Learning the Hard Way by Bridget Midway

Author:Bridget Midway [Midway, Bridget]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-11-12T16:00:00+00:00

* * * *

Ava stared at Troy as though waiting for him to say something, either acknowledge that he knew, or lie and say he didn’t deduce that from their short exchange.

“Look, your dating past is your business.” He said what he knew she wanted to hear. The man inside him that desperately wanted to date her wanted to hear more.

“We saw each other for a couple of years and he never asked me to marry him. He didn’t want me. So I come to this party with you knowing he would be here.”

“You wanted to make him jealous?” Troy’s heart sank.

Ava shook her head. “No. I wanted him to see that I’m okay without him.”

“You’re right, and I don’t think you needed me to prove that.”

“That’s nice to hear. But here I am. I ran away. I let him get to me. He sees me as a coward.” She covered her face with her hands.

“He also called you hard working. If he asks you about your early departure, tell him you had some work to do.”

She laughed with a snort. “Right. That’ll work. He also commented on my failed love life.”

“Your personal life is none of his business and should have no bearing on your job.” He moved closer to her. “Besides, you’re a vital, sexy, single woman. You’re allowed to date.”

The expression on Ava’s face softened. “Ten years. In that time, I’ve gone out with two men.” She glanced at him. “Three.” She curved her body around to give him her full attention. “I brought an escort to a work function.”

“No one knows that but you.” He wished she wouldn’t allow that thought to enter her mind.

“And you.” Ava pointed at him.

“I told you I’m not going to say a word. I won’t even hold it against you if I flunk out of your class.”

She laughed without a snort this time. “What you must think of me right now.”

“You want to know what I think?” He rested his hand on her knee. Troy decided to keep talking before she smacked his hand away. “I think of you now what I thought about you the first time I saw you dancing in your office.”

She covered her eyes again. Troy held her hand and brought it down so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes.

“I think you’re sexy, smart, and a woman who knows what she wants.” His thumb brushed over her thigh. “By the way, counting this date, I’ve been with three women in the last ten years, too.” That wasn’t a lie. Troy didn’t do the love-em-and-leave-em routine that Gross loved so much. He thrived on commitment.

She shook her head. “I find that hard to believe with what you do.”

He had to think about her statement for a moment before it hit him about his situation for the night. “Oh, this is my first night doing this.”

“So I’m your first.” Ava nodded and smiled. “You seem so in control.” She ran one hand over the other. “I like what you did.

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