Dancing Barefoot by Amber Lea Easton Page B

inside of her lip. A week ago her life had been simple and routine. Safe. Predictable. She missed it already. 
    She met Ava's gaze once the y'd stepped onto the elevator. Ava knew things about her, secrets revealed over wine and pasta. What did she know now? 
    “ Jacques told me about seeing you.”
    “ So you said.” Be casual, aloof, cool.
    “ He stormed around his apartment, acted like a maniac.” Ava rolled her eyes upward. “That’s when I knew I had to see you for myself.”
    “Why is that?”  She averted her gaze, unable to relax.     
    “You know why. "
    “I have no idea why. So many reasons...hard to pick just one.” She blushed, suddenly wondering exactly how much detail Jacques had gone into about their encounter.
    “ I suppose so...things are complicated between the two of you...”
    "An understatement."
    "The chemistry between you two has always been electrifying."
    "I can't believe he told you about that." Her face burned. She stared at the descending numbers a nd gritted her teeth together. She needed to find him and tell him to shut the fuck up. "It was a one time thing, a mistake, he called it."
    "Really?" A satisfied smile spread across Ava's face.  "But the passion..."
    "My God, what's wrong with him? Why does he feel the need to tell everyone he sees about every detail of our lives? He's ruining everything." Tap, tap, went her foot against the floor of the elevator. "Why is he suddenly Mr. Reporter? I'm not doing it, by the way. I know what he's up to."
    Ava shifted her Gucci bag from one arm to the other and leaned her shoulder against the wall. "You need to do it."
    "Him and his big ideas. No way. Not happening. Is that really why you're here? To twist my arm into cooperating with him? You've wasted a trip."
    "You both are so dramatic, everything is black and white, so extreme."  Ava laughed, the sound eliciting an answering smile on Jessica's lips. "The sex must be amazing."
    " Yeah, it was mind blowing, okay? But that's just us, how it is, and...you know. He said it was mistake so that's what it was. One night of regret." She blew a strand of hair from her face without looking away from the numbers. "I can't believe he told you all of that."
    "Actually, he told me nothing. I have no idea what you are talking about regarding his plan and cooperating with him, but now I'm dying of curiosity. As for the sex, well, Jacques and I are close but some subjects are off limits." Ava tossed her head back and laughed loud. "I've missed you, Jessica.  So dramatic, just like Jacques."
    She bit back a retort, after all now she'd been the one to lay it all out there. Great. She knew from experience that Ava was the last person you wanted having ammunition against you. Devious, th at defined Ava Sinclair. Look at how she'd so easily wrangled information from her in only a few minutes. She shook her head in self-disgust.
    "Now I know why he returned to New York later than planned , he spent the night with you. Tell me," Ava leaned close, "how long did the argument last before you two were all over each other again?"
    “ That's enough, I've said too much as it is.” Her panties melted to her skin at the memory of him ripping her tank top into pieces. 
    “Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you had married him?”
    She must have been very bad in a former lifetime. “We would be sisters, for one.” 
    “That is a good thing, yes? A benefit?” Ava’s smile widened. Unlike Jacques, no dimples appeared. 
    Shoes seemed too tight for feet that seemed to swell during the past five minutes. “I really don’t have time to play what-if games with you.” 
    “No? You have no feelings left for him then? You won’t care if you never see him again, if he marries someone else? I suppose it's good that you have moved on, very healthy of you.” Ava sashayed ahead of her when the elevator doors opened to the lobby.
    Marry someone else? The floor tilted beneath her feet. He had left the ring,