Page 86 of The Exception

I peeked my head around the corner, feeling like we were fourteen again and not in our forties. “No. She got sucked into a conversation with someone.”

“Good.” He panted.

I turned to him, brow creased. “What’s going on? Why are you hiding from your wife?”

“Because she wants to adopt another puppy.”

“You just can’t say no to her, can you?”

“It’s not that.” He glanced away briefly. “I’ve already arranged for us to adopt it, and I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Oh my god,” I groaned under my breath. He was such a sap when it came to Emerson, but I was glad he was so happy. I thought back to what Pierce had told me about their relationship starting off as fake. I wondered what had changed. How they’d gone from dislike to disgustingly in love.

“Oh, come on,” Nate said. “You’d do the same for Lily, wouldn’t you?” He shook his head. “I don’t even have to ask. You’re splitting your time between LA and France. That says it all.”

“I’m excited to see the château in person,” I admitted.

“You’ve never visited?” He gawked at me. “I thought you’d been doing the long-distance thing.”

Right. Shit.

“Yeah. We have, but we usually tried to split the distance.”

“I bet that was exhausting.”

I lifted a shoulder. “You know how it is to travel,” I said, not wanting to outright lie any more than I already had.

“I can’t believe how quickly everything is changing. Our family is growing.”

I glanced back at Emerson, eyeing her flat stomach as she led Lily out to the dance floor. First Sloan was pregnant, now Emerson?

Nate elbowed me. “I was referring to you marrying Lily and my new dog.”

“Right.”

He clapped a hand on my shoulder and leaned in. “A word of advice from one married man to another.”

“What’s that?” I asked, following his gaze to where Emerson and Lily were on the dance floor. I’d never seen her let loose like this, have fun. A smile lit up her face, and she shook her ass in a way that was undeniably tantalizing.

“Women love the big, romantic gestures, but the small ones are just as important.” He took a swig of whiskey. “Like dancing. I get the feeling Lily would love for you to ask her to dance.”

“I don’t dance.” Correction—I hadn’t in a very long time.

“But you will for her. Especially since I’m guessing she didn’t get a first dance at your wedding.”

Fuck. He was right. I really hoped he wasn’t going to lecture me about not having family at the wedding.

“Look,” he said. “I know I owe you for what you did?—”

“You don’t owe me anything,” I said, though we both knew exactly what he was referring to. I’d never admit that my hacking had led his ex-wife to drop her custody battle and her demand for something she didn’t deserve.

He held my attention, unwilling to let me look away. “I just wanted to say thank you. Will you let me thank you? You don’t have to admit to anything,” he huffed.

I nodded, swallowing back my emotions. “You know I’d do anything for Brooklyn. And you.”

He draped his arm over my shoulder. “I know. But sometimes, you should let us return the favor. Let us be there for you. That’s what family does.”

I grunted my assent.

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