“Although it’s always nice to make new friends.”“Who are mutually attracted?”“That’s a bonus.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Elise,” he says, a slow, sexy smile pulling at his lips. “I’m Harlin.”

“And when we left Colorado last month, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever make another friend again.”“But then I came into your life. Sounds like fate to me.”

“How do you get places?”“I go around saving attractive girls,” he says. “Obviously.”

“I try to tell myself he’s probably a teddy bear on the inside. But I’m pretty sure that’s not true.”

“What can I say? You bring out the devil in me.”“That’s not a comforting thing to tell a pastor’s daughter,”

“In my hand I hold a small guardian angel figurine set in a smooth, clearstone. It’s beautiful, a promise of love. Of forever.”