“„One down,” I said, turning to Kale. He wasn't paying attention. His gaze was fixed on the red silk baby doll in my hand.„What is this?” he asked, rubbing the satiny material between his fingers.„Clothes” I said. „For women.”His eyes widened. „Girls wear this?”„Yeah, but usually not for long” I chuckled.Kale turned as red as the teddy. „Are you going to wear this now?”„Umm. No,” I said, blushing.He seemed a little disappointed and I stifled a laugh.”

“They’re promise rings,” he whispered. Picking up the woman’s, he lifted my right hand. Sliding it on my finger, he softly said, “You wear one,” he slipped the man’s on the ring finger of his right hand, “and I wear one.”

“On a sigh he brought up his hand and used one long finger to brush a dark curl away from my face. With the saddest look in his eyes, he said, "A girl needs to be held right now, and comforted, and told that everything is going to be okay. I'm sorry I can't do that for you. I don't have any of that left." "I have a little," I said, "and I'll lend it to you.”

“That looks cozy," I said in a timid voice.He turned at the sound and-taking in my appearance-immediately spit hot chocolate all over."What?" I demanded.With an obvious effort to compose himself, he forced his lips into a frown and wiped his chin with the back of his hand. "Breathtaking."I raised an eyebrow,and his lips started to quiver, and then there was no stopping him. The laughter came in waves."Well,that's not exactly the reaction I was going for," I said."Isn't it?" he said, gasping for breath.I put my hand on my hip and tapped my foot as he inhaled deeply and rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand. "Finished?" I asked.He shook his head. "I love you.""I'm sorry?""You heard me." He stood and walked toward me.I glanced down at my sweats,and then back at his face. "Did you not notice my getup?"He halved the distance between us. "Oh yeah. I noticed," he said,like it was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. His lips curled up into a smile."Okay,so that's not the reaction I was going for either," I said,taking a small step backward as he closed the gap between us.He grabbed my hands in his and his grin disappeared. "Becks.I think I know what you're worried about,but I meant what I said.I love you. And I would never push you."My entire body turned red. "But don't you mythological higher beings-" I tried to remember how Jules had put it-"need...the...um..."Jack looked confused,and then he chuckled. "Please don't even try to finish that sentence.”

“He glanced down at the blood-smeared cut on his side...and realized he wasn't wearing any clothing. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't realized it already. Kind of obvious. It wasn't like he'd been going to take time out to find his clothing before stopping Liam.”

“I smashed his hand as hard as I could with the Wiffle bat."Ow!" he screamed.Carson was rubbing his red palm, inspecting it for damage. "That hurt," he shrieked. "You really hurt me.""Right back at you," I said. "Good-bye Carson."He frowned, massaging his hand, the big baby. "I just wanted to end this nicely.""Yeah?" I cocked the bat up to hit him again. "Well, this time you don't get what you want.”