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I reached for Bash’s hand and he gave mine a squeeze. After that, we all fell right back into a mix of conversations while drinking and eating and laughing. This was the exact kind of decompression that I needed—plus seeing my handsome blue-eyed lover again.
His foot was resting against mine now and we kept stealing glances at each other—and grinning. I could feel the heat rising up through my body not only because of the gin flowing through my veins but also because of the sexual tension between Zac and me. It was so thick and sultry and begging for release. There was a chance of that happening later this evening at my house. Zac had texted me earlier to let me know that his parents were keeping Malcolm tonight with plans to take him to the zoo again tomorrow. I just didn’t know how Zac was going to handle matters with Avery. I’d know soon enough, though.
I noticed Zac checking his cellphone. It was the third time that he’d done it while we’d all been sitting here. Someone was texting him, apparently, and while reading each text Zac’s eyebrows pulled into a knot. He appeared irritated and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was Avery who’d texted him, but he hadn’t replied, just slipped his phone back into his pants pocket.
I was listening to David and Jennifer’s conversation about one of the cases that David was working on when Brooke grabbed my hand underneath the table and squeezed it. Then she said, “Zac, Avery is here and coming this way.”
He looked over his shoulder and sighed, then turned back around and glanced at everyone sitting here.
“Please excuse me,” he said.
We all nodded, and Zac stood up and started walking in Avery’s direction. I kept my eyes on him as he made it over to her, then saw her reach out to touch his arm. I couldn’t see Zac’s face because his back was to me but his rigid posture said it all. He didn’t want Avery touching him and he certainly didn’t want her to be here at Mystic Bar.
He and Avery kept talking to each other, and then the two of them started walking toward the table. Zac stared straight at me the whole time too. This was about to get interesting.
“Hi, Brooke, Bash, and all you other attorneys,” Avery said while fake smiling at us.
Everyone told her hello but me and now, she was looking at me.
“I don’t believe I know you,” she said, canting her head to the side.
I fake smiled then, got up from my chair, walked around the table and came to a stop directly in front of Avery.
“No, you don’t know me. I’m Stevie Sinclair,” I said, extending my hand to shake hers.
She slowly took hold of my hand while looking me up and down. “I’m Avery Buchanan—Zac’s wife.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Avery.”
“Are you part of Brooke’s group or just a friend?”
I kept fake smiling and I also kept shaking her hand as tightly as I could. “I’m part of Brooke’s group and we’re all good friends.”
“Oh, so you’re an assistant D.A. then?” Avery pulled her hand out of mine and stretched out her fingers.
“Correct. I handle C.P.S. cases.”
“Well, that’s great. I feel so bad for abused kids.”
“So do I. I also feel bad for adults who get abused. I legally help them too,” I said, glancing at Zac standing next to her.
The expression on his face wasn’t an “oh shit” one like it was when I’d run into him and Avery at Whole Foods. Right now, he had a resolved look, as if he’d accepted this tense situation for exactly what it was. There was nothing that he could do about this situationorthe way that I’d chosen to handle his joke of a wife. Zac was simply standing here: watching, listening, and waiting to see what happened next.
I was staring hard at Avery now and could feel my heart pounding. So much, I wanted to punch her in her bitch-face because she deserved it. I laughed to myself because my mother’s genetics were showing in me at the moment—and I was proud. Proud to have made who I was very clear to Avery and also proud to still be fake smiling at her despite my anger. She was so damn uncomfortable.
She looked away from me and turned her attention to everyone sitting at the table. “I guess I’ll go and let you get back to your Friday night fun. I only stopped by because I wondered if my husband was here and sure enough, he is,” she said, cutting her eyes up at Zac. “I’ve been texting him and he’s been ignoring my texts.”
“Come on. You’re leaving now, Avery,” Zac said. Then he grabbed her arm but she jerked it away and gave him a go-to-hell look.
“I’ll walk myself out. I don’t need you.”
Avery looked at me again and I was still staring hard at her.
“I just thought of something. Your first name—Stevie,” she said.
“What about it?”
“It’s unusual. I’ve heard of only two other people with your name: Stevie Nicks and a woman employed by the Dallas zoo who hangs out at the aquarium, calls herself a mermaid but doesn’t have a tail, and confuses the hell out of children.”
