Page 22 of Breaking Emily's Rules
“It was pretty clear how much you cared about me. You never for one moment stopped to think that we could work this out. You walked out the door and never looked back.”
I didn’t answer, just glared at him. He didn’t know how many times I’d looked back and wondered how Greg could have fooled me. I thought I knew the signs of a cheating partner. I’d read all about them inCosmopolitan, color coded them and put them on index cards. And yet, with Greg, I’d never seen sign one.
“We both miss you.” Greg shuffled his feet in place.
This was so awkward. I could no longer see even a hint of what I’d ever loved about him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Molly, a red streak, headed straight for Greg. She’d hopped on his back before I realized it or was able to stop her.
“You son of a bitch!” Molly’s legs were wrapped around his waist, her hands wrestling with his neck.
“What the hell?” Greg turned in circles as he tried to throw Molly off his back.
“Molly!” I put my hand to my mouth and strangled a laugh. This wasn’t the way I would have thought to handle it, but nothing less than what Greg deserved. And I wasn’t enough of an angel not to thoroughly enjoy the spectacle for a minute.
“I’ll hold him while you punch him. Go on, I think I’ve got him.” Molly appeared to have a death grip on him with her legs as I marveled at how much strength a woman could muster when she was angry enough.
“Get this lunatic off my back,” Greg yelled, while he tried to move Molly’s hands from his eyes.
“Molly, get off him. This isn’t helping.” I put a hand over my mouth and tried to keep the laugh out of my voice, with great difficulty.
Molly finally jumped off him. “, Fine, you’re too easy. A real man would be able to wrestle me off. Get on out of here, jerk.” Molly waved her arm as she marched up the steps.
“I didn’t want to hurt you.” Greg squared his shoulders and smoothed his wrinkled khakis. “If I’d thrown you off like I should have, you’d have landed on your back.”
“Yeah, right. You’re lucky my daddy isn’t here. He’s the one with a shotgun. If you see his truck pull up, I’d run if I were you.” Molly slammed the front door shut.
Greg ran a hand down his rumpled cotton shirt, and I wondered how I’d ever felt this was a man who could love and take care of me. A one hundred–pound ball of fire had knocked him for a loop.
“I’m sorry about that. You’re not very popular around here.”
“You told everybody what happened?” Greg’s face drained of color.
“She’s my sister.” I decided not to add that everyone in my family knew exactly what he’d done, even if I’d left some of the more sordid details out for Grammy’s sake.
“I don’t feel safe here anymore,” Greg said as he opened the door to his sedan. “Can we go somewhere else?”
He wanted me to go talk somewhere else, a place where he felt safe. What a man. “I would, Greg, honestly. But I still have a few working brain cells left.”
Greg smoothed his hair back into place. “This is important, and I don’t want you to hear it from anyone else.”
* * *
Greg lookedalot more comfortable at The Drip, and I began to wonder if maybe my attraction to him at the time had more to do with location. Being a well-respected engineer, Greg commanded a certain presence I found attractive. He was good with computers and PowerPoint presentations, and that had seemed sexy at the time. Besides, Greg had been patient with my dating rules. He’d gone along with each one of them, remarking how refreshing it was to be with a woman who realized what I wanted, who took control of her life.
He’d ordered his usual espresso and remembered my double-shot mocha as if it had been yesterday when he last ordered me one.
“Here you go, jerk. Your triple shot espresso. I didn’t spit in it or anything.” Annie, the head barista and one of Molly’s best friends, nearly slammed the cup down. The fluff of steamed milk rocked. Annie gently put down my mocha, sniffed and turned away.
Greg’s eyes widened. “Does everybody in town know?”
“I used to work here,” I lied. All right, so Molly had a hard time keeping her mouth shut. What else was new?
Greg turned his mug and inspected it, taking a whiff as though he might be able to smell spit. After a few moments, he dared to take a sip. “I’ve missed you.”
“Cut to the chase, Greg. What do you want to tell me? That can’t be it.”
“We’re both sorry it happened. Especially Nika. She’s fully aware of everything you did for her. You got her the job.”
