That was the kind of insult that would haunt me to my grave. Unacceptable.

A MONTH LATER, I was still enraged about it. A bad kisser? A bad kisser? I mean, “workaholic”? Fine. There’s no shame in being fantastic at your job. “Not fun”? Whatever. Fun was overrated. But a “bad kisser”?

“You have three deal-breaker flaws.” The words echoed in my head as I braced for them. Three deal-breaker flaws. “One,” Robby said, “you work all the time.” Okay. He also worked all the time. But fine. “Two,” Robby went on, “you’re not fun, you know? You’re so serious every minute.” Um. Holy shit. How do you argue with that? “And three,” Robby said

“It’s for the best,” he said. “You need to grieve, anyway.” “You don’t deserve my grief,” I said. “I meant your mother.”

“I can’t stop you,” he said, “and I’m not going to try. But I’ll tell you this right now. There’ll be no ‘leaving the company’ when this crashes and burns. You’ll get no pity from me, and you won’t get a letter of recommendation, either. If you apply somewhere else, I’ll torpedo you with the worst reference in the history of time. You’re mine. I

“You don’t know the future,” Robby said. “No, but I know the two of you.” Glenn was pretty pissed, and that was not unreasonable. We were his investment, his kids, his favorites, and his retirement portfolio all rolled into one.

It’s the easiest thing in the world for agents to get together—and it’s the hardest thing for them to stay together. What are you going to do when it ends?”

“I don’t want to break up. I love you.” “You only say that,” Robby said then, his voice tinged with a certainty I’ll never forget, “because you don’t know what love is.”

And he’d underestimated me, as well. Because it’s so much harder to love someone who’s difficult than to love someone who’s easy.