Being nearly naked around Barrons felt a lot like going to a shark convention lightly basted in blood.

I love books, they're in my blood.

All my life, up until that moment, I'd had a warm, protective blanket wrapped around me, knitted of aunts and uncles, purled of first and second and third cousins, knot-tied with grandmas and grandpas and greats. That blanket had just dropped from my shoulders. I felt cold, lost and alone.

And there you have it...if I knew that I could only have a few nights in that man's arms or nothing, I would take those magic nights and use them to keep me warm for the rest of my life.

You never knew what you could get away with until you tried.

I'm a bartender. I like recipes. They're concretes. Was the drink recipe for seduction one shot charm and two shots self-deception, shaken, not stirred?

A fecking flamethrower! Why didn't I think of that? Best I came up with was a measly hair dryer.