Page 128 of Dirty Eoin

He smirks. It’s wiped off his face when I glare at him.

“Jaine walked into my office yesterday and saw me with Leo’s sister. Ava was just passing and thought she’d drop in. Jaine stopped by at precisely the same time to hand in the official paperwork from Rod…”

Dylan’s frown deepens as he interjects. “But I thought there was nothing going on between you and Ava.”

“Nothingisgoing on. Since we were introduced by Leo, we’ve met up for lunch and dinner once or twice, and it has always been strictly business-related. There’s been nothing untoward. There will be nothing untoward with any female while I’m still married to Jaine. I would never disrespect her in that way. She’s my fucking wife.”

“And?”

“Ava implied that she and I were meeting up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner most days, and that I was monopolizing her time.”

“In front of Jaine?”

“In front of Jaine. And to make matters worse, when Jaine entered my office, without knocking I might add, Ava was standing extremely close.”

“So, Ava was staking her claim, not knowing that Jaine’s your wife.”

“That’s what I took from it, yes. Ava knows I’m estranged. She’s keen. She doesn’t even try to be coy about it.”

“And I’m guessing Jaine then made her own assumptions based on what she saw and heard.”

“Yes. And I didn’t correct her. In fact, I made the situation far worse by neither confirming nor denying when asked directly if I’d kissed the girl.”

It’s his turn to run his hand through his hair. “Jesus Christ, Eoin. Were you trying to make Jaine jealous?”

“Perhaps.”

“But Jaine doesn’t do jealousy. I’m not saying she doesn’t feel it, but she’d never act on it. She’d rather walk away and chalk it all up to experience. She’d never lower herself by getting into a catfight over any man. It’s not her style. Look at what happened with her and Ace.”

“I know that now.”

“So, what happened next?”

“Jaine suggested that I’d mistaken my feelings for her given how quickly I was able to move on. That it wasn’t love and never had been.”

“Shite.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t have been so hellbent on rushing the annulment through had she not misinterpreted what she saw.”

“A sight that you encouraged her to misinterpret because you thought it may work in your favor.”

“Yes!”

He ignores my sharp tone. “So, she didn’t get angry?”

“Quite the opposite. It was a civilized conversation for the most part. I also apologized for my part in all of the deceitful shenanigans, and she apologized for her personal vendetta against me. We both accepted each other’s apology, and then she insisted on pushing the annulment through as quickly as possible so I can move on with my life.”

His eyebrows almost reach his hairline.

“So, she’s forgiven you? For everything? Just like that?”

I nod. “There was never really anything to forgive.”

“And you’ve forgiven her for leading you on all these months.”

I nod again.

“Well, I’m only sorry I missed that conversation.”

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