Artificial Love (The Goodbye Trilogy #2) by Alisa Mullen Page A

knew I was sporting a cheeky grin. I wanted to wrap my arms around her but I couldn’t. That one kiss, that one cuddle was just to make her feel better. There was nothing between us. She was married and I was in love with another married woman. What was it with the fucking institution of marriage? It was atrocious. It was out of control and last but not least, it was a definite cock blocker.
    Emily smiled to me. “You had the ingredients for pancakes. Flour, sugar, and a couple of eggs. There were only frozen apples in the freezer and they were really freezer burned but I think I got them back to fresh with the cinnamon,” she explained.
    I couldn’t believe my eyes. My kitchen table was covered in food; French toast, pancakes, an apple sauce on the side, a few eggs in a dish, and coffee. Emily had just made a twenty dollar breakfast at the local bistro in less than fifteen minutes.
    “Well, fuck me,” I said as I ran my fingers through my hair. Emily stopped frozen and looked up to me with a fearful look.
    “What?” I asked.
    “You want me to fuck you?” she whispered, still looking afraid, maybe even like she was going to run far away.
    I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and I saw when she started to smile at my laughter.
    “No, Em. It’s an expression. It means wow or holy shit, I guess,” I shrugged as I sat down and went for the coffee.
    “Fuck me means wow?” she asked incredulously. “That makes no sense.”
    I thought about it. No, it really didn’t but it still was the only way I was describing this beautiful arrangement of breakfast made in my kitchen. My kitchen had never even seen a handmade breakfast before and all those ingredients Emily found? Yeah, not my doing.  My mother came over a year ago and bought me the staples. She said I should get out of my funk with loving Jules and learn to cook. I remember when she left, I called the pizza place and ordered two large Supremes, sort of as a ‘fuck you’ to that idea.
    I ate so much I was stuffed. Emily sat and watched me until she started in on her plate. We didn’t say much and there was a lot that needed to be said. The closer it got to the end of breakfast, the more anxious I got that I would never see her again. She started to grab the plates to clean and I put my hand on hers to stop her.
    Emily looked down at my hand with interest and slid back down into her seat. When her eyes found mine, there had to be at least fifty questions in them. She smiled at me.
    “Are you goin’ back to him?” I asked in a gentle tone.
    “It depends,” she answered.
    “On what?” I asked
    “If you were serious about me staying here for a week so I can find a job and my own place,” she answered and her eyes fell to the table. I took my fingers and lifted her face up so she could not only hear but see that I wanted her to stay.
    “Look for a job first. You have a place to stay as long as you need one,” I said. “By that, I mean, please stay, Emily.”
    She nodded her head with the biggest smile. I smiled back to her.
    “Is it weird that I will kind of miss you?” she asked. Her face turned a shade of pink. Was she interested in me? Just after one kiss and one cuddle? Did she want more? An uncomfortable pain shot to my stomach and Julia was right there, smiling at me, too.
    “Not weird. I’m sure you will get lonely. I will leave my cell phone number so if you have any issues, just call me, okay?” My answer was monotone, almost robotic. Now, I wanted to run.
    “Okay, Johnny. Thank you,” she answered, mimicking my tone. She caught on to people’s moods, their reactions fast. She probably had to with her dickhead of a husband. I was growing to dislike him by the minute.
    “I will leave the key and please, there’s only one rule. No husbands allowed in my place,” I demanded, which was weird because I hadn’t known I would even make that a stipulation when I opened my mouth. But fuck that noise, that douche was not allowed