“I'm not sure whether you're confident or delusional, but thanks anyway.”

“I'm impressed." I meant it, and he nodded his head in thanks."Yeah, turning jars into soda.Let the world tremble before my power.”

“Whoa, I'm your girlfriend now?" Archer shrugged. "We've tried to kill each other, fought ghouls, and kissed a lot. I'm pretty sure we're married in some cultures.”

“I'm sure we can manage without him for a few months. Although without his healing powers, we'll certainly have to invest in more bandages.”

“Cal shrugged. "That's one word for it. I'm not all that thrilled with it either."I pushed the covers off and got out of bed, making sure my nightshirt didn't ride up. "Cal, I already have to deal with an angry dad today. Please don't pull some macho "bethrothed" thing on top of it, okay?"He caught my wrirst. "I'm not. And it's not you I'm pissed at. It's them. They shouldn't have taken you there."His hand was warm on my skin.”

“This thing with us is the only real thing I've had in a long time. You're the only real thing." He raised our hands and kissed my knuckles. "And I'm done pretending I don't want you.”

“I glanced around, but no one seemed to be watching me. That would probably change once I started yelling at a waiter. I have Archer what I hoped was a significant look, but thanks to all the sparkle, I wasn't sure he got it. I walked away to the corner of the room and ducked behind a truly insane amount of potted plants. The light back there was dim and green, and everything smelled rich and loamy.”