Page 4 of Marrying Emma


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He nodded. “Hopefully so. I know I’m looking forward to it myself.”

She blinked at him in surprise. It seemed like he normally had as much or more energy than the kids. After studying him more closely, she detected a hint of exhaustion in his eyes. Maybe he wasn’t quite as rock solid as he seemed. A wave of compassion weaved its way through the annoyance she normally experienced when speaking to him.

Emma’s phone pinged. She glanced at it and the reminder from her sister, Chrissy, that she and her husband, Wyatt, were hosting dinner at their place tomorrow night. Emma sent a quick note back letting her know she was looking forward to it.

She glanced up to find Marty studying her. “Boyfriend?”

Emma slipped the phone back into her pocket. “Sister. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Marty nodded toward her left hand, clearly devoid of a ring. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Why did Emma want to tell him yes? She didn’t like lying, even if this was one of the more tempting situations. Besides, she knew herself too well. She’d feel guilty the rest of the week, go through the weekend regretting what she said, and then have to apologize to Marty later.

She wasnotgoing to apologize to the guy.

It was better to answer truthfully, even if it made her look even more lame than she already felt. “No, I don’t.” She nearly asked if he had a girlfriend, and found she was genuinely curious because she had a hard time imagining someone being okay with her boyfriend flirting with other women. But asking would only encourage him.

Marty grinned at her a moment before obviously trying to cover the reaction. “Good to know.” He finished the Gatorade, tossed the bottle into the trash, and gave her a wave before going back out on the gym floor.

He flirted like that with any woman he ran into. Still, it made her wonder what it’d be like to truly have the attention of a guy she was interested in. After all, she was a woman who didn’t have a place of her own, took enough medication to keep a pharmacy in business, and had a pile of medical bills big enough to drown in. Couple that with the doozy of a scar running straight down between her boobs, and she was convinced any one of those reasons would keep an interested man at bay, much less the combination.

* * *

The following evening,Emma waited for Mom to exit the house they shared before locking the door behind them. It wasn’t uncommon to go over to her older sister’s house for dinner. Chrissy and Wyatt got married two years ago and were the perfect couple—almost sickly so. Even though the way they met was anything but normal.

Emma chuckled to herself thinking about how Wyatt had hired Chrissy to go to his grandmother’s birthday as his girlfriend. Little did they know the ruse wouldn’t end there. It’d been a roller coaster of family dynamics and emotions, but in the end, the two had fallen in love.

Wyatt was a great guy, too. He cared about Chrissy, treated her like a queen, and gave Emma hope that there were other guys out there like him.

Her mind immediately went to Marty, and she wanted to laugh out loud. Marty was far from the perfect guy. In fact, putting his name andperfectin the same sentence almost seemed wrong.

The sound of Mom’s voice snagged Emma’s attention. “Did Marty say anything inappropriate today?”

Emma shook her head, unwilling to admit she’d just been thinking about him. She’d told Mom all about Marty asking her out and asking her if she had a boyfriend. “Not since our Costco trip yesterday. Things were hectic today, and we were down a coach. I don’t think I even spoke to him directly.” Which was good, right? Except Emma had gone to work with all these wonderful comebacks she’d come up with the night before, then didn’t even have a chance to use them. She’d left work feeling disappointed before realizing how ridiculous that was.

“Well, that’s good.” Mom turned the air conditioner up a notch. “Have you considered the possibility that maybe he needs a friend? And doesn’t know how to go about telling you that?”

An unladylike laugh erupted from Emma. “I seriously doubt that’s the case. Besides, we’re not in grade school where it’s acceptable to pinch a girl to get her attention.”

There was a weighty silence, one that guaranteed Mom had something to say that she knew Emma wasn’t going to take well. Too bad they weren’t closer to Wyatt and Chrissy’s house.

“You could use a friend, too, Emma.”

They’d been over this several times in the last year. Mom had even suggested Emma consider Caleb, her boss, as potential dating material. Caleb was a friend, but she simply wasn’t attracted to him otherwise.

If Emma didn’t know any better, she’d think Mom was trying to marry her off. “A friend? Or a boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“So you want me to go out with the guy who makes it his life mission to flirt with as many women as possible? Yeah, that sounds like a match made in heaven.” No way. Besides, he wasn’t her type. Right?

Then what kind of guy was her type? The fact she couldn’t answer that made her feel even more pathetic. Mom was probably right—Emma needed to get out more. Her entire world revolved around her mom and sister. Which had worked while she was sick and homebound.

Now Chrissy was happily married, and Emma didn’t see her nearly as much.

Which left Mom, who had dedicated her life to helping Emma through all of her health issues. She shouldn’t have to keep taking care of her now.

Half an hour later, Emma pulled a pan of chicken enchiladas out of the oven in Chrissy’s kitchen and set it on the counter. She breathed in deep. “These smell amazing.”