Free Revenge for Hire (The Get Even Agency) by Janice Lynn Page B

Joy? Was she one of his girlfriends? She
didn’t look his usual fare, but what did Avery know? Three months ago she’d
never heard of Jude Layman.
    “My, my, my, isn’t this just a cozy picture?”
    Avery might have been focused on her own issues, but she’d have
had to be deaf, blind, and mute not to notice the pale man sitting across from
her.
    “Joy,” Marcus said.
    “Joy?” Apparently the name rang a bell with Courtney because
she looked at the woman disapprovingly. “This is your ex-wife?”
    Marcus nodded, dumbfounded.
    Avery’s forehead knotted. How had he just gone from a brilliant
conversationalist with Courtney to a tongue-tied, moon-eyed cow at the
appearance of his ex?
    “I thought you said she was pretty?” Courtney asked, getting a
slam in on the woman. Courtney was great at getting in digs. Apparently
something Marcus said made Courtney protective of him. Which was pretty rare
indeed, because in general, TGEA sided with the woman.
    Courtney glared, her hackles definitely up, which could only
spell trouble for Joy.
    “Who’s she?” the ex asked .
    “The woman keeping your old spot in bed warm,” Courtney smugly
announced, making everyone at the table glance at her. “Not that it was ever
warm to begin with, not from a cold fish like you. Let’s just say the sheets
have scorch marks on them these days so you don’t have to worry about Marcus
getting chilly at night.”
    “I thought you said you were waiting for me?” The woman’s hands
went on her bony hips. “That you knew this was just a phase I was going through
and that you’d be there for me when I wanted to come back?” she mimicked words
Marcus must have told her at some point.
    “I am,” Marcus said, looking back and forth between Courtney,
who openly bristled, to Joy, who looked pissed.
    The woman snorted. “Sure looks it.”
    Randi chose that moment to walk up, probably to see what all
the commotion was about. Always one to take charge of a situation and make it
go from explosive to kaboom , she sidled up to where
Marcus sat, grabbed hold of his shirt collar and tugged him to his feet before
he could sound a single protest.
    “Dance with me, loverboy ,” she stage
whispered, then jerked him to her and planted a wet one on his lips. Avery gave
her friend credit, Randi made the kiss look good.
    She also reminded that Avery had been swapping spit with Jude
not five minutes before. What had she been thinking?
    “Patrice,” Marcus sputtered, pulling back from her. “What are
you doing?”
    Randi smiled, cat-like. “Ah, honey. I know that’s not where you
like my mouth, but you’ll have to wait until later for that.”
    Every non-TGEA mouth fell open, Joy Long’s included.
    “Ooh, I wanna play, too,” Courtney
added, looking as if she’d like to slurp Marcus up in one bite.
    “ Agh ,” Joy huffed and stormed away. Not
without looking over her shoulder at Marcus several times. Looking with an odd
light. As if she was seeing him for the first time in months.
    “What was that all about?” Marcus asked, stunned and falling
back into the booth seat with a dazed expression.
    “You can thank me later,” Randi said, shooting darts at the
departing ex. “It’s women like her who give the whole sex a bad rep. You really
should just move on.”
    Jude groaned. “You told them about Joy?”
    Randi rolled her eyes. “Not that you hadn’t already all but
filled us in, but he talked about nothing else but the little witch. I had to
escape for a dance.”
    “You called Joy a little witch?”
    Marcus shook his head.
    “No, that was pure Patrice.” Randi grinned. “Now, scoot over,
sugar bottoms, and buy me a drink in thanks for making your ex wet her
panties.”
    Jude attempted to pull Avery away from the table, but she
resisted, hugging up against Courtney to keep him from succeeding.
    “No,” she denied. She wasn’t going away from the safety of
numbers. Not until she figured out just how she’d lost control. She