My Only Exception Read Online Free PDF Page A

wondered if it had always been that way for him. From what I knew, Braden had grown up the middle child of three rowdy and equally good-looking brothers. When his brothers stopped by the restaurant with him, I nearly fell over at the gorgeousness of the three of them together. I also knew that his parents were missionaries and he and his family had lived a little bit of everywhere. I had a feeling that he’d broken a lot of hearts all over the world before settling here in Wilmington. Hell, he’d broken a lot of hearts just in the past year that I’d known him.
    Braden’s eyes lit up when he saw me, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Well, hey, beautiful. Feeling more yourself tonight?” He watched me with amusement as I rolled my eyes and shut the door to my locker. There was no way I was going to let my drunken behavior the other night change things between us. I was sticking to the usual game we played. He flirted with me outrageously, in hopes that I’d eventually cave and go out with him, and I blew him off. I felt much more comfortable with that arrangement than the one where I spilled my feelings for him and very nearly dragged him off to bed. Ihad really hoped he would forget all about the other night. But knowing him, he’d kept his drinking to a minimum and remembered every embarrassing detail.
    I took a second to glance in the full-length mirror that one of our fellow waitresses, Angie, had installed on the wall. She had put it up after she’d walked around an entire shift with marinara sauce on her bottom that all of the other staff had been too busy to notice. She’d been mortified and I couldn’t blame her. I would have too. In fact, during my short breaks I always checked my back-side in the mirror to make sure the same thing didn’t happen to me.
    I glanced down at my fitted khakis and white button-up shirt, the standard attire for the wait-staff at the grill. I’d added a black cardigan and comfortable black flats. My long blonde hair was pulled back from my face and my skin glowed golden from all the beach time I’d been putting in lately. It was my absolute favorite place in the world to be and I logged countless hours laying out there and reading while listening to the waves crashing. It was pretty much certain that if I wasn’t at school or work, then I was at the beach.
    Braden’s grin widened as I turned to face him. “Don’t worry. No need to check yourself. You look gorgeous, as always.”
    Despite my anger at Braden the other night, or what I remembered of it, I just couldn’t stay mad at him. And in spite of myself, I grinned back. He was such a shameless flirt that I’d be crazy to believe a word he said. And here I was half-way in love with him. 
    “Thanks Braden,” I said, “but I’ve heard you use that line way too many times to believe it.”
    He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I meant every word I said, promise. With you, I don’t have to exaggerate.”
    I smiled at him, grabbing my half apron and then playfully rumpling his hair with my hand as I walked by. Secretly, I was enjoying the feel of it running through my fingers, but I’d die before I let him know that.
    “Later, Braden,” I called back as I slipped out the door and into the busy kitchen. I tied my black apron on as I walked out, dodging coworkers balancing trays full of food.
    As I was picking up my order book, a deep voice called my name. “Presley!” I turned around to see Wyatt striding up to me. He lifted me off my feet with the ease and comfort of someone I’d known my whole life, twirling me around before setting me back down. “I guess I get to work with the best of the best tonight.” He winked at me and laughed when I swatted playfully at him.
    I smiled back, genuinely excited to see Wyatt. It seemed our school schedules never allowed us to work the same shifts. We were both attending Wilmington University: him for criminal justice and me for business. And it wasn’t a