Читать книгу Match Pointe - Indigo Bloome - Страница 23

The entire match lasted a little over an hour – much to the disappointment of the crowd, some of whom had paid a small fortune just to witness a wipeout.

There was no opportunity for Eloise to find Noah and offer her condolences on losing so catastrophically in straight sets. Realistically, she had no idea how she could even have attempted to locate him, given the security around the stadium. Since her brief conversation with Caesar she had sensed he was watching her every move, so she didn’t even dare send a message to Noah in case he showed up and aroused Caesar’s suspicions further.

Caesar’s people ensured she was escorted directly back to the hotel to await further instructions. Once again, she felt like an object in Caesar’s world – a world where he oversaw her every move until the transition was complete. She was sure that, had she attempted to leave the premises, she would have been prevented.

She tried to call Noah when she was finally alone but went straight through to his voicemail. She left a message telling him she was sorry but reassuring him that it was only the first of many grand-slam finals to come. She couldn’t help but think that perhaps eliminating smoking from his lifestyle might guarantee better success, but she didn’t dare say it!

After meeting up with Ivan for a platonic yet warm goodbye, she was informed of the request for her to be in the hotel boardroom at 9pm to meet Stephan Nordstrom.

Eloise felt like she was in limbo. So to keep her thoughts and emotions at bay, she went for a long swim in the hotel pool. After which, she prepared herself, dressing simply and elegantly in a black cocktail dress and heels, her hair pulled into a low chignon.

At 8.50pm there was a sharp knock on the door of her suite. A suited man, no doubt one of Caesar’s entourage, silently escorted her to the boardroom. The butterflies in her stomach were as violent as they’d been before her first performance as Principal.

She sat demurely with her eyes lowered while Caesar’s lawyers negotiated with Stephan’s. As the paperwork was signed and exchanged, every fibre of her being could sense Stephan’s wild excitement as he courteously pulled back her chair from the boardroom table. As she stood, she looked up to meet his intense gaze as his steely-blue eyes feasted on her petite form and the dynamic between them intensified. Stephan’s dominance on the court was nothing compared to meeting the man himself – and it took her breath away, literally – as the electricity between them was undeniable to everyone in the room.

‘So, tomorrow morning, then, I shall see you at the Waldorf?’ His eyebrows rose in question, as if not quite believing this extraordinary situation to be real.

‘Yes, sir,’ she responded quietly, knowing even as she uttered the words that her relationship with this Number One would be entirely different from her distant relations with Ivan.

‘I shall await your arrival with pleasure.’

A delicious shiver ricocheted to the core of her belly at the prospect of what was to come. If his words had that effect on her, then who knew what impact his touch might have …

As if sensing her body’s response, he guided her out the door with a sudden smile.

It was rare for Stephan to agree to a meeting straight after a match – particularly one involving his lawyers – but when Caesar’s letter had arrived requesting a private audience at Stephan’s earliest convenience, he’d accepted immediately. Since signing with The Edge, his success both on and off the court had grown exponentially. So Caesar was the last person he’d decline to meet; after all, Caesar was to tennis what the Pope was to Catholicism. However, to say Stephan was anything less than dumbfounded at the private discussion he’d had with the great man right before meeting Eloise would be a lie.

Stephan’s celebrations that evening after his third grand-slam victory were tinged with unexpected visions of what his future might hold given Caesar’s ‘bequest’ of Eloise Lawrance. Stephan had never been with a professional ballet dancer, but had he met one as exquisite as Eloise, he’d have rectified that situation immediately.

After he’d laid eyes on the enigmatic Eloise, the bevy of inane beauties who accompanied him for drinks at the hip Ling Ling Bar at Hakkasan Restaurant didn’t quite have the desired effect on his usually virile libido. Not that it seemed to bother the leggy blondes and brunettes, as long as the zesty martinis kept flowing between their ready lips and the eager photographers captured their image as they partied with the man who would adorn the front pages in the morning.

Two of them accompanied him back to his suite just beyond midnight. But instead of enjoying the ménage à trois as he usually would, Stephan found himself distracted by the sight of the milky limbs and innocent aquamarine eyes gazing at him from the portfolio Caesar had left with him. As soon as the girls had finished blowing him – a perfunctory experience at best – he called for Garry, who managed his security and his life, to escort them out. He and Garry exchanged a look that suggested Stephan would have no problem should Garry want to enjoy the sexual delights the ladies had to offer.

To the best of his understanding of Caesar’s proposition, Eloise would be on loan to him, for his personal use, so long as he retained the ATP ranking of Number One. Her role in his life was to be discussed and mutually agreed between them. A bizarre arrangement, but he had no wish to argue after their introduction last night.

For the first time in a very long time, he was excited about something other than tennis. It was no surprise that sleep came to him like a steam train after such an eventful day.