Free Emily's Affair by Elijana Kindel

is what you wanted to know." Emily was in full blown sarcastic mode and she refused to look up at him. She couldn't let him see how much talking about her past hurt her. How walking out on her mother had been the single worst moment of her life. Emily was lonely when she lived with her mother, but when she left home… she was alone. Loneliness was nothing compared to being alone in a big city and having no food or money or… no one to talk to.
     
    Emily jerked out of his grasp and backed away from him. "You wanted to know why I let Mom ride alone in the ambulance, then shimmied right on down the fire escape and scampered away." She sniffled and clenched her eyes shut. Tears, fat hot tears, one right after the other rolled down her cheeks. "Dammit."
     
    Jake made a soothing noise, then reached for her and pulled her into his embrace. "Come here."
     
    "Don't you dare feel sorry for me," Emily said.
     
    "I wouldn't dream of it." He held her tight. "I'm sorry, sweetness."
     
     Her arms slithered of their own accord around his waist and she clung to him for a warmth her battered soul desperately craved. "Don't be. I did what I had to. I survived. That's all that matters."
     
    Jake said something she didn't hear and she felt him press a kiss to the crown of her head. "You did better than survive."
     
    Emily laughed and burrowed deeper into his warmth. "I should have known you would be a card carrying optimist."
     
    "I renewed my membership the moment I set eyes on you." His arms loosened and Jake pulled back, then tilted her chin up to look at him. His eyes were bright with anger, compassion, and so much emotion that it hurt to look at him. He blinked, shielding his thoughts from her, then guided her to a chair which needed its ripped seating repaired. "Have a seat."
     
    She reluctantly did as he bid, then waited for him to speak.
     
    Jake flipped an empty bucket upside down, then sat down in front of her. He caught her hands in his and massaged her palms. "What happened when you went home?"
     
    "I didn't go back home."
     
    "I don't suppose you went back home right away, but after you opened your business… what happened with your mother?"
     
    "I bought her a condo, set her up with a fat bank account, and once a year I replenish her funds. That's it."
     
    He opened his mouth, but she interrupted him. "Jake, my mother and I were never close. I call her on Christmas and leave a message. She doesn't worry about me and I don't worry about her."
     
    "I can't believe that. She's your mother. Mother's worry. It's what mothers do."
     
    "Maybe your mother, but not mine." Emily clenched her teeth as a fresh wave of tears threatened to fall. "Can we change the subject now? I really don't want to talk about this anymore."
     
    Jake studied her face for a long time, then spoke. "After I got my degree, I realized that I didn't want to work in a lab. Sad thing was that I had more fun laying sheet rock than I did as post doc. The spark was gone. I spent eight years getting my degrees and once the parchment was in my hands… I could have cared less about Gas Chromatography, Mass Spectrometry, and even less about working for a pharmaceutical company making polymers out of thin air. I got the degree. I did my time. I pleased Dad by getting the degree, then told him he could keep it 'cause I'm getting the hell out of the lab and making a life for myself.
     
    "Dad and I didn't talk for a while, but he got over it. Mom didn't like the idea of me being a bar owner, but she came around when she figured out that it was a place where she could come and, without making the old man jealous as hell, dance her fool heart out."
     
    Emily had a feeling Jake was leaving something out, but she wasn't in the mood to question him.
     
    Jake continued, "My sister is and has always been keen on the idea of me being a bar owner, because she can show up and get free drinks. What she doesn't like is that I cut her off after two. She'll probably come