“So that's how you charm the cobra," I quip. He smiles devilishly. "If you really want to see what effect you have on my snake, I'd be happy to show you.”

“What the hell do you want from me?” “What are you trying to do to me?”“Stop! Just stop!” he spits.“Why? What else needs to be said? I think you’ve told me enough lies for a lifetime.”“No more lies,” he says angrily. “I don’t even want to talk to you anymore. I just want to hear you tell me that you don’t feel anything for me. That you want me to leave you alone and never come back. Then I’ll go. If that’s what you really want, I’ll go.”“Don’t. Please don’t say it.”“Why?”“Because I don’t want you to. I need you to come back to me. Not to help me. Or to help my father. I’m done with that. I don’t want your help. It all boils down to you. I just want you.”“I just want you.”“Okay.”

“How about two dollars per hour above what your current employer is paying you?”My mouth wants to drop open. “Don’t you even want to know what that is?”He makes a face. “Nah. I get the feeling you’ll be worth it.”

“Look, you came all the way out here to help me. The least I can do is give you a place to stay. But my dad will be there, so…”“So we have to be quiet,” he whispers, waggling his eyebrows comically.I just smile. I neither confirm nor deny that there will be more sex. But there will be. If he tries very hard at all, there definitely will be.”

“Trick looks up and his eyes meet mine. I am a deer caught in the headlights. I am a girl charmed by the cobra. I am breathless and mesmerized. And then he grins. Just like that, I'm his. Whether he knows it or not.”

“Audition? What did you have in mind?”He laughs. “Nothing too creative. I don’t want to push my luck with the sexual harassment thing. Yet.”

“Look, Olivia, I care about you. Can’t you see that? Can’t you feel it? I might not have always done the right thing, but try to see it from my perspective. Do you know how hard it was for me to tell you all this? Knowing that you might leave and never come back? I was just hoping that you wouldn’t do that. Leave. But you did. And I know I should let you go. But I can’t. I just can’t.”