“I almost saw your boyfriend naked this morning.”I laughed at the look on her face. “I don’t know what to say to that, you’re welcome?”

“I don’t care what color your hair is, if you’re pale or tan, if you have makeup on or just woke up all I care about is that when I look at you, you always look back and see me.  You’re beautiful inside and out and if you wanted to tattoo all that pretty white skin from head to toe I would be honored to put it there for you but if not I’ll take you all smooth and milky white any chance I get.”

“Look I have somewhere I have to be and I don’t particularly love that I have to go, but you freaking out and making a scene is not going to do anything other than piss me off. I hope you had a good time last night and you can leave your number but we both know the chances of me calling you are slim to none. If you don’t want to be treated like crap maybe you should stop going home with drunken dudes you don’t know. Trust me we’re really only after one thing and the next morning all we really want is for you to go quietly away. I have a headache and I feel like I’m going to hurl, plus I have to spend the next hour in a car with someone that will be silently loathing me and joyously plotting my death so really can we just save the histrionics and get a move on it?”

“I know I messed up but I’m here for real now. We’re going to do this and I promise I’ll take care of you as best I can. You’re going to have to be patient with me because I’m flying blind.”

“You have to promise not to bail on me when I get lost, Shaw. You have to promise to just wait it out until I can find my way back. I need to know you’re at the end of the tunnel when everything goes black.”

“I kissed her.  I kissed her so thatshe could feel my regret, my desire to do right, the way that she had a pieceof me now and I wasn’t letting go.  I kissed her because I had to and kissingher made me feel better.  When I lifted my head her mouth looked puffy and dampand her eyes were glassy with banked passion.I missed you too.”

“I wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her to me so I could kissthe top of her head. “Because those are work. I put them on people and thenthey go out into the world where they are hopefully appreciated and loved byother people. Anything I do for you, anything between us isn’t work and it’sfor you and I to appreciate. When I work on you I do it knowing what I put on you will be with us forever. Like I said if you want it in there I’ll be happy to put it in, but if not then I’ll be happy to be the one to admire all my handiwork every day.”