The Favor

by Suzanne Wright

“He looks at you like … I don’t know. Like he’d keep you all to himself if he could.”

“Unlike you, I’m not interested in the holidays. It will be just another day to me.” “So I won’t be able to convince you to dress up on Halloween?” His brow furrowed. “Is that a serious question?” And there went my dream of him dressed in a fireman’s outfit. I leaned back in my chair. “I guess I can spend the day with Ashley and Tucker.” His frown deepened. “You’ll spend it with me.” “Doing what? You’ll hole up in your office.” “We’ll go to the city’s annual Halloween festival.” My mouth almost dropped open. I sat up straight. “Okay, you’re really starting to worry me now. Daytrips, meals, festivals. You’re not dying, are you?” He

I closed my eyes. “Why?” I asked, my face in his chest. “Why did you do this for me?” He squeezed my nape. “You know why,” he said, his voice low.

Because HE LOVES YOU

“But … you’d lose your trust fund if we divorced now.” He cursed beneath his breath. “You’re more important to me than a trust fund, Vienna.”

He crossed to the desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a document of some sort. Returning to me, he held it out. I carefully took it from him. It was a letter. A letter he’d received from a hospital. I quickly read it and frowned. “You … you’ve booked an appointment to have your vasectomy reversed?” “You want kids, don’t you?” And then the tears fell. They just poured right down my face. There was no holding them back. Dane softly cursed again and caught my face with his hands.

“I thought you were just playing the role of possessive husband.” He rested his forehead against mine. “No, baby girl. For me, this has been real for a while now. How did you not see that? I took you on dates, I got you that damn cat, I sleep in the same room as you.” “But never in your room. I thought that meant you were making it clear that it was just sex.” He lifted his head, frowning. “You love the room I chose for you, so why would I ask you to move? If you want us to move into the master bedroom, we can. But I don’t think of it as my bedroom anymore. I go in there to dress—that’s it. It’s more like an oversized closet.”