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I thought," Alcide said. His broad face looked unhappy. "But she's not ... Why do I care about her? I'm not sure I even like her. I like the hell out of you."

"Thanks," I said, smiling from my heart. "I like the hell out of you, too."

"We're obviously better for each other than either of the people we're dating are for us," he said.

Undeniably true. "Yes, and I would be happy with you."

"And I'd enjoy sharing my day with you."

"But it looks like we're not going to get there."

"No." He sighed heavily. "I guess not."

The young waitress beamed at us as we left, making sure Alcide noticed how well packed into her jeans she was.

"What I think I'll do," Alcide said, "is I'll do my best to yank Debbie out of me by the roots. And then I'll turn up on your doorstep, one day when you least expect it, and I'll hope by then you will have given up on your vampire."

"And then we'll be happy ever after?" I smiled.

He nodded.

"Well, that'll be something to look forward to," I told him.

Chapter Eight

I was so tired by the time we entered Alcide's apartment that I was sure all I was good for was a nap. It had been one of the longest days of my life, and it was only the middle of the afternoon.

But we had some housekeeping chores to do first. While Alcide hung the new shower curtain, I cleaned the carpet in the closet with Resolve, and opened one of the air fresheners and placed it on the shelf. We closed all the windows, turned on the heat, and breathed experimentally, our eyes locked on each other's.

The apartment smelled okay. We simultaneously breathed out a sigh of relief.

"We just did something really illegal," I said, still uneasy about my own immorality. "But all I really feel is happy we got away with it."

"Don't worry about not feeling guilty," Alcide said. "Something'll come along pretty soon that you'll feel guilty about. Save it up."

This was such good advice that I decided to try it. "I'm going to take a nap," I said, "so I'll be at least a little alert tonight." You didn't want to be slow on the uptake around vampires.

"Good idea," Alcide said. He cocked an eyebrow at me, and I laughed, shaking my head. I went in the smaller bedroom and shut the door, taking off my shoes and falling onto the bed with a feeling of quiet delight. I reached over the side of the bed after a moment, grabbed the fringe of the chenille bedspread, and wrapped it around me. In the quiet apartment, with the heating system blowing a steady stream of warm air into the bedroom, it took only a few minutes to fall asleep.

I woke all of a sudden, and I was completely awake. I knew there was someone else in the apartment. Maybe on some level I'd heard a knock on the front door; or maybe I'd registered the rumble of voices in the living room. I swung silently off the bed and padded to the door, my socks making no noise at all on the beige carpet. I had pushed my door to, but not latched it, and now I turned my head to position my ear at the crack.

A deep, gravelly voice said, "Jerry Falcon came to my apartment last night."

"I don't know him," Alcide replied. He sounded calm, but wary.

"He says you got him into trouble at Josephine's last night."

"I got him into trouble? If he's the guy who grabbed my date, he got himself into trouble!"

"Tell me what happened."

"He made a pass at my date while I was in the men's room. When she protested, he started manhandling her, and she drew attention to the situation."

"He hurt her?"

"Shook her up. And he drew some blood on her shoulder."

"A blood offense." The voice had become deadly serious.

"Yes."

So the fingernail gouges on my shoulder constituted a blood offense, whatever that was.

"And then?"

"I came out of the men's room, hauled him off of her. Then Mr. Hob stepped in."

"That explains the burns."

"Yes. Hob threw him out the back door. And that was the last I saw of him. You say his name is Jerry Falcon?"

"Yeah. He came right to my house then, after the rest of the boys left the bar."

"Edgington intervened. They were about to jump us."

"Edgington was there?" The deep voice sounded very unhappy.

"Oh, yes, with his boyfriend."

"How did Edgington get involved?"

"He told them to