Page 41 of The Exception

And I hadn’t been the only one. The entire restaurant had been captivated by her. Jasper too, even if his flirting seemed tamer than usual. Now that I thought about it, he’d been going out less lately too. I made a note to follow up with him. Because a quiet Jasper typically meant one thing—trouble.

Liliana kicked off her shoes and sat on the couch next to me. Not close enough so we were touching, but still closer than I’d expected. Her scent wafted over to me—sweet, floral, a little powdery, and full of energy.

Unable to help myself, I drew in a deep breath, eager to take another sniff. It reminded me of my garden in the summer, the blooms bursting with color and fragrance. It was both invigorating and relaxing, and I wanted more of it. More of her.

“Why Lady Lorraine?” I asked.

“Since you make a quiche Lorraine with eggs.”

“Clever,” I said before explaining the rules of gin rummy.

We began to play, and every so often, she’d ask questions about the rules or strategy. It was fun. Easy. Especially after she really started to get the hang of it.

I watched her out of the corner of my eye, amused by the way her tongue darted out of the side of her mouth when she was concentrating. I remembered her doing that when she’d worked for me. Now that we were spending time together, I remembered a lot of things about Lily. Things I’d tried to ignore in the past.

When she won a round, her whole face lit up in delight. She was beautiful. Captivating.

I gripped the edge of the couch, feeling light-headed. What was this sensation? What the hell was wrong with me?

I shook my head as if to clear it, remembering that she wasn’t interested in me. Not really. She’d pulled back from our almost-kiss last night because she wanted my money. And that was fine, because we were both getting something out of this.

“Think you got the hang of it?” I asked.

She nodded, but then she flashed me a wicked grin. “Care to make it interesting?”

I wondered what she was envisioning. Was strip gin rummy a thing? I supposed it could be. I imagined winning hand after hand as Liliana had to strip off her clothes piece by piece.

Focus!

“What did you have in mind?” I asked.

“The winner of each round gets to make a suggestion for our arrangement.”

Ah.So she wanted to use this as a negotiation. That suited my purposes. “Fine by me.”

I focused on the cards and my opponent, trying not to let my surprise show when she said, “Gin.”

We showed our hands, and she won the round.

“Go ahead,” I said.

“If we’re going to do this,” she said, shuffling the cards, “I don’t want to wait. The château is in a precarious position, and the sooner I can get the funding to secure it and start on the projects, the better.”

Excellent.Moretti’s formal offer had come with a deadline. We had thirty days to accept, or it would expire. The board was already champing at the bit.

“I agree, which is why I had my lawyer draw up a prenup.” Her eyes widened as I slid her the document, our game—or the pretense of it—forgotten. “I’ll put ten million dollars into a trust designated for theChâteau de Bergeret.My contribution will be anonymous. As long as we make it to the two-year mark, the additional ten million is yours.”

“That’s fair. Thank you.”

“The terms are laid out in full, including the fact that upon our divorce or in the event of my death, you will not be entitled to any of my property or anything relating to the Huxley brand.”

“As it should be,” she said, and something inside me relaxed. “The Huxley Grand is a family brand.” I had to protect my family and the brand at all costs.

Women I’d dated in the past hadn’t always been so…understanding of that fact. They often wanted to take advantage of my money or my brand. But I knew that wouldn’t be the case with Lily. It just wasn’t who she was.

“That said, I used to be your assistant. Getting married would be a major shift in our relationship dynamic. I would be your partner, not your employee. And I want to know that you’ll respect me, even if you don’t always agree with me.”

“If you’re my wife,” I said, the word still foreign on my tongue, “of course I will respect you. I couldn’t marry someone I didn’t respect, even if this is fake.”

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