The Free Pass

Chapter 54

Mallory

The waitress brought us the check at the end of the night.

"We should split it," I said.

Shawn looked at me like I was crazy. "I asked you out. I'm paying."

I finally agreed after a little protesting. It only made sense since all the cash I had in my wallet came from Shawn. Not that he gave me an allowance or anything. But the money I used came out of his account. That got me wondering about the money situation.

"Do we have a joint account?" I asked. "I know I have a debit and credit card linked to your accounts, but is my name on anything?"

"I've never added you, but I'm happy to do it. Andrew actually advised me not to back when we thought the marriage might be temporary."

"I'm surprised he didn't insist on a prenuptial agreement," I said.

"He wanted one. I didn't think it was necessary. You've never given off gold digger vibes."

I didn't fault Andrew for being cautious. His job was to protect Shawn.

"Don't worry about adding me to anything just yet. Let's see where things go," I said. "I was just curious."

"If you ever need money, it's there. You don't have to ask me for it. I've got quite a bit."

It was funny that I had no idea what Shawn was worth. Given what the list price the new condo we'd seen online was, he obviously had some money. We didn't live like we were rich, though. Shawn was fairly moderate. He had some very nice clothing, a few expensive watches, and his guitar collection was worth a small fortune, but that was it in terms of luxury purchases. I realized that this was another thing I could add to the long list of things I loved about him.

"You ready to head home?" he asked after the waitress picked up the receipt.

"Sure. It's only been about 90 minutes, though. That's a pretty short date," I said as I stood up and let him help me put on my jacket.

"It's not that cold out. We could take a walk along the water."

"That sounds perfect."

We walked towards the waterfront. There were quite a few people out, many of them couples like us. After walking a block, Shawn reached for my hand.

"Is this okay?" he asked.

"It's more than okay."

It was a clear early fall night and the moon shone brightly in the sky. We walked in silence taking in the sights and sounds around us.

Twenty minutes had passed and Shawn suggested we turn around and head back. Before long we were parking in the condo's private garage again.

We continued to hold hands in the elevator and down the hall to the condo door. Shawn stopped at the door and didn't get his key out right away.

"First date down," he said with a grin.

"Thank you for a lovely night," I said.

I stood there waiting for the goodnight kiss. He leaned in and gave me one.

On my cheek.

He then proceeded to unlock the door.

Gracie was happy to see us. Shawn scooped her up in his arms and I gave her kisses on her chubby cheeks.

"How was she?" I asked.

"An angel, just like she always is," Karen said.

"It's only 8:20," I said. "You should stay a bit. We could do something together."