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date?”
    “What are you implying? I might not be a saint, but I’m nothing compared to some of the whores in this town. That bitch back there’s seen more wang than the Hong Kong phone book.”
    Sam laughed out loud and swerved a little.
    “I’m not implying anything. I’m just saying that anyone who takes the time to actually know you will see right through all that crap. You’re not like them, and that’s a good thing. Take this Elijah character for instance. Apparently he’s a hot item around these parts.”
    “You picked up on that, huh?”
    “Yeah.” He smiled. “The thing is they can’t compete with you fairly for someone intelligent enough to see the real you.
    So pettiness like that is their only means of competition.”
    I shook my head and sighed. “I just don’t understand it.”
    “Jealousy?”
    “I guess. Apparently I don’t see what it is everybody else does when they look at me. Like today, my hair isn’t even fixed. I don’t understand why they’re so threatened.”
    “And that’s part of your appeal.” He winked.
    “My lack of self confidence? Oh yeah, that’s real attractive.”
    Sam sighed as he reached over and took hold of one my hands to prevent me from cracking my knuckles any more.
    “Men love a beautiful woman who has no idea that she’s beautiful.”
    His kind smile quenched the fire that memories of past wrongs had only helped to fuel. We decided to go through the drive through for Chinese on the way home. It was a relief to go some place where they didn’t give a damn who I was in the car with.
    The small Chinese restaurant in town was run by a family from China who stuck out about as much as I did. Not only did they not join in the local gossip, they really didn’t seem to care. With most of the locals, they pretended not to speak English just to avoid nosy and ignorant questions. But with me, they would talk freely and were always pleasant. It was nice to know they didn’t put me in the same category with everyone else.
    Once we were back home, Sam carried in the take-out and I grabbed the movies.
    “Where do you want to eat?”
    “Take it in the sitting room. We’ll just eat in front of the TV.”
    The entertainment center and television sat sort of in the corner of the sitting room. It was on the wall opposite the fireplace and just to the left of the open entrance past the stairs. I brought in two large glasses of tea and propped my dinner on a pillow across my lap while Sam started the first movie. I couldn’t help admiring how good he looked in those faded old jeans. Marco still had him beat, but Sam was worth a second look. Maybe there was something about werewolves that just made them more noticeable. That was a possibility, but something told me Sam had always had a way with jeans.
    “So how come you have a sitting room and everybody else has a living room?” he grinned.
    “Because this house was built before everyone lived around the television. So therefore, in a house this old, it’s a sitting room.”
    We ate dinner while making occasional comments about the movies, but we were mostly quiet. No matter how hard I tried to pay attention to our little movie marathon, I was nervous and kept fidgeting.
    “Come here,” Sam said and stretched out his arm toward me.
    I hesitated for a minute and he added, “I won’t bite.”
    I scooted closer and let Sam put his arm around me. It wasn’t quite the comfort I got from Marco, but it helped.
    —
    At four o’clock Sam woke me.
    “You alright?”
    “Yeah,” I mumbled. “What did I miss?”
    “Darlin’ you missed it all.” He smiled.
    He asked if I wanted to go to bed or stay there while he watched some show about Egyptian pyramids. Both of us knew we would most likely be up all night anyway, so I decided to stay with Sam. If I went upstairs my mind would start working overtime again. Besides, falling asleep next to him was the first rest I’d gotten in a week that hadn’t required serious