It was the kind of ball Pandy wouldn’t normally bother to hit. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jonny looking at her curiously. On the other side of the net, Lindsay was already turning away, thinking they had the point.
Assholes, Pandy thought. She stepped forward, winged her racket back, and before anyone knew what had happened, hit a backhand slice that landed on the white line two feet from the net.
As the ball bounced and whizzed into the chain-link fence, everyone on the court turned and stared at her in shock.
“I knew it,” Lindsay said loudly. In a voice full of disdain, she added, “Pandy is one of those women who say they can’t play, and then you find out they were a national champion.”
“I thought you said you sucked,” Jonny said gleefully. He swung his racket, playfully tapping her behind, stoked by the prospect of winning.
“I guess you’re not the only one with secrets,” Pandy said.
An hour and a half and three sets later, they were still playing the tiebreaker for the win. As Pandy had predicted, the game had gotten ugly. Pope and Lindsay weren’t speaking, while Jonny, on the other hand, couldn’t stop talking. He kept up a running commentary until Pandy was forced to set him straight.
“We need to let Pope win,” Pandy hissed as they changed sides yet again.
“Yeah, right.” Jonny’s eyes crinkled in amusement; he thought she was joking.
“I’m serious.”
Jonny wiped the sweat from his forehead. “So am I.”
Pandy decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Add in,” Lindsay declared, bouncing the ball under her racket.
She served to Pandy. Pandy sent an easy lob back to Pope. She figured he would place it right on the baseline, in between her and Jonny, where neither one of them could get to it.
Which was exactly what he did, save for the fact that the ball landed just outside the line.
“In!” Pandy shouted firmly. “That’s game, set, and match.” She lowered her racket. “Amazing shot, Pope. Well done.”
Jonny strode to the net and angrily tapped his racket on the tape. “That ball was out.” He turned accusingly to Pandy. “It was out, right?”
Pandy shrugged. “I thought it was in.”
“It was definitely out,” Lindsay said. “I saw it.”
“Do-over,” Jonny declared, giving Pandy a dirty look.
“Jerk,” Pandy said under her breath.
Pope had used up his last reserves of adrenaline on what he thought would be the winning shot. He fluffed the next two balls, and Pandy and Jonny won.
Pope stalked off the court. Lindsay shrugged and looked at Jonny. Pandy smiled to herself. She guessed that Jonny and Lindsay wouldn’t be hanging around together much longer.
And then Jonny made a pass at her in the changing rooms. Or what apparently passed for a pass in his world.
She looked up from where she was untying her sneaker to see Jonny, naked from the waist up, crowding the door. The sun was behind him. Her pulse pounded in the hollow of her throat. Her body was suddenly awash with desire.
“Whaddya say, Wallis? You and me. Right now. Standing up in the shower,” he said.
Pandy remembered the sensation of his hair on her cheek and was shocked to find herself considering the offer. Then she remembered Pope and Lindsay, and the Senator, and came back to her senses.
“Are you insane? Do you think I would have sex with a guy who has absolutely no manners?”
Jonny chortled. “I certainly hope so. Manners and sex don’t usually go together.”
“Well, manners and tennis certainly do.” Pandy removed her sneakers and flung them into the bin. “You should have let Pope win.”
“Are you kidding?” Jonny took a step forward. He frowned as if he truly didn’t understand. “Why would I let Pope Mallachant beat me?”
He sounded so befuddled by the prospect that Pandy had to laugh at his ignorance. “Because he’s our host. This is his house. His tennis court. And he’s old.”
When Jonny continued to look confused, she said, “It’s just good manners. What difference does it make if he wins? It’s only a stupid game.”
Jonny’s eyes widened. “Lemme tell you something. If you think I’m ever going to let a guy like Pope Mallachant win, you’re crazy. He didn’t get to be a fucking billionaire by accident. He’s a fucking killer, okay? I can promise you that showing mercy to his opponents is not one of his strong suits. And it’s not just a game. Nothing is a game with these people.”
He took a breath. “I thought you were supposed to be smart. I mean, you write about these people, don’t you? I would think you would know better.”
“Hey!” Pandy said as Jonny shook his head in disgust and turned to leave.
“Hey!” Pandy repeated.
“What?” Jonny turned back.
Pandy sighed. “Nothing.”
She changed quickly and hurried back to the house. The billionaires were saying their goodbyes. Pandy asked Lindsay for the bathroom, and when Lindsay said the Senator was using the downstairs powder room, Pandy slipped upstairs. She went into the first bathroom she could find, which was in Lindsay’s room. There, she checked the medicine cabinet for pills just for the hell of it, noting that Lindsay had quite a bit of Vicodin and several packages of hormone shots. Pandy quickly shut the cabinet, opened the French doors, and stepped out onto the balcony.
She immediately spotted Jonny, in designer swim trunks, walking toward the pool with the purpose of an athlete. He reached the edge of the water and stared down into the depths as if transfixed.
It took Pandy a second to realize he was looking at himself.
Narcissus, she thought.
Jonny pulled himself away from his own image and raised his arms in triumph, running down the steps into the water.
When the water reached his waist, he stopped. Closing his eyes, he ducked straight under, emerging a second later. He took a breath as the water sluiced off the smooth surface of his body.
His chest rose as he raised his palms to his face and tilted his visage. His profile was poised against the deep blue water. Dark. Unknowable. And just out of reach.
Pandy wondered if he knew she was watching him.
As if sensing her presence, he opened his eyes and jerked his head in her direction.
His eyes widened slightly.
And then he smiled at her knowingly, as if they shared a secret.
Pandy slipped back behind the French door.
On the car ride home, Edith couldn’t stop talking about how furious Pope was at Jonny. Pandy, who was feeling no pain, laughed giddily. Edith asked Pandy if she found Jonny attractive, convinced that Jonny was interested in her. The Senator chimed in. “If you want him, take him,” he exhorted to Pandy, referring to Jonny as if he were a stuffed animal. The Senator then held up his hand and balled it into a fist. “But if you get him, don’t stop.”
“Don’t stop what?” Pandy asked.
The Senator shook his fist in front of Pandy’s face. “Squeezing,” he said. When Pandy continued to look confused, he flexed his fingers. “His balls,” the Senator said. “Don’t ever stop squeezing his balls.”
Pandy woke up on Monday morning to discover that Page Six had run with the item about how she and the Senator had been spotted together in Palm Beach and were rumored to be dating. Pandy shook her head; it was the kind of thing that would be quickly forgotten. Then her phone rang.