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‘Clara, this isn’t about you, or Graham,’ said Dominic rudely, making Hannah wonder what the exact nature of their relationship was. ‘You two are just making up the numbers. This is all about me and Hannah.’
‘Fine, three thousand euros,’ said Hannah, holding out her hand for Dominic to shake. He took it, and Hannah silently prayed that Rob didn’t fall over and break an ankle.
‘Done,’ said Dominic triumphantly. ‘I hope you’re good for it.’
‘Of course,’ said Hannah. Rob glanced at her, as if he was wondering where in her tennis outfit she’d tucked three grand he didn’t know about.
‘Is everything OK?’ asked Barnaby, appearing at their side and casting concerned glances at all of them. ‘We’re all getting a bit thirsty over there.’
‘Sorry,’ said Hannah, returning to the table to grab the jugs of sangria. ‘We’re just coming.’
‘Can I speak to you for a minute?’ asked Rob.
‘I’ll take those,’ said Barnaby tactfully, extracting the jugs from Hannah’s hands. He followed Clara over to the table as Dominic gave Hannah a wink and headed into the shade of the lemon trees to light a cigarette.
‘What?’ said Hannah.
‘Come with me,’ said Rob, taking Hannah’s hand and leading her into Joyce’s house.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked.
Rob said nothing, hurrying through the kitchen and into the front hall. He opened the door to the downstairs bathroom and turned to pull her in, but she stopped in the doorway and held on to the frame.
‘Why are you trying to lock me in a bathroom?’
‘Because I really need to kiss you. Right now. Please.’
Hannah laughed nervously. ‘Why now, specifically?’
‘I mean, I’ve been needing to kiss you all day,’ said Rob, sliding his hands around her waist and making her feel like she couldn’t breathe. ‘Actually for the past two weeks. But that was quite a performance, and now I’m all hot and bothered.’
‘You’re no better than Dominic,’ laughed Hannah, peeling his arms away and holding firmly to the doorframe. ‘But the answer is no. I’m not sharing our first kiss in Joyce’s bathroom. Someone hasn’t flushed the loo, for a start.’ She nodded at the floating turd in the toilet, and Rob let go.
‘Fine, this was a bad idea,’ he said. ‘But just to be clear, I will always be better than Dominic. At everything.’
‘I’m very glad to hear it,’ she smiled. ‘Now can we go and win this match?’ She could feel the flush of heat through her chest and wished she could tell him how much she wanted him. But they also deserved better than this, and within a few hours they’d have said their heartfelt goodbyes to Barnaby and Scrumpy and be on their own again. She wanted the moment to be right, and they could wait a bit longer.
‘OK,’ said Rob. ‘Let’s get this done and then find somewhere to celebrate.’ He gave her a look that she felt in the pit of her stomach. If you could win a match on pure lust, right now she felt like she could take on both the Williams sisters at once.
‘What the fuck is this shit?’ hissed Dominic as they changed ends at five games to four. ‘How come you suddenly know which end of a racquet is which?’
‘It’s just taken me a while to get warmed up,’ shrugged Rob. ‘And there’s three grand on the line, so it’s absolutely in my interests to dig deep.’
‘This is a fucking scam,’ said Dominic. ‘You’ve totally played me.’
‘No,’ said Rob firmly. ‘This was never about me, remember? Clara and I are just making up the numbers, this is all about you and Hannah.’
‘Until YOU suddenly discovered you could hit a ball,’ spat Dominic.
‘Well, that’s your fault for thinking you could win this match all on your own, isn’t it?’ Rob gave Dominic a broad grin, then strode off to join Hannah on the baseline.
‘Are you going to get into a fight?’ she asked.
‘Nothing to do with me,’ he said. ‘This is your wager.’
‘Shall we finish him off, or take it to a tie break?’
‘Let’s finish him off,’ said Rob. ‘We’ve got other places to be.’
