The Favor: A Marriage of Convenience Romance

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Owen swallowed. “She was mine first.” “And you should have held tight to her. You didn’t. You let her go. That was your mistake.”

Second, even if he wasn’t too much of a workaholic to be fully invested in a relationship, he’d be too difficult a partner. In business, things were never good enough for Dane—he was always moving the marker, always driven to have “more,” always finding imperfections. I suspected he’d be the same way with his partner; that he’d never feel truly satisfied. That kind of relationship did not appeal to me. In all honesty, I’d had a harmless crush on my boss for years now. I didn’t give myself a hard time about it. There was no way to remain unaffected by Dane Davenport. “Good-looking” was too tame a term for him. Tall, dark, and supremely male, he exuded a raw sex appeal that could shake any girl’s equilibrium.

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Since I would definitely have lost my own job, I’d have had to find another. Dane might have allowed me to conceal from future potential employers why I’d lost the job. But, knowing my ex, he’d have been spiteful enough to send my new employer a damn copy. After all, he’d warned me that he’d send one to my landlord, neighbors, and any future boyfriends. One of the things I most liked about being his PA was that I often accompanied him on business trips. They weren’t necessarily fun, since my time was rarely mine during those trips—I ran on pretty much the same schedule as him. Still, I got to travel on private jets, stay in luxury hotels, and attend exclusive events. I shrugged. “I was playing a game of Jumanji—it tends to get messy. So, why are you here? Is something wrong?”

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author. He smiled. “Yes, you do. And I still care for you. You can’t know how many times you popped into my head over the years. Hell, I even thought about you on my own damn wedding day.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have thrown away what we had. It was by far the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m so sorry I hurt you. It won’t happen again. If you give me another chance—” That would never happen for two reasons. One, I don’t love him. Two, I wouldn’t leave you in the lurch like that.”

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Sitting upright, she shoved her hair away from her face. “Okay, you’re starting to freak me out. What’s wrong?” I didn’t pine for him, though, for two reasons. First, I was a realist. I knew there would never be anything between us, and that surety enabled me to box the whole thing into my mental fantasy drawer. A drawer I only ever opened when I was spending quality time with my vibrator. Twelve months, at the very least. Purely because I have to be married for an entire year before I’m allowed to touch my trust fund.” You have the same pale blue eyes and high cheekbones. Her hair isn’t exactly the same platinum blonde shade as yours, but it’s close.” Damn, Dane was so good at acting that if he hadn’t been so clear about not wanting a real marriage, I might have believed him.

He blinked rapidly. “Well, it can’t be serious. You don’t live with him. You’re not with him on a Saturday evening.” Would I be able to fool them into believing I loved Dane? Probably. As he’d said, I had a good poker face. Even Wyatt struggled to sense when I was lying, and he had a tip-top bullshit meter. But … “I hate the thought of lying to the people I care for.” Let me know when you’re ready to have lunch. I’ve got calls to make.” “And I’ve got books to read so, yeah, see you in a few hours.”

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Ugh. I smoothed a wrinkle out of the white tablecloth. “There’s my dad, Simon—we’re pretty close. I also have my foster parents, Wyatt and Melinda. I see them often.”