Page 124 of Reputation (Tempt)

“Kendall mentioned something about a panic attack,” Knox said.

“A what?” I gaped at him. “When?” And why the fuck had no one told me about it?

“The other day, when she was at our house looking at wedding dresses.”

“For Kendall,” I said.

“For both of them,” Knox said. “Kendall thought it would be a fun surprise.”

“What?”

I’d been out of town, but still…Emerson had never mentioned anything. Neither had Brooklyn, for that matter—at least not about a panic attack. The dresses, yes. Brooklyn had gushed about them, but I didn’t realize Emerson had been trying them on too.

“Yeah. You know—” Jasper gave me a pointed look “—wedding dresses. For when she walks down the aisle tomarryyou.”

Great. Papa J was already making plans for Christmas, and now Emerson was trying on wedding gowns. Next thing I knew, I’d be walking down the aisle to maintain this charade.

Though, the thought of marrying again no longer terrified me as much as it once had. But it was too soon, right? Besides, there was too much going on with Trinity’s custody claim to think about the future.

“Yes. Yes.” I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore his tone and the insinuation that flowed from it. “I know.”

Graham leaned back, resting his arm on the empty chair next to him. “Is she pregnant?”

“What?” I jerked my head back. “No.” At least, I didn’t think so.Shit.Was that yet another thing she was keeping from me, like this panic attack? “Why would you think that?”

“Because I don’t know what to think,” he said, surprising me with his unexpected outburst. “None of us does.”

“Graham,” Knox said in a warning tone. I got the feeling this wasn’t the first time they’d talked about this. Talked aboutme. Fuck.

I glanced between these men—my brothers. “If you have something to say, say it.”

“Your engagement came out of the blue. None of us even knew you were dating Emerson,” Knox said. “I mean, even Kendall was surprised.”

“Dating.” Jasper chortled. “Is that what we’re calling it?”

I stood so quickly, my chair nearly fell over. “Tread very carefully,” I seethed. “That’s my future wife you’re talking about.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Not if the rumors are to be believed.”

“I didn’t think you paid attention to rumors.”

“Kind of hard not to when everyone’s asking me if they’re true.” Jasper’s gaze was questioning. Assessing.

Fuck.First Pierce, and now this?

I’d come here hoping to relax and catch up with my family, and now I was dealing with a fucking inquisition. I was so tempted to tell them everything—the truth about my engagement, the bullshit with Trinity, how I’d fallen for Emerson. But…my shoulders slumped. I couldn’t.

If I couldn’t before, I definitely couldn’t now. Not after everything Pierce had told me. But I hated lying to them.

They’d always kept me grounded. Kept me sane. We’d always been there for one another, whether it was after our parents had all perished in that plane crash, when Brooklyn was born, during my divorce, our grandparents’ deaths, my Oscar win. Big or small, good or bad, they’d always been there for me.

I fumbled for something to say, finally settling on, “I didn’t want to tell anyone we were together,” as I sat back down.

“Because you were ashamed?” Knox asked, and I wondered if he’d been channeling his own feelings about his relationship with Kendall. She was twenty years younger than him. She’d been his employee at the time. And she used to date his son.

I knew he didn’t feel that way anymore. They were getting married, and I was happy for him. But it wasn’t hard to see why he might jump to that conclusion.

“Because I didn’t want to put that kind of pressure on our relationship. And I didn’t want to get Brooklyn’s hopes up.”

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