? The pocket rocket?’
‘No. Just Daisy.’
He shook his head in bemusement. ‘I wouldn’t call you just anything, Daisy Donahue. Compared to all the other women of my acquaintance, you are, without a doubt, the most remarkable.’
The compliment went straight to her head like champagne. The fizz of pleasure completely undermined the wish to bruise his ego. Besides, it didn’t seem possible in the light of his amazing admiration. He should be in a snit over being made to look inadequate against her, but he wasn’t. His voice held a relish for the competition as he tossed ‘Game on!’ at her.
She watched him stroll back to the service line, no lack of confidence in his bearing. She couldn’t help thinking he was the most remarkable man of her acquaintance and she was riven with the temptation to simply go with the flow of attraction wherever it took her. Which would probably be terribly foolish, given her job situation, not to mention the huge difference in their stations in life.