Friends With Way Too Many Benefits (35 page)

He reached down to her and she stood. She moved into his arms and they kissed, it was a long, deep kiss. Scooping her up under her rear, he pulled her close and they held each other for a long time as the water heater finally surrendered, turning from lukewarm to cold as it sprayed on his back.

Sitting in his office, Brian watched the security monitor feed from court fourteen where Amanda Joseph was in the midst of a tennis lesson from this tall grumpy-looking guy he hadn't yet had the pleasure to meet. Uri Karinkokof was brought in by the studio and had worked previously with Kirsten Dunst when she was preparing for her role in the film
Wimbledon
. In fact, now that he thought about it, he hadn't really been introduced to Miss Joseph either. After taking a sip of water, he figured being the owner of the club and everything, it was his responsibility to be sure his special guests had everything they needed— at least that's what he kept telling himself.

As he neared the court, he passed one of the A-list actress's entourage as she scurried in the opposite direction.

In a thick Ukrainian accent, Brian heard the instructor boom, "No! No! No! We've been over this again and again and you keep falling back to the same patterns."

Brian arrived on the edge of the court as Amanda, looking gorgeous dressed in a short pink tennis skirt and tight white shirt with her hair pulled back said, "I really don't understand what I'm doing wrong."

"Here watch this." Uri stood tall at the baseline, tossed the ball up high and blasted a perfect high arcing, slice serve. "You see?"

"Oh, okay, I, uh—"

"Now you," he commanded.

"All right."

Brian stepped onto the court for a closer look as Amanda nervously bounced the ball once then the second time she sent it down it hit off her foot and headed directly to Brian.

Uri groaned, and turning away from her placed his hands over his face as Brian picked up the ball.

Amanda sighed, then her eyes met Brian's as he smiled and tossed it back to her. They shared a "what-the-hell-is-this-guy's-problem' look before she said, "Thanks."

Brian returned a nod then made eye contact with Uri who gave him a tired look.

Smitten, the club co-owner watched closely as his Hollywood crush got in position at the baseline, tossed the ball up and hit it badly, sending it to the bottom of the net.

Uri grumbled, "No, that's not it. Did you actually watch me?"

"Yes, I did." She grumbled in frustration.

Walking toward Amanda, Brian began, "Hello, I own the club and I just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed."

"Hi, yes, thank you." Amanda smiled.

Uri gave him a nod. "We're fine."

Brian said, "If you don't mind, I think all you need to do is change your toss."

"If you think you can fix this then as you American's say knock
youself
out." Uri folded his arms, scowling.

Brian stood a few steps from her. "I think you just need to toss the ball up a little further back and just a little higher. I mean, everything else you're doing looks good."

"Okay, all right." She flashed him a smile.

After tucking a stray blonde hair behind her ear, she moved into position, bounced the ball twice, tossed it up following Brian's instructions and hit a decent serve which landed just a few inches outside the service box.

"I did it." She smiled at her accomplishment then returned her attention to Brian.

"Finally some progress." Uri rolled his eyes.

"Great, now just roll your wrist over the ball right at the top of your stroke and that should do it." Brian put his hand out. "But first let me see your grip."

She held her racquet grip out for inspection and he frowned a bit. "I would rotate just a bit more. Most people use a Continental grip, but I think it's easier using a grip that sort of a modified Eastern."

"Okay."

Taking hold of her wrist, he adjusted the racquet in her hand as they stood just a foot apart. He glanced down to her and they shared a smile.

"Yeah, that feels better actually."

"Try it again."

She returned to the baseline, took a deep breath then hit a near-perfect spin serve.

"Oh my God." She gave him a wide smile. "You are a life saver."

"No, you almost had it. You just needed a little adjustment."

Turning and walking away, Uri said in a sarcastic tone, "Good, now hit a hundred of those and we'll move on to your disastrous backhand." Uri plopped down on a bench and pulled out his phone.

Her jaw dropped, dejected. Brian shot the asshole a look that could kill.

Brian said, "Well, I think you're on your way so I'll..."

"Wait, what's your name?"

"Sorry, it's Brian Nash. I own the club with my brother, Jim."

She smiled. "Nice to meet you Brian. I'm Amanda."

He grinned, shyly. "I know who you are Ms. Joseph. I'm actually married to Jillian Grayson who wrote the novel the movie is based on."

"Oh, wow, yes, Jillian. That's great. Great. And, uh... Call me Amanda."

"Well, it was nice to meet you Amanda." He gave her a gushing smile. "I have to say, I love your movies."

"Thank you."

"Oh, and your TV show… watched it every week and now we find ourselves watching it in syndication. I mean, it's on constantly. It still holds up. Very, very funny."

"I know, they keep sending the checks." She smiled.

Looking down to his feet, he shrugged. "I even bought the PlayStation
Twentysomething
Trivia Game
. My wife laughed at me, but we play it and um, you know..." He looked her in the eye. "Sorry, I'm just rambling. You're obviously busy and I, uh—"

"Oh, I play that game too. It didn't sell that well, but you never know with those things."

