"Tell Bock. Get somewhere public," I said. "Call the cops. Or better yet, call Billy and Georgia. If what you felt really was some kind of predator, they won't want to stick around if they know they've been spotted."

"You sound as if you've dealt with them before," she said.

I smiled a little. "Maybe a time or two."

She smiled up at me, and it was a grateful expression. "It must be very lonely, doing what you do."

"Sometimes," I said.

"Always being so strong when others can't. That's… well, it's sort of heroic."

"It's sort of idiotic," I replied, my voice dry. "Heroism doesn't pay very well. I try to be cold-blooded and money-oriented, but I keep screwing it up."

She let out a little laugh. "You fail to live up to your ideals, eh?"

"Nobody's perfect."

She tilted her head again, eyes bright. "Are you with someone?"

"Just you."

"Not with them. With them."

"Oh," I said. "No. Not really."

"If I asked you to come have dinner out with me, would it seem too forward and aggressive?"

I blinked. "You mean… like a date?"

Her smile widened. "You do… you know… like women? Right?"

"What?" I said. "Oh, yes. Yes. I'm down with the women."

"By coincidence I happen to be a woman," she said. She touched my arm again. "And since it seems like I might not get a chance to flirt with you a little more while I'm at work, I thought I had better ask you now. So is that a yes?"

The prospect of a date seemed to me like a case of bad timing in several ways. But it also seemed like a good idea. I mean, it had been a while since a girl had been interested in me in a nonprofessional sense.

Well. A human girl, anyway. The only one who even came close was in Hawaii with someone else, giggling and thinking about pants. It might be really nice just to be out talking and interacting with an attractive girl. God knows it would beat hanging around my crowded apartment.

"It's a yes," I said. "I'm kind of busy right now, but…"

"Here," she said. