The Devil’s Temptation

"Denise Harper? She's back?"

I snapped awake. My mind cleared in an instant, and something heavy shot up into my throat. I couldn't quite name the feeling.

Jason Benson froze. He hadn't expected me to be awake. In the glow of the phone screen he hadn't turned off yet, I caught the flicker of something unnatural in his expression. He forced out a quiet "Yeah."

My heart skipped. Almost instinctively, I reached out and tugged at his hand, my voice soft as I said, "Can't you send someone else? I don't want to be alone. I'm scared."

The truth was, something didn't sit right. That gut feeling women get—sharp and unexplainable—told me there was more to this.

"Her kid's sick—why isn't she calling her husband? Why you? And aren't her parents still in the city…"

"Enough!" Jason suddenly snapped, his face darkening as he rubbed his brow in frustration. "They've divorced. Who is she supposed to call? It's the middle of the night. You think it's okay to bother her parents at this hour? Can you not be so unreasonable?"

The words hit like cold water. I just sat there, stunned, staring at him.

In the three years we'd been married, he'd always been gentle—attentive, careful with my emotions. We'd been close and hardly ever argued.

This was the first time he'd dropped the tenderness and raised his voice at me. All because I asked him not to run to his first love?

Jason seemed to realize he'd gone too far. He hesitated, then softened his tone.

"Sorry, babe. I didn't mean to scare you. Her mom's always been good to my family—it wouldn't look right to say no. Don't worry, I'll just take Denise and her daughter to the nearest hospital and head right back. Half an hour, tops. And you've got our baby to keep you company, right? Call me if anything happens."

It was not okay to disturb her parents at night, but it was okay to disturb an ex?

And was it really just because of Denise's mom?

My mouth opened, but I swallowed the rest of my words.

He'd said all he needed to say. What else could I do but agree?