“So just tell me what you like on the menu, and we'll negotiate."All that is required is that you taste what is ordered. You do not have to eat it."No, no more of this tasting shit. I've gained weight. I never gain weight."You have gained four pounds, so I am told. Though I have searched diligently for this phantom four pounds and cannot find them. It brings your weight up to a grand total of one hundred and ten pounds, correct?"That's right."Oh, ma petite, you are growing gargantuan." I looked at him, and it was not a friendly look.”

“Oh, ma petite, you are growing gargantuan."I looked at him and it was not a friendly look. "Never tease a woman about her weight, Jean-Claude. At least not an American twentieth-century one."He Spread his hands wide. "My deepest apologies.""When you apologize, try not to smile at the same time. It ruins the effect.”

“He laughed, and it raised goose-bumps on my arms. "Oh,ma petite ,ma petite , you are precious."Just what I wanted to hear. "So how are you getting here?""My private jet."Of course, he had a private jet. "When can you be here?""I will be there as soon as I can, my impatient flower.""I prefer ma petite to flower.”

“I didn't want to understand. Bert had been thrilled that the police wanted to put me on retainer. He told me I would gain valuable experience working with the police. All I had gained so far was a wider variety of nightmares.”

“I don't think we can do that.""At these prices you should bring the cow out and have a ritual sacrifice atthe table. Just do it." I handed him the menu. He took it.”

“I have lived with others more powerful than I in Belle Morte’s line for centuries, Anita. I, more than most, know just how much you must fight every night of your existence not to be consumed by their power.” He paused and then whispered so that it filled the darkened car, “If you are not careful, their beauty will become both heaven and hell, you will betray every oath, abandon every loyalty, give up your heart, your mind, your body, and your immortal soul to have them near you but one more night. Then one cold night, a hundred years after the passion is spent, and nothing but ashes remain, you look up and see someone gazing at you and you know that look, you’ve seen it before. A hundred years later and someone gazes upon you as if you were heaven itself, but you know in your heart of hearts that its not heaven you’re offering them, its hell.”

“I have lived for over three hundred years. In that time, the ideal of beauty has changed many times. Large breasts, small, thin, curved, tall, short, they have all been the height of beauty at one time or another. But in all that time, ma petite, I have never desired anyone the way I desire you."- Jean-Claude”