"Yeah..." He gave her a hesitant look. "I think I bought it in the five dollar bin."

"Wow, five whole dollars." She put on an insulted expression.

"Sorry."

"No, I'm kidding."

He took a few steps backward. "Again nice to meet you."

"Brian, do you also teach tennis?"

"Yeah, I do… but mostly I teach kids."

"You're probably super-busy aren't you?"

"No, not super-busy," He stammered. "I mean, I wouldn't use the word super, but I do have things to do. It's not like I have nothing to do… but it's not like I'm overwhelmed or anything either."

She giggled. "So basically you're saying you are free?"

"Well, yeah."

"Could I get you to wait here for just one minute?"

"Sure."

Holding her head high, she walked with purpose over to Uri who was sitting in a chair and typing away on his smartphone. Brian watched as she said something he couldn't quite make out to the smug tennis professional.

Uri gave her an irritated look. "You joking me."

"I not joking you," she replied imitating his accent. "Now go."

"I've already been paid in full."

"Great then there's nothing more to discuss."

Picking up his bag in a huff, Uri shot Brian a dirty look before storming off the court.

Amanda returned to the club owner wearing a bright smile. "So should we keep working on the serve or—"

"Wait, um, what are you talking about?"

"You're my new trainer."

"I am?"

"You said you teach and you're free, so..." she bounced on her heels with her eyes widened.

"Yeah, but are you sure about this, I'm not—"

"Is it about the money? I think it only pays five thousand a day. That's not much is it?" She frowned.

"No, that's, wow..."

"We had two more days scheduled. If that's not enough, I'm sure that—"

"No. No, it's not the money. I'm not sure that I can, um…"

"I just fired Uri, so don't let me down now."

"I didn't know you were going to do that. Sorry..." He shook his head, flustered. "I just need to make a quick call first, but are you sure you want me to work with you?"

Placing her hand on his arm, she shook her head. "I've never been more positive of anything in my life. I was this close to hitting that asshole over the head with my racquet."

"He was kind of a jerk." He cringed.

"That's an understatement. And can you believe he's never seen any of my movies. I mean, what's he been doing living in a cave or something?"

"I can't believe he didn't see
Consenting Adultery
, you were great in that. You never get to play the villain, right? You were just perfect, sexy, yet mean." Smiling, he nodded his head. "Now that was a funny movie."

"I loved that part."

"Oh, and what's the movie where the parents die and they leave you the kid, um…"

"
Life's Little
Suprises
."

"Yes that's it." His eyes brightened.

She frowned. "Now that one didn't do so well at the box office."

"It should have."

"I think so too. My wife, um..." Suddenly the smile faded from his face. "...I did mention I was married to Jillian, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah, she and I watch that probably every six months. We love it."

"The kid in that was amazing." She smiled.

"I know. Great movie."

"Well, we're hopefully going to make a great movie here. That is... if I can learn how to play this game." She gave him a hopeful smile.

"Right. Right." He walked backward awkwardly. "Okay, just let me make a quick call."

"Sure."

As she sipped from her water bottle, he stole a glance at her legs in that skirt— he was married, but he wasn't dead and she was Amanda Fucking Jo. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he turned around and headed off the court.

In his office, Brian cringed holding the phone to his ear.

Jillian answered on the second ring. "Hello."

"It's me."

"Hey, how's your day going?"

"Um, good. You remember how you've got them filming at the club?"

"Yes."

"Well, Amanda, I mean, Miss Joseph sorta fired her tennis coach and she wants me to fill in."

"What?"

"She wants me to take over as her trainer."

"How did this happen?"

"I was walking by the court and they were having some sort of fight. The guy is a real asshole. Well, I was simply giving her a tip and suddenly she was doing better and the next thing I know she fired him."

"Uh-huh."

"I think I could really help her and she seems nice and, you know, I figured anything I could do to help the movie helps you, right?"

"Well, I—"

"You're not worried about the crazy free pass thing, are you?" He chuckled.

"No, of course not."

"It's only two days total, I think. I'm sure just a couple hours here and there. I feel bad for her, I think she's really in a bind now, so what do you say? I mean, if you have any problem with it at all, I'll just go tell her she needs to find someone else."

"No. No, that's okay. I'm completely fine with it."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Great. Love you."

"Love you too."

He hung up the phone and headed back to court fourteen wearing a wide grin thinking, how many people on the planet get an opportunity to teach tennis to a gorgeous Hollywood actress? The answer, not many.

The next day inside a car parked in front of the house location, Natalie sat with Chance as cameras and lighting equipment were adjusted just outside the vehicle.

Matt, the assistant director announced, "Two minutes."

Paul walked to the backyard and met up with the set director who was arranging chairs and setting up for the next shot. Suddenly Paul's phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he discovered a text message from his assistant including a picture of one of the walls of his office and his prized movie poster collection. He narrowed his eyes and pressed his fingers together on the iPhone screen then spread them apart, zooming in on the image— a poster from
Harold and Maude
.