At Your Most Beautiful by Harper Bliss (best free ereader .TXT) 📗

sparked in Maya’s mind. Even though it had happened so long ago, Maya still felt guilty about it. It was the main reason why she had, slowly over the years, spent less and less time with Bill and Brooke. Being in their company made Maya so uncomfortable, she could no longer relax. Every time either one of them mentioned Quinn, Maya felt the weight of her secret, and she was convinced that her neighbors would somehow be able to read off her face what had happened between her and their daughter.

“Here you go.” Quinn deposited a steaming mug in front of her.

After she sat, she said, “I didn’t mean to go all emo on you earlier, by the way. Sorry about that.”

“That’s all right.” Maya picked up her coffee and inhaled the fragrant steam rising up from the mug. “Whatever happened to…” She remembered a lot from that night, but the name of Quinn’s previous ex escaped her.

“Do you mean Rachel?” Quinn asked.

Maya nodded.

“Hell if I know. I never saw her again. Something must have happened that summer that helped me move on.” She glanced at Maya over the rim of her cup. A silence fell.

That night hung heavy in the air between them. It was what simultaneously kept Maya glued to her seat and made her want to run away.

Quinn broke the silence first. “I never told anyone. As you asked.”

Maya arched up her eyebrows. “Really? Literally not one other person?”

Quinn gave a slow shake of the head. “I’ve always wanted to keep my promise to you. Maybe in honor of that night, which was… special.”

Heat rose in Maya’s cheeks and it wasn’t because of the hot cup of coffee she was holding. “I really appreciate that,” she managed to say.

“Did you tell anyone?”

“No.” Who would Maya have told? Her friends in Milbury? “Not a living soul.”

“It really has been our secret then.” A sparkle danced in Quinn’s eyes. “I wonder what will happen now that it’s being talked about again, after all these years.”

Maya chuckled. “It’s a treat to see you as well, Quinn. It’s good to know you’re doing so well, minus the blip in your love life, of course.”

“Fuck Morgan.” Quinn rolled her eyes. “As if she’s suddenly going to be happy with her massive bore of a husband.” She waved her hand about. “But let’s not go there again.”

“No more bartending for you?” Maya was more than happy to move on from the subject.

“My bartending days are well and truly over, but I do still very much like a party. That’s how I made my name as a photographer. I shot parties. Then I started messing around with the pictures in Photoshop. One thing led to another. And here I am today, photographing you.” She wiggled her fingers about. “I can’t wait to get started.” She tilted her head. “You do realize I’ll be looking at you with laser-like focus for a great many hours to come.”

Maya didn’t know what to say to that. She still felt a touch flustered.

“Perk of the job.” Quinn’s gaze on her softened. “You no longer own your dance school. That must have been a big change.”

“I mainly teach kids now, which I love, actually,” Maya said. “Considering that they’ve been put in dance class by their parents, most of them go at it with great enthusiasm, which is wonderful to work with. When it comes to certain dance steps, you can’t teach them young enough.”

“Acton’s very posh, though. Is that the only school you teach at?”

Maya nodded. “I don’t want to work full-time anymore. Nor do I want the responsibility of running my own business any longer. I’ve done that all my life.”

“Time to focus on yourself?”

“In a way.” Quinn had a way of asking questions that made Maya want to tell her things she should really keep to herself. That’s how trouble started. Maya knew that much from when she’d last spent time with Quinn. “I haven’t made this huge change in my life only to be Ethan’s granny.”

Quinn nodded and kept silent. The Quinn from all those years ago—the one who so shamelessly seduced Maya—would have taken the opportunity to insert some flirty banter here. But today, they weren’t flirting. In almost every respect, it felt like two old friends catching up. Almost, but not quite. Because they weren’t friends. They’d been lovers, albeit for one night only.

“When I was being coy earlier,” Maya started, because, apparently, when Quinn Hathaway was around, she couldn’t quite help herself. “When I didn’t want to say why else I decided to sell everything and move here…” Maya took a quick sip of coffee. “It’s because I wanted to, uh, explore dating women.” There. She’d said it. It wasn’t the first time, but admitting this to Quinn, who for all Maya knew might have sparked the whole thing, was a big deal to her. “It’s easier in the city.”

“I bet.” Quinn smiled warmly. “And? Have you had any luck on the NYC lesbian dating scene?”

“Well, I mean, it’s all apps now these days, isn’t it?” Maya mumbled.

“Yeah.” Quinn scrunched her lips together. “Which ones are you on?” She nodded as though something had occurred to her. “I must have missed you because after Morgan I changed my search parameters to below the age of fifty only.”

“Oh, Quinn. You do crack me up.” Maya had to grin.

“I haven’t really been looking, though,” Quinn admitted. “But how funny would it have been if I had seen you on Tinder?” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t have known what to do with myself, to be perfectly honest.”

They both chuckled although not solely out of mirth. Maya had a lot of nervous tension to release.

“I don’t search below the age of forty-five, for your information,” Maya said.

“Pity.” Quin fixed her gaze on Maya’s briefly, then looked away. “Have you been on any dates?”

“One since I moved here.” One date in seven months wasn’t overly industrious. “But I do have one lined up for this weekend.”

Quinn