“Lucky Charms?” I asked.“Magically delicious,” he explained. “Requisite for any sort of building project.”I shook my head, still amazed at how he had managed to weasel his way over here. “This isn’t a date.”He cut me a scandalized look. "Obviously. I’d bring Count Chocula for that.”

“He shook his head, but I kept flattering him, telling him how fine his beard was, how fair his skin was (ha!), how it was obvious from his nose and forehead that he wasn't some pig herd who had converted, but a true-blue Muslim who had flown here on a magic carpet all the way from Mecca, and he grunted with satisfaction”

“Are you here to freak me out in any other way?""Nope.""This would include asking me for a date," I warned."Babe, don't date," he replied."You don't?""Do tequila shots followed by 5 hours of sex count as a date? he asked."Um... no," I answered."Then I don't date."I smiled at him.Then, stupidly, I asked. "You can have sex for 5 hours?"He smiled at me.Yikes.Moving on.”

“You look…” he shook his head looking her up and down, “You look delicious. If I don’t get you out of here, I’m going to devour you like it’s my birthday, and you’re my cake.”

“He bent his head to mine and kissed the sense out of me. If you’d asked me my name, I’d have told you wrong. He had that kind of ability and he was mine, maybe it was because he was mine and because I loved him the way I did that his spell could cast itself over me with such ferocity.”

“I was supposed to be meeting someone, but they had to cancel. After I’d already gotten here, of course,” I explain, bitterness dripping from my voice.“Want me to kick his ass?” he asks. I look up at him and he’s grinning at me over the top of his glass.“No. You might be embarrassed when she gets the better of you.”