Read Online Cancelled by Elizabeth Ann West - Free Book Online Page A

arrived.
    “Maybe his personal tastes weren't museum material.”
    Johnathan raised one eyebrow and savored a bite of duck confit. Spices tickled the back of his throat, and he washed it down with the table wine he poured on his meal's arrival. “You're right, Monet and Renoir would never draw visitors. No one goes to the Musée d'Orsay.”
    Alex's eyes widened at the list of the artists' names. She pursed her lips, then released the smile she tried to hold back. “I guess perseverance pays off.”
    Johnathan lifted his wine glass to prompt a toast. Alex responded in kind.
    “To perseverance.”
    She repeated the phrase. Her smile turned into a giggle, and despite attempts to stop, grew into full out laughter.
    Johnathan swallowed his first bite. “What?”
    Alex brought her napkin to her lips and tears glistened at the edges of her mascara-laden eyelashes. Johnathan didn't know what prompted this manic fit, but anything he said or did made it worse. He finally just returned to eating his dinner, thoroughly confused by what he missed.
    Alex gulped her water, and let out a few solo laughs. “I'm sorry. Truly.” She took another drink of water to keep another giggle fit at bay. “It's just, well...how did we stay apart so long?”
    Silverware scraping plates around him strained Johnathan's nerves. Focused on silently cutting his own dinner, he allowed his thoughts to drift. He had wondered the same thing. From that first night they met at a grad school mixer, his attraction to Alexis was undeniable. But what made it turn insatiable? He gave up his own inquiry and realized she was still waiting for an answer.
    “We were always dating other people.”
    “Yeah, I know, but...” Finished with her meal, she brushed her long, wavy hair behind her shoulders and sat back, fully resting her shoulders against the high-backed chair. “Why? I always saw you as perfect. Smart, sexy, a man with his life together. How did we waste three years?”
    Johnathan blushed and brought his napkin up from his lap to lay on the table. “The other people we dated helped us be better people today?” He tested the idea, which sounded even lame to him.
    Alex began laughing again, but no manic episode occurred this time. “Really? Madeline made you a better person?”
    “I thought you liked her.”
    “No I didn't like her! I had a major crush on you and you ran around with legs that talked. It took work to be nice to that, that...” Alex closed her lips and gently nodded her head up and down.
    Johnathan poured himself the last of the wine after offering more to Alex. His mind wandered to memories of Madeline. He didn't notice his eyes were inspecting the intricate design on the table cloth and not his date across from him.
    “Hey. Hello?” Alex overplayed the loss of Johnathan's attention. He snapped out of the fog of girlfriends past.
    “You never said anything. Dr. Perfect joined our group long before Madeline and I broke up.”
    “The sex was good. I thought you and her were going to get married, you did take her to meet Anna.”
    “She did too. That's what ended us.”
    Alex took a turn to inspect the table cloth. A passing desert tray inspired Johnathan's Plan B to get Alex to his apartment. This conversation was pulling the evening too far into the friend zone.
    “Why don't we get out of here?” He held his hand up slightly for the bill. “My apartment is two blocks away. I have coffee and cheesecake...”
    Alexis stood with her purse and searched for the ladies room. “You don't play fair, Mr. Michaels.”
    “Never said I would.” Johnathan's eyes followed her form as she gave him space to pay the bill. He had wondered if she would let him, and was glad to not have a verbal sparring over the check.
     
     
    Settled on his overstuffed black leather couch, the end of a romantic comedy played out on Johnathan's 48-inch flat screen. Dirty dessert plates and nearly empty coffee cups littered the living room table in front of