Page 74 of The Biting Bargain

"Blood," she says, and I nod.

"But other than that, do you have a favorite food?" she asks. "Anything you prefer to eat over anything else in the world?"

Your pussy."Not really."

"Cheeseburger?"

"No."

"Then maybe sushi?"

"No."

"Pizza?"

"No, no pizza."

"What's wrong with you?" She laughs, a pearly sound that causes goosebumps between my shoulder blades and makes everything worse.

I can't let her go.

It would be the fair thing to do. Let her go. Pay her hard-earned money. She's given me enough. Too much. Let her go.

But I can't.

I want more.

"Where did you get that curse, anyway?" she asks now, licking a blob of sauce from her lips. I stare at her.

"Hello, Earth to Vincent?"

"By a werewolf," I answer her question before I can stop myself.

She huffs. "Oh, really. But how did that happen? I mean, you're super smart and super strong and everything. How did a werewolf even get close enough to bite you?"

Her question hits too close to home for comfort. That’s basically what my father yelled into my face when he found out. However, his wording was more like, "How stupid can you be? What kind of dumb excuse of a son are you?"

I clear my throat, battling down the discomfort. What does it matter if she knows the entire sob story? She knows most of it anyway.

"Fell in love with the wrong woman."

She stares at me. Swallows the bite. It could almost be funny if mortification didn't freeze me from the inside.

"It was a she-wolf??"

I nod, embarrassed, and look down at my hands.

I was young. And stupid. And the nineteenth century wasn't exactly easy on paranormal night stalkers, who were still hunted wherever they went at the time if they weren’t careful or prepared. I wasn’t prepared for Fernanda, however, who seemed unsuspecting, a highborn countess, widowed, rich, alone.

"I trusted her." I shrug. "Not my best idea."

A shadow falls over Polly's face. She sets the half-eaten sandwich aside and pushes the plate a little away from her.

"That sucks," she finally says. And in those short two words I hear it very clear. She may not have been tricked and bitten by a covert werewolf, but she understands. How it is to be led on.

After all, her ex did sell her out to mobsters.

"It does." I sigh, scratching my neck. "But it’s ancient history. And apparently, it won’t be a problem anymore, I guess."

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