Exception (7 page)

“Hmmm . . . no!” His tone was adamant. If that wasn’t enough, he was vigorously shaking his head.

Emily’s eyes popped out, as if he’d told her the world was flat. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“I mean just that,
no
. The first place has got to be Rush, and don’t even start trying to convince me, Miss Watson. I love AC/DC as any other headbanger, but I’m a Canadian living in America. Don’t refuse a man the last stand of his patriotism. Plus, Rush has Neil Peart, who is the greatest rock drummer in the world.”

“I didn’t know you were Canadian,” she said with an interested smile.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. “Changing the topic won’t change my choice.”

“Fine,” Emily said, groaning in frustration. “But come on; AC/DC has guitar hero Angus Young! The man strips to his boxers during their concerts.”

“This argument might work on Zack, but men in boxers . . . not really my thing, you know,” he said with a smirk. “I’m sticking to Rush.”

“You’re being impossible!” Emily growled, frustrated, which made Taylor laugh. “Let’s talk lyrics, then. On one side is AC/DC, with songs that are so fun you want to stand up and dance. On the other side, there’s Rush, with songs that you spend half the time wondering what the hell are they talking about.”

“They are philosophical,” Taylor challenged, trying his best not to laugh. He loved Rush, but he had to admit, she had a valid point.

“So is Nietzsche, but you don’t pump your fist to him, do you?” Her words came with a smirk. “I must agree that the guys from Rush are geniuses. So how about we compromise and name both bands number one? That way you keep your patriotism, which I must admire, and we stay clear of committing sacrilege against all the gods of rock ‘n’ roll.”

Taylor laughed at her solution and, once again, he found himself agreeing with his sister at how awesome Emily was.

“I’m happy with that,” he agreed.

“Good . . . ” Her words were followed by a contented sigh. “Now, let’s move on to sports.”

Before they could start the new list they were interrupted by Gabe and a barely-dressed brunet named Sonia, who was now wearing his hat.

Closing in to his brother, Gabe whispered something in Taylor’s ear that made him lock his jaw and roll his eyes. Excusing himself, Taylor pulled his brother aside leaving Emily and Sonia alone, looking uncomfortably at each other. Emily noticed that both the woman and Gabe weren’t exactly drunk, but were definitely just a few beers away.

After a short conversation, Gabe walked away from Taylor and wrapped his arm around Sonia’s neck, planting a deep kiss on her lips. “Let’s go wait outside, baby,” he told the woman he’d just met and smacked her backside before saying goodbye to Emily.

Emily watched Gabriel and the woman retreat to the stairs with shocked amusement. Returning her gaze to Taylor, she noticed him compulsively rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands and wondered if that was his “annoyed” twitch. She stayed silent, allowing them time to relax. Once he removed his hand and looked back at her, their eyes locked, brown staring into blue. She offered him a reassuring smile that melted most of his tension away.

“You okay?” she asked softly.

“Yeah. But remember when I said Gabe doesn’t mean to be a douche that it just happens?” Emily nodded her answer. “Well, it doesn’t make it any less annoying for those around him.”

She laughed at the jab at his brother. “I should get going as well. By the looks of this place it’s pretty late, and tomorrow the guys will be at my place for breakfast at ten.”

Emily retrieved her clutch from the table next to them, and followed Taylor to the stairs.

“So sports. I play hockey and run, what about you?” he asked with a smile, wanting to make the most of their last few minutes together.

“Yet another thing in common, then.”

“You play hockey?” he teased, silently offering her his arm to assist her down the stairs in her very high heels.

She looked at the extended limb curiously. The corner of her lips tugged, forming a shy smile as she placed her hand over his forearm and held on tightly.

“No, I don’t play hockey. I’m too much of a chicken for that. I prefer individual sports, like running and Yoga. I do love to watch hockey games, though.”

He stopped on the fourth step and narrowed his eyes, making her giggle. “It’s true. I’ve been a Rangers fan since I was a little girl.”

“I’m impressed,” he said truthfully. “I’m a Leafs fan, but if you ever want company to a game I’m your guy.”

When they reached the last step, she removed her hand from his arm and waved at the employees who were starting to clean and close the restaurant. She liked the idea of having company for hockey games. She’d always wanted to watch one live, but since none of her friends liked the game and she would never dare going to one alone, she never did. “I might take you up on that. Now, running . . . ”

As they exited Old Joe’s, they shared their running routines. He told her about how he chose the apartment he lived in because it was close to Central Park, and she told him about her morning runs in East Rock Park.

“But on Saturdays I run in the afternoons, since my mornings are extremely busy with feeding my friends,” Emily finished as they walked out of the door.

Ever since Gabe asked him to go, Taylor was dreading the moment. Despite his knowledge of how unpleasant the night would be once his sister discovered Gabe was bringing a strange girl to her apartment, his dread was in no way related to that. It had been so long since he’d enjoyed himself as much as he did hanging out with Emily that he didn’t want the night to end.

