Exception (18 page)

They ran for over an hour, going through Emily’s usual circuit twice and even taking a small detour though a shorter path that she thought was beautiful.

Once they slowed to a walk and moved towards the car, Taylor wasted no time in returning to the conversation from earlier. “How are my odds so far?” he asked, panting.

“Your martial arts background definitely helped your case, but . . . ” she hesitated.

He turned his head to look at her, worried. “You can tell me Ems. Whatever it is we can talk about it.”

The honesty in his voice and eyes gave her the strength to be honest as well. “Well, my biggest issue in agreeing is that you might want more than just a friend who tags along to social events.”

As the words left Emily’s lips her eyes went anywhere but in Taylor’s direction. There were so many layers to her statement, but the bottom line was that, now that Taylor had become an active part of her life and of her group of friends, even the thought of jeopardizing it and going back to a life without him was too much for her.

“Your issues are that I might want more with you or more in general?” he asked in a serious tone. Ignoring her efforts to avoid his eyes, he looked straight at her face.

“Both. I’ve told you before that I don’t date, not ever. Not even casually. And regarding the ‘in general’ part, I know that at some point you’ll find someone and move on, and I guess it just scares me that I’ll become nothing more than a past friend. And, on the flip side, I don’t want to hold you back from that either.”

As they reached his Jeep, a strange array of feelings ran through Taylor’s body. Her answer gave him a weird sense of regret that was hard for him to place. Therefore, he concentrated on the one thing that he could place: the truth.

“Emily, please look at me.”

They stopped in front of the passenger door and he stood in front of her. He waited for what felt like an eternity until she lifted her face and focused those beautiful blue eyes on his.

Taylor held Emily’s gaze for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was imprinted with all of the honesty in his heart. “I know that we haven’t known each other all that long. Hell, we barely know each other. So you have every right not trust me yet.” He ran a hand through his hair.
Why was this so hard?
“But the most honest truth is that, even though dating is not a possibility for either of us, I enjoy spending time with you. I haven’t enjoyed spending time with someone like this in a very long time. That’s probably why I’ve been so eager to get you to agree, and I’ve gone about this all wrong.” He let out a long breath and shook his head. “I’m sorry for that.”

He cleared his throat. “Now, about your other issue, if what you meant is that you don’t want to have to terminate our agreement because I’m in a relationship, then you have nothing to worry about. Don’t you remember? I don’t date either.”

“Come on Taylor,” she interrupted, her voice unsure and a bit sad. “You’re thirty years old, single, good looking and I’ve seen how women look at you. You may not go on dates, but I’m sure you must have plenty of company. Who knows? One of them might become something else and that’s okay, but that would also mean that, one day, our agreement will be over.”

With the exception of admitting to finding him good looking, everything she’d just said made him feel a mixture of annoyance and sadness. “As I said, we don’t know each other well. You say that you don’t date, and I said that I won’t. We don’t know each other’s reasons for that, but here’s what you need to know about me: yes, in the three years I’ve been alone I did look for casual company a few times. I was living across the ocean from everyone I knew with a broken heart and a fucked up life. I didn’t have a Zack or a Jody, the way you do, and sometimes I got incredibly lonely. But, even though I slept with a few women, it was meaningless.

“I think you’re beautiful, Emily. You’re probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, but what draws me to you isn’t your looks, it’s who you are. All I want is to get to know you, to understand you, and to be there for you in any way you need. I want that because, for the past three years, my life has been a hellhole where nothing made sense.” He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before continuing. “That was until three weeks ago, when we met. You made the world spin again and, because of that, I can guarantee that there’s no one, not now or ever that I’ll want to be around more than you.

“That’s what this arrangement means to me. It’s not a way into your pants, it’s a way into your life.” His words and the honesty behind them touched her heart deeply. “Hell, it’s a way back into my own life. So fuck how women look at me; I couldn’t care less about all of that shit. I care about you, period.”

No one, family, friend or lover, had ever said words like that to Emily, and the spookiest part was that, save the part about the few casual encounters, she could have said those words back to him and they would have been just as true.

Months ago, Brad had said that the reason why her friendship with Jody and Zack had been so fast and powerful, was that each missed what the other two had. Listening to Taylor made her feel that, in the same way that her two best friends completed her as a person, Taylor completed her soul. That thought gave everything a new perspective.

She could finally understand why she trusted him so implicitly, and why the hole in her chest, created by all the different abusive relationships she’d had in the past, was gone whenever they were together. They were a puzzle piece to the other.

