“Hey,” he said softly. He moved closer to the bars, pressing his face between them. “I always said you were jailbait, but this is ridiculous.”

“Hey,” Shane said from the other side of the bars. “Trade you cigarettes for a chocolate bar.”Funny,” Eve said. She was almost back to her old unGothed self again, though there were still red splotches on her cheeks and around her eyes. “How come you’re always behind bars, troublemaker?”Look who’s talking. I didn’t try to outrun the cops in a hearse.”That hearse had horsepower.” Eve got that moony look in her eyes again. “I love that hearse.”

“That is disgusting, and I will never kiss you again." "Yes, you will," he said, and proved by pressing his lips to hers. She wanted to squirm away, just to prove the point but God, she loved kissing him.”

“Shane was silent a moment, then let out a long breath. "I bet I could convince you if I could get through these bars. . . .""You'd get arrested all over again.""Well, you're just that tempting. Jailbait." He kissed her fingers, which made her shiver all over; his lips lingered warm on her skin, reminding her of what it felt like to be alone with him, in that timeless...”

“You were right,” she said. “You were always right, about everything. And I will always love you, Sam. Forever.”

“Morley joined them, and after a long, uncomfortable moment, Mrs. Grant decided to ignore his presence. Theguards didn’t. Their knuckles were white on their weapons.May I assist?” he asked, and put his hands behind his back. “I promise not to eat anyone.”Very funny,” Mrs. Grant said. Morley gave her a grave look.I wasn’t joking, dear lady,” he said. “I do promise. And I never make a promise I don’t intend to keep. Youshould feel quite secure.”Well, I’m sorry, I don’t,” she said. “You’re just—”Too overwhelmingly dashing and attractive?” Morley grinned. “A common problem women face with me.It’ll pass. You seem like the no-nonsense sort. I like that.”Claire smiled at the look on Mrs. Grant’s face, reflected in the white LED light of the lantern she was holding.You are really—odd,” the older woman said, as if she couldn’t quite believe she was even having theconversation.”

“Not nearly enough. Not recently, anyway.” And she was sad about that.“I know,” he said, and kissed the back of her hand. “We’ll fix it. Get some sleep.”“Night,” she said, and watched him walk toward the door. “Hey. How’d you get in?”He wiggled his fingers at her in a spooky oogie-boogie pantomime. “I’m a vampire. I have secret powers ,” he said with a full-on fake Transylvanian accent, which he dropped to say, “Actually, your mom let me in.”“Seriously? My mom? Let you in my room? In the middle of the night?”He shrugged. “Moms like me.”He gave her a full-on Hollywood grin, and slipped out the door.”