Page 56 of The Husband Contract
"It was only a hundred and forty dollars, but to me..."My voice trails off. I don’t want to say that it was half of my net worth because that sounds pathetic.
"Oh, that’s not so bad, right?" he says as we wait for the elevator.
"Yeah, I guess for a lot of people it wouldn’t be."
He frowns slightly, and I watch as he grabs his wallet from his pocket. His gaze lingers on me in a contemplative fashion.
"Hey," he says, and I watch as he opens his wallet and pulls out a stack of hundred-dollar notes.
"W-what are you doing?" I stammer as I look at him.
He hands me a bunch of notes, and I take a step back.
"This is for you, Willow."
"No, Sebastian." My voice is loud now. "That is far too much money. I don’t want any of your money. I cannot take your money—especially not to gamble with."
"It’s only ten thousand dollars," he says, laughing. "That’s nothing to me. I want you to have fun on this trip, and I don’t want you to worry about money."
"Oh, gosh. I mean, I guess it is for you."
"Sorry, what?" he asks, staring at me.
"I just don’t want money to come between us."
"Look, Willow. I understand that you’re not really a gambler and you don’t want to lose your hard-earned money. Plus, you’re my girlfriend now, and I want to spoil you. I want you to have this ten thousand dollars so that when we play some more blackjack, you don’t have to look like you’re about to die if you lose it."
"Why do I feel like I’m in the movieIndecent Proposal?" I say, shaking my head.
"It’s not a million dollars I’m offering you," he chuckles. "Plus, we’ve already fucked."
"What?" I roll my eyes at him. "Really?"
"I mean, I’m just saying—doesn’t Demi Moore get offered a million dollars to sleep with Robert Redford?"
"I mean, yeah, but?—"
"Nothing. I’m only giving you ten thousand, and you’re my girlfriend, and we’ve already had sex, so?—"
"So what are you saying?"
"I’m saying this doesn’t make you some sort of escort or prostitute. It just makes you my woman."
"I guess I still don’t want to take it, Sebastian."
"I understand," he says, "but I want you to take it."
"Why?"
"Because I like you. A lot."
"I like you, too," I say.
"I would hope so, seeing as you’re my girlfriend now." He chuckles.
"Well, it’s not like you actually asked me."
"If I’d asked, what would you have said?"
