Page 66 of The Exception

I nodded, completely in agreement. Sloan was a badass. She didn’t take shit from anyone—something I’d always respected about her.

Sloan may not have welcomed me with open arms, but she’d still been nice. And now that I knew she was pregnant, I gave her a pass. She’d just found out her brother had gotten married, and she was dealing with some serious hormones.

“Nate?” I asked, glancing over at him. The man had always seemed so charming. Hell, charisma radiated from him like a Hollywood spotlight.

“Total pain in the ass when I first started working for him as his daughter’s nanny.” Emerson’s smile was wistful. “He’s lucky I adore Brooklyn, because I almost quit several times.”

I tried to imagine it. “That bad, huh?”

“Oh yeah. He had all these rules.”

Rules, huh? Sounds like someone else I know.

“What changed?” I’d seen their images splashed on the tabloids and online blogs, but I’d never paid much attention. They might be celebrities, but I believed their private life should be private.

She smiled. “I always thought he was hot. But seeing the way he loved his daughter and would do anything for her…I was a goner.”

“Plus, he serenaded you with Taylor Swift.” Kendall nudged her. “And gave you your dream purse.”

“That certainly didn’t hurt.” Emerson dipped her head, her hair falling over her cheeks.

“Andhe was your childhood celebrity crush.”

Emerson’s cheeks were rosy. “Okay. Enough about me.” She glared at Kendall, but it was all in good fun.

“What about you and Knox?” I asked Kendall.

She dragged a hand through her hair. “He was a great boss, but crazy overprotective. Still is.”

“He’s mellowed some,” Emerson said.

Kendall shot her a skeptical look. “Has he?”

I bit back a smile. “You two remind me of my best friend Josephine and me. You’re lucky that you get to be family officially.”

“Jasper’s single.” Emerson shrugged. “Maybe she and Jasper…”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I hedged, thinking about her fling or whatever she and Luc had going on.

Besides, I’d hate to get Jo wrapped up in this mess. I didn’t want to consider what would happen when it was over. I pushed away the thought. That was two years away. Two years of lying to Graham’s family.

Would it be two years of him lying to me? My expression soured.

Emerson leaned in, keeping her voice low. “Graham always seems so grumpy. Does he wake up that way?”

I laughed, mostly to hide my discomfort. I honestly had no idea how to answer. Graham and I had been married a week, but we’d barely spent any time together. And we definitely hadn’t slept together.

“Emerson!” Kendall chided. “Don’t ask her that.”

“Oh, come on. If she’s going to be part of this family, she’s going to have to get used to it.”

Part of this family.

Graham’s family had done more in a single evening to make me feel welcome and included than my husband had all week. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but I’d hoped we’d share the occasional meal. Maybe hang out. Have a conversation. If anything, he seemed determined to put as much distance between us as possible. How did he expect us to act like a couple if we continued to live separate lives?

Not that I wanted to be attached at the hip. Not by any means. But if we were going to be believable as a happily married couple, we should probably get to know each other.

Well, I knew a lot about him. So maybe I was put out that he didn’t seem willing to make an effort to know me. Hell, maybe he’d planned to just hack into everything else like he had my blog. And then he wouldn’t ever have to spend time with me. He could simply analyze the data and make decisions.

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