Page 78 of Ace My Heart

He laughed into my hair. “I’m glad I’m not your brother too, Stinky.”

I didn’t know how to interpret that comment, so I decided not to try.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

In The City Of Romance

Paris. The city where people supposedly fall in love. You’d think that some of that atmosphere might have rubbed off on me.

You’d be wrong. I was about as far from feeling romantic as it was possible to be.

Playing on clay is in my opinion the most exhausting tennis you can play. You have to work twice as hard to get the same result as you would on pretty much any other surface. And I had spent the last ninety minutes working my arse off. Sweat dripped from me as I returned hopefully the last ball to Gordana Slavanisovich.

Itwasthe last ball – a drop shot after a rally where I’d kept her out deep. She skidded for it on the slippery clay court and missed. I won the third set and the match.

The game ended to applause, and I wiped my forehead on my sweatband as I walked into the net to shake her hand.

“Vun day, Melanie Black, I vill beat you,” Gordana muttered to me as we clasped each other’s arms over the net. I smiled a little nervously at her – with her eastern European accent, it was hard to tell whether it was a joke or a threat. But she returned my smile pleasantly enough, so I guessed she meant it in a friendly way.

Joel was practically bursting with excitement when I arrived in the change room, where an ice bath was waiting for me. I strippeddown to my underwear and sunk into it, gasping a little at the temperature.

“Great job, Mel! You were awesome out there!” He was grinning from ear to ear.

I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, Joel, you’d think I’d just won Wimbledon or something!”

He laughed at me. “Stink, if you think this is enthusiastic, wait till youdowin Wimbledon!”

I smiled, starting to relax as the iciness took over.

“Okay, I doubt I’ll ever win Wimbledon, but thank you for your support. It’s just thrilling!” I couldn’t help the teasing tone that slipped into my voice.

He sat on the bench beside the ice bath. “You know what’sreallythrilling?” he asked, his voice deep, “The thought of how hard your nipples would be right about now.”

I crossed my arms over my boobs under the water. My nipples were as hard as rocks, and throbbing just from his words, his gaze.

“You are disgusting, Joel!” I snapped, but relief coursed through me. Things had been a bit off between us since our fight in Rome. Somehow, his teasing innuendo comforted me, reassuring me that everything could go back to normal.

“I think I’ve figured out why you’ve never had a long-term girlfriend,” I continued, keeping my tone cheeky. “It’s because you only know how to talk dirty and don’t have a clue how to romance a girl.”

Joel grinned widely. “That sounds like a challenge!”

I groaned and hopped out of the bath, gritting my teeth and stripping off my wet underwear, running the shower to a steamy temperature. Joel watched me from his seat. I glared at him.

“You know, Joel, it’s kind of annoying that you’ve seen me naked loads of times, and I’veneverseen you naked. It’s a bit of a double standard, don’t you think?”

Joel stood up and stripped off his shirt, one eyebrow raised and a smirk curving his lips. “Should we rectify this glaring double standard?” He started to undo the drawstring on his shorts.

I froze at the sight of his broad, shirtless chest, my coreclenching at the thought of him under the hot water beside me, naked. I came to my senses just in time.

“No! Don’t be gross!”

Joel huffed out a little laugh under his breath, and tied his shorts back up, pulling his shirt back on over his head.

“Is it alright if I take off for a bit, Stink? Are you right to find your way back to the hotel?” he asked, leaning against the wall and continuing to stare at me disconcertingly as I towelled dry. My head jerked towards him.

“Why? You want to go find some French hussy to bang?” I asked sharply. Joel’s smile widened.

“Let me check the weather first. I can only go looking for a hole if there’s a storm predicted.”

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