As they reached the sidewalk outside Old Joe’s, Taylor found himself stalling and looking for a way to steal a few more minutes with her.

“No car keys?” Taylor asked seeing that she made no move to retrieve them. She shook her head with a small smile, filling his heart with hope. “I can drive you home if you want, my car is right there.” He pointed at a large, shiny, black Jeep parked just a few feet away.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be walking home,” Emily said with a smile.

Her answer annoyed him. “It’s too late for you to be walking alone. Please, don’t make me spend the night worrying. I really don’t mind driving you.” He tried to hide the annoyance in his voice, and only partially succeeded.

“You really don’t need to drive me, but you can walk with me if it will make you feel better.” Taylor looked at her with questioning eyes. “You see that brick building?” Emily paused and pointed to the building right across the street. “That’s home.”

Taylor’s face lit up, realizing that she wasn’t refusing his offer. “Let me just hand the keys to Gabe and I’ll walk with you.”

Emily waited, as Taylor jogged to where his brother was shamefully fondling Sonia in the middle of the street and delivered the keys. Within seconds he was back, with the biggest grin on his face.

They crossed the street side by side. Taylor carefully looked to both sides of the empty street before deciding it was okay for her to cross it.

Reaching the heavy metal and glass door that opened to the lobby of her building, she fished for her keys in her clutch. Instead of fitting one of them into the lock, she kept them in her hands, fussing with them.

Taylor’s dread was weighing more and more on him by the second. “I had a really great time tonight, even though you kicked my ass with the darts.”

“Me too,” she said, giggling. “I haven’t had fun with someone new in a long time.”

“Ditto.”

A wild idea crossed Emily’s mind, pulling her brows together in a tiny frown. She knew that if she said the words on her mind that she would make herself more vulnerable and exposed than she’d been in years. The thought was very scary, but his company gave her the same happiness and peace she found with Jody and Zack, and that was the only reason why she was even considering it.

Before she could stop herself, her mouth opened and the words rushed out. “I’m going running around three tomorrow, at East Rock Park. I usually park my car in the parking lot closest to the high school at Mitchell, if you want to join me . . . ”

His goofy smile was beyond embarrassing.
What the fuck’s wrong with you, Carter? Get a grip!
he scolded himself, but he couldn’t help himself. It had been a while since he’d enjoyed being with anyone so much. He didn’t trust people, and for the past three years he’d been content with his routine of sleep, exercise, work and books. It didn’t necessarily make him happy, but it worked, and it was safe.

But that was until the morning when he met Emily.

She was refreshing and funny and when he talked to her, for the first time in years, he felt happy. He couldn’t explain why, but he desperately wanted to get to know her better and have her know him as well. He wanted more time with her, time to talk and laugh like they had that evening.

“I would like that,” he admitted excitedly.

Her eyes and face were still downcast, but he could see a slow smile spreading across her cheeks. “Good,” she began softly, and quickly turned around to unlock the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Good night, Taylor.”

“Good night, Emily.”

“
G
OOD MORNING,
Beautiful,” an unusually cheerful voice greeted as Emily’s mattress shifted with the added weight of its new occupant.

She moaned her disapproval at the intruder and rolled to the other side in a feeble attempt to remain asleep. Soft lips touched her cheek, while a large hand grasped her shoulder with the lightest touch and shook her ever so slightly. “Wake up, Emmy.”

It was after three in the morning when she lay in her bed the night before, but sleep had evaded her for yet another hour. Her mind kept going back to her night at Old Joe’s with Taylor, and to how strangely comfortable she felt with him.

Angling her face, she peeked out from under her lids at a wide-smiling Zack who was lying on his side next to her. “I’m exhausted Z. I only slept five or six hours,” she said yawning.

“I bet you did, and I want to hear all about you partying till dawn with our hot new friend.” Excitement was oozing out of him in waves.

Emily’s response to her friend’s probing was an eye roll and a low growl that made him laugh. Ignoring him, she rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in her pillow.
If I ignore him, he’ll go away,
she thought.

Her reasoning couldn’t be more wrong. Noticing she was making no move to get up, Zack smacked her behind and pulled the sheets from her body. “Up!” he demanded, “or I swear, I’ll get reinforcements, and you know how delicate Cupcake is when she’s hungry.”

Admitting defeat, Emily swung her legs off the bed and stumbled to the bathroom with her eyes still half-closed. After mindlessly brushing her teeth and hair and splashing a lot of cold water on her face, Emily felt confident enough to make her way to the kitchen and the buzzing of loud voices.

“Good morning Cheesecake,” Jody sang from where she was fussing with the coffee maker.

“Hi, Cupcake,” she greeted, kissing Jody’s cheek before making her way to Brad who changed the spatula from his right hand to the left in order to fist-bump Emily.

The greeting was an elaborate series of quick hand movements that always had Emily giggling. It had been their personal and exclusive greeting since they met. It had also been Brad’s idea when he noticed how uncomfortable she was about being touched, and she adored him for it.