“I understand perfectly what you’re saying,” she told him, with a shy smile. He’d shown her his vulnerable side and she was determined to do the same. “It’s the same for me. From that first time we talked I trusted you, which never happens. That’s why I was so scared to agree to this and then lose . . . ” Emily choked. Just saying the words was difficult. Seeing her conflict, Taylor wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders and held her to his chest. The top of her head rested just below his chin, and her face was pressed against his chest.

It was the strangest feeling Emily ever experienced. Being in his arms made her feel nervous and peaceful, all at once. As weird as it felt, one thing she was sure of was that he would never hurt her, and she would never hurt him. She was safe.

As she snaked her arms around his waist and returned his hug, all the nervousness left her and her lips parted in a happy smile. “So, you think that’s why life made the two of us? To be what the other one needed?”

He chucked making both their bodies shake together. “Why? Because we’re a couple of emotionally fucked up people who wouldn’t screw up a good friendship by turning it into a relationship?”

“Exactly,” Emily confirmed, and they laughed together. “And, at the risk of being Jody-like, am I right to assume we’ll be best friends from now on?”

Taylor kissed the top of her head and laughed again. Aside from Nate, his best friend since they were five years old, he’d never thought of anyone as a best friend—especially a woman. However, the idea of having that close relationship with Emily was thrilling. “If that means that you say yes, then I’ll say yes.”

F
OR THE
rest of the afternoon, the atmosphere between the two of them completely changed. They drove to Starbucks for coffees and muffins, which, once again, Taylor insisted on paying for, and they talked about various subjects. Having had enough of the heavy, their conversation revolved mostly around their jobs. They already knew the basics, so now was the time for details and stories of how they landed their dream jobs.

Emily began her story from the very beginning, back when she lived with Charlie in an apartment in LA with Laura and Chelsea as next-door neighbors. The story progressed with how the two women began the blog that went on to be a huge hit, and ended with how she’d been invited to join.

“At first it was supposed to be just two entries a month but, as it got more and more attention, they expanded it to a weekly thing and now I have my own page where I post something every day. It put my name out there, you know, and within my first year I had invitations to write reviews for magazines, newspapers, and even some publishers.”

She spoke of her job with such joy that it was beautiful to watch. Taylor asked her a few other questions concerning the kind of books she reviewed, and the general mechanics of it. She answered his questions, which brought up more questions.

The sun had set when their stomachs started to protest about the lack of food, and Taylor drove Emily back to her place. During their ride, it was Emily’s turn to ask questions. Soon enough, the question he most dreaded was asked. “What about you? How did you end up working at the gallery?”

He froze at her words. However, during their conversation back at the park, he’d made a silent promise to never lie to her. It was a promise Taylor intended to keep, even when the truth wasn’t on his favorite topic list.

The easiest answer would have been to say that he knew the owner, which was technically true. The hardest answer included first telling Emily how he’d bought the gallery. Taylor knew that telling her that would involve also telling her about his family and their wealth, a subject he hated to talk about more than anything.

His grandfather had died when his father was eighteen, leaving his only son a small, but still considerable, inheritance. For most of his life, Rick Carter had worked hard to transform it into what now was the second largest fortune in Canada, and one of the largest in the American continent. They had investments in different fields that ran from farming and green energy, to restaurants and retail stores.

In spite of their wealth, Rick and Tina were extremely humble, something his eldest son admired. They taught their kids that true wealth is measured in character, not money. As a family, they had as much comfort as anyone could have ever wanted. As parents, they invested a lot in raising cultured, well-educated children and for that, no expenses had ever been spared, guaranteeing the best schools as well as vacations and international exchange programs. Other than that, they lived a normal, responsible, non-ostentatious life, and tried to give back as much as possible.

Of all the people in his life, his father was probably the one person Taylor admired the most. Not only was he a great businessman, but his commitment to always make his family a priority made him the kind of man Taylor always strived to be.

Just by looking at Emily and hearing the stories she’d told him he could tell that, even though she hadn’t grown up with the same life as he did, money had never been a problem for her. She was young and drove a nice car, wore nice clothes and had received an excellent education. She’d even traveled the world a little. But still, he was too used to people getting weird when they learned about his family and their money.

However, there was no way around it. He knew firsthand the harm half-truths or white lies could to a relationship, and he wouldn’t risk his friendship with Emily for anything in the world.

“That story is a long one,” he told her with a contrite smile.

She flashed him a grin in return. “We’re riding home. If you don’t have anywhere else to go, we can order pizza and then we’ll have as much time as we need.”

“Well, a pizza would be perfect right now, I’m starving.”

Emily smiled and a held up a finger to him as she picked up her phone and called her favorite pizza place. After a short talk with the attendant, she placed her order. She never asked him his favorite flavor, but with all the things they had in common, she could bet he would like the Italian mozzarella with baby tomatoes and basil as much as she did.