“Well," he said, "f’r example, if they ask where you’ve come from, you could say ‘Behind me,’and if they asked where you’re going, you’d say ‘In front of me.”

“I’m only going to say this once,” I say to tattoo guy. “Leave me alone.” “Or what?” he asks. Thought you’d never ask.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask, stepping out of the car.“Waiting for you.” He closes the car door behind me. “I called you earlier and your mom said you’d be home around nine. You’re two minutes early.”“Should I go away and come back?”“What do you think?” he asks, encircling my waist with his arms.”

“Plenty of patrons had asked me strange things, but this was the first who asked me where my car was parked. It was almost comical to look at the man, because he actually thought I was going to tell him. I struggled to come up with a reply, but the best I could muster was, "That's personal." What I meant to say was, "Sir, the fact that I work in a public library doesn't make me stupid, it just makes me poor. There's no way I'm going to tell you—a psychotic person who could very well have a knife in his pocket—where I have parked my car.”

“Do you ever look less than gorgeous?” Parker asked.“Based on the first time she came over here, I’m going to say yes,” Travis said from behind me.”

“Do you mind if I ask you a question, darlin'?""Only if you stop calling me darlin'""Now where I come from that's a term of endearment.""Really? Well, where I come from motherfucker is a term of endearment. Want me to start calling you that?”