Page 64 of An Engagement Pact

THE DAY DRAGS ON SLOWERthan normal, and I’m relieved when I return the last of the doggie daycare attendees back at Lock-N-Leash after their walk and clock off for the day just a few minutes later than normal.

It’s been hot and muggy all afternoon so I step into the shower immediately on getting home. Dan isn’t back yet, but he texted ten minutes ago saying he was on his way and was taking care of dinner.

He’ll probably pick up some takeout. We can have a nice, relaxing evening on the couch with dinner and a streaming show.

I’m longer in the shower than normal since the water feels so good after the humid day. When I finally get out and dry off, I discover that the comfortable lounge clothes I brought in with me are gone.

They’re gone.

Frowning, I wrap the towel around me and call out, “Dan? Did you do something with my clothes?”

For just a moment, my heartbeat picks up. After all, what if the disappearing clothes are the fault of someone other than Dan. But I don’t have time to work up even a brief flare of panic because Dan is standing in the bedroom as I emerge.

Something is up. I know it immediately, and not just because he took my clothes while I was in the shower.

He’s all dressed up. Not wearing what he wore to work but rather in a snazzy light gray suit and tie.

I freeze, my eyes running up and down his familiar figure in the unexpected outfit. When I return to his face, he’s smiling at me with his heart nakedly reflected in his expression.

My throat tightens. “Dan?”

“You need to put on something else, if that’s okay,” he tells me. “That’s why I took your clothes.”

“What’s happening here?” My fingers clench in my damp towel, which is still wound around my torso.

“What do you think?” He nods toward the bed, on which is laid out a lovely white sundress.

I gasp. Then gasp again. Then turn back toward Dan. “You big cheater!”

He bursts into laughter.

“It’s tomorrow! It’s supposed to be tomorrow! I was going to do my thing in the morning to beat you!Tomorrow!”

“I know it’s supposed to be tomorrow. That’s why I planned my thing for tonight.”

I kind of collapse on him, half laughing and half crying and playfully swatting at his chest. “I worked so hard to plan my thing so I could get it in before you.”

“You can still do it,” he says, wrapping his arms around me tightly. “I want to have everything you planned. Exactly as you planned it. Nothing that happens tonight should take away from that. But I’ve always been kind of ahead of you in this relationship, and I wanted to do this first.”

It takes me a couple of minutes to recover from my surprise and emotional response, but I’m finally able to pull away from him and wipe my eyes as I give him a teasing look. “I still say this is cheating.”

“Guilty.”

“So what have you planned? I’m supposed to wear that dress.”

“Yes. We didn’t get a real wedding last year, and I thought you might want one now.”

I gasp. “So it’s... it’s...”

“It’s a whole vow renewal ceremony. With guests and everything.” He slants me a quick look. “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Yes! It’s a beautiful idea. Thank you so much. I can’t believe it. I hope you didn’t go overboard.”

He clears his throat. His silver-gray eyes are both smiling and deep. “I might have gone alittleoverboard.”

“Dan!”

“You’ll see.” He takes a step back and pulls something out of his pocket. “But first I wanted to do something, since you missed out on this too.”

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