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Taking a deep breath in, I pondered how to handle this. I didn’t want to lie to her. Emma was my closest friend at work. And I did trust her. It was bad enough that I hadn’t been honest with Will.

After I poured my coffee, I thought about it some more and decided to ask Emma to meet me for lunch so I could properly explain everything. It would also be nice to have someone to vent to about this whole situation.

An hour later, Emma and I met at a spot halfway between my apartment and hers.

After the waitress brought our food, Emma wasted no time trying to get me to spill.

“Okay, so tell me everything. What’s the deal with that hottie Declan? Are you sleeping with him?”

Playing with one of my French fries, I shook my head. “The story is a bit crazy. But you have to promise you won’t utter a single word about this to anyone.”

Emma’s eyes narrowed. “Now I’m really intrigued. But of course.” She leaned in. “What the hell is going on?”

Over the next several minutes, I told her the entire story of how Declan came to live with me and the agreement we’d conjured up.

She shook her head in disbelief as she stirred sugar into her iced tea. “So let me get this straight. You and he had this agreement, and now you don’t really know who you’re trying to make jealous—Declan or Will? You fell for your fake boyfriend?”

Taking a huge bite of my burger, I spoke with my mouth full. “I didn’t mean for things to get complicated. My attraction to Declan has been gradually growing. And he certainly doesn’t have a clue how I feel. It wasn’t until he started seeing Julia that I even realized the extent of my feelings.” I stared off. “We just get along so well. He’s a really good friend. But last night—before we were interrupted by the fire—I’m pretty sure something was about to happen.”

She nodded. “So you’re juggling feelings for two different men. You’re going out with Dr. Dandy tonight, though. Maybe that will steer things to his corner.”

“We’ll have to see what happens.” I sighed. “Like I said, Declan is leaving in a few months anyway. So this is a temporary situation.”

“Then you have your answer. Just focus on Will. Obviously, his admission that he was jealous last night means you stand a bigger chance than you thought.”

“Yeah, but what if it’s just about the competition? I don’t know whether I can trust that his interest is genuine. I guess I won’t know unless I continue to see where things go.”

She chuckled. “There are definitely worse problems to have. You’re living with a gorgeous man and dating another.”

I smiled, though neither scenario was what I wanted. I didn’t want to live with a man or just date one. I wanted to be someone’s ride or die.

I want love.

***

Declan and I never crossed paths that day. He wasn’t home when I returned to get ready for my date with Will.

Later that evening, when I got there, Will had already arrived at the Italian bistro we’d agreed on. He stood and pulled out my chair for me as I approached the table.

Looking me up and down, he said, “You look absolutely gorgeous, Molly. Thank you for agreeing to a date on such short notice.”

He leaned in and placed a firm kiss on my cheek. The contact sent chills down my spine.

The bluntness of my response shocked me a little. “I wasn’t expecting you to ask me out again, to be honest.”

He seemed perplexed as he sat back down and slid his chair closer to the table. “Why is that?”

“Well, you hadn’t mentioned anything about going out again until Declan showed up last night.”

He blew out a long breath and nodded. “I had an amazing time with you earlier this week. In fact, I couldn’t stop thinking about you and that kiss. So if you think my lack of contact meant anything, it didn’t. It was a crazy week—stressful, many more-complicated births than usual. That was all.” He paused. “But…as I admitted to you at the bar last night, seeing you with him gave me a push. It made me realize that my feelings for you are even stronger than I was willing to admit.”

His behavior still confused me. I felt the need to lay everything on the line while I had his attention. But the waitress interrupted when she arrived to take our order. I hadn’t had a chance to look at the menu yet, so she gave us a few minutes to peruse it.

When she returned, Will ordered the lasagna, while I pondered the choices and ultimately opted for the pasta primavera. She brought two glasses of wine soon after.

Once she left, I took a long sip of my pinot and decided to take up where the conversation had left off.