Learning the Hard Way by Bridget Midway Read Free Book Online

sounded plausible. She delivered the message in a convincing manner. Something needed to prompt her love life again.
    A pause lingered before Ava spoke. “I do have to admit, Dee, you were right about something.”
    “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
    “You said I should get loose, let my hair down, dance in my office. It worked. As soon as I stripped down into that outfit and danced my butt off, the department head came to see me about the party.” Ava would leave out the part with Mr. Troy Whitten.
    “That’s great.”
    Ava heard the applause through the phone.
    “Way to go.” Vonda echoed.
    “But there’s more, isn’t it?” Leave it to a detective to see through Ava’s smokescreen.
    Ava cleared her throat and undid the rest of the buttons on her shirt. “A man came to my office.”
    Both friends released a juvenile howling noise that raised the hairs on the back of Ava’s neck.
    “And was this man doable?” Dina asked.
    “Dee.” Vonda tsked.
    “Hey, I can ask.”
    “Completely,” Ava said as the two women bickered.
    “So did you ask him out?” Dina inquired.
    “Actually, he asked me out for coffee.” Ava rubbed the back of her neck.
    “Ohh, bring him to Vonda’s place so we can take a look at him.” Dina giggled like a schoolgirl.
    “That’s where he wanted to take me.”
    “Wanted? What do you mean?” Dina pressed.
    “I turned him down.” Ava’s stomach twitched at her admission.
    The silence on the phone almost sounded like every one of the ladies disconnected the call at once.
    “Why the hell did you do that?” Dina couldn’t hide her irritation in her voice.
    “He’s one of my new students. I’m not going down that path again.” Ava shook her head.
    No matter how incredibly sexy she found Troy Whitten, she wouldn’t be repeating the same mistake she’d made with Richard, even if Troy dropped out of her class.
    “I can dig it, Ava. Stick to your guns.” Vonda’s voice softened. “But I do have an idea.”
    “What’s that?” Ava stood and undid her skirt.
    “Escort service.”
    Dina groaned.
    “No, no way,” Ava began. “For the same reason I can’t just date some indiscriminate guy or one of my students, I shouldn’t go out with a paid escort. It’s sleazy.”
    “As someone in law enforcement, I would discourage you from using a service like that.”
    “Thank you.” Ava imagined the self-satisfied smile on Dina’s face right now.
    “However,” Dina paused for heightened drama, “there are reputable services out there where the guys aren’t all on the make, trying to bag a rich, lonely, desperate woman.”
    “Wow. Thanks. Makes me feel good.” Ava stared at her reflection in her floor-length mirror. Wearing her standard high-waist white panties and minimizer bra, she did fit the profile of a spinster.
    “When is this shindig?” Vonda asked.
    “Next Saturday night. Why?”
    “Okay, Dee, here’s what we’ll do. You and I will find the guy for Ava and we’ll set everything up.” The excitement returned to Vonda’s voice.
    “No, no. Don’t do that.” Ava shook her head as she resumed her seated position on her bed.
    “Why not? If we arrange it and things go south, you won’t be implicated. If anyone finds out about him, you can say honestly that you were set up on the date by your friends and had no idea what the guy did for a living. It’s the truth.” Dina knew how to weave a good, if not honest, story.
    “I don’t know.” Ava held the phone to her ear using her shoulder and started to wring her hands.
    In a lowered tone, Dina said, “How much you want to bet that she’s wringing her poor hands right now?”
    As though she was being watched, Ava held the phone again in one hand and sat the other on her bed. “This is crazy. Will this guy be expecting something ?”
    “What do you mean?” Ava heard Dina typing on her computer.
    “I don’t know.” Ava whispered this time. “Sex.”
    “If he’s hot, fuck him.” Vonda’s immediate