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

me, Beth’s just Beth. Tommy met her in college, long before she started presenting the news.”

“Tommy didn’t do too badly for himself then.”

“Whenever he didn’t feel like it, I always assured him he would thank me for being such an accomplished dancer later and guess what? Mom was right.”

Quinn was relieved they could share their first genuine laugh of the evening. She’d needed that much more than a sip of liquor. The stiffness in her spine gave way a little.

“Beth’s lovely, in case you’re wondering. She works long hours, though. Ethan was barely two months old when she went back to work.” Maya shook her head. “But I realized years ago there’s no point telling young people that they shouldn’t work themselves into such a frenzy. Tommy and Beth don’t listen to me when it comes to that. At least Ethan has two very doting grandmothers. Between Belinda and me, I think we might end up raising that boy.”

“That should make for another excellent dancer in the Mercer family.” Quinn loved how Maya lit up even more when she talked about her family.

“You should have seen their wedding dance.” A radiant smile burst onto Maya’s face. “I couldn’t believe it when Tommy came to me for help.”

“How long have they been married?”

“It’ll be three years soon.”

“Three years? Tommy was only twenty-five when he married Beth?” Quinn had never before in her life felt old, let alone past her prime, but she did now. Compared to Tommy, who was married to Beth freaking Robbins, Quinn was a loser at all things romance, what with her four-year affair with a married woman just having ended.

“He was nineteen when they met. They hardly rushed into it.”

“And you get the joys of being a super young grandmother.” And a super hot one.

Maya nodded. “I should probably tell Tommy and Beth about, um, me dating women soon. It’s like a reverse coming out.”

“That’s not what you said last week.”

“I know, but… things can change quickly in this city.” A soft smile bloomed on Maya’s lips.

“Your date went that well?”

“It’s not just how the date went or how lovely Beverly is.” Maya peered into her cocktail glass. “I stopped by Tommy’s before I met up with Beverly and I felt like a fraud keeping something like that from the people I love the most. It didn’t sit right with me.”

“Just tell them, Maya. What have you got to lose?”

“It’s surprisingly difficult to defy your child’s expectations of you like that. Tommy might never see me the same way again.”

“I’m trying to imagine Mom or Dad telling me they’re gay, but I can’t really see it,” Quinn said.

Maya chuckled. “Oh, god. Can you imagine Brooke coming out to you?”

“It’s not possible. My mom, she’s…” Quinn could only shake her head.

“Did she know about you and Morgan?”

“She knew about her, but for obvious reasons Morgan never accompanied me to Thanksgiving or Christmas at home. She had her own family to be with.”

“That must have been hard.”

Only a permanent state of semi-broken-heartedness, Quinn thought. But she hadn’t come here to wallow in self-pity so she kept that thought to herself. “It was my own choice also.” She waggled her eyebrows. “According to Morgan, the situation was quite convenient for me as well. I still don’t really get what she meant by that.”

“She was probably just lashing out.” Maya tilted her head. “Or do you think it was part of the attraction?”

“I don’t know.” Quinn shook her head. “I’ll figure it out some time.”

Maya shot her a soft smile. “I’ve always remembered something you told me ten years ago. I don’t know why it has stuck with me, but it has.” Maya paused. “You said you couldn’t afford a therapist to figure out your mommy issues.”

“Oh Christ.” Quinn gave an embarrassed chuckle. “Did I really say that?”

Maya nodded.

“I must have said a lot of things that weekend.”

“It wasn’t really so much about what you said, but how you paraded around my garden in that skimpy bikini.”

“I was young and reckless back then.” Quinn could feel how the conversation was taking a turn—very much in the direction she wanted it to go. She hoped to be fully back on her game soon. “That being said, ten years down the line, given the chance, I’d do exactly the same.”

Maya cast her a quick glance, then looked away. She took a sip, then cut her eyes back to Quinn. “Since seeing you, more memories have been coming back to me. Like that tattoo on your belly.” Maya looked at the tattoos on Quinn’s wrists.

“Even though I was still quite young when I got that one, I’ve never regretted it for one second.”

“A great topic of conversation, I imagine.”

“Not just conversation.” Quinn circled a finger over the rim of her glass.

“Can I get you any more drinks, ladies?” The server had appeared out of nowhere at the worst possible moment.

Maya studied her empty glass, then looked at Quinn. Quinn waited for Maya’s lead.

“Why not,” Maya said and beamed the server a wide smile. “Quinn?”

“Same, please.” Quinn didn’t care about the fruitiness of her cocktail any longer. She just wanted to get back to their conversation. But when the server had gone, so had the intensity of what they’d been saying before. A short silence fell.

“You’re dressed very formally tonight.” Quinn took the opportunity to inspect Maya’s perfectly tailored suit again.

“We had a parents thing at the academy earlier for which we were asked to dress ‘businesslike’.” Maya sat up a little straighter and pulled at the hem of her sleeve.

“Businesslike agrees with you.”

“Thank you.” For the first time, Maya looked her straight in the eye. It was a look Quinn could most certainly work with.

Chapter 21

Maya gazed into Quinn’s blue eyes. What was it about her that obliterated every last one of Maya’s boundaries as though they might as well not exist? And why-oh-why did it feel a million times more exciting to sit across from Quinn than it did from Beverly?

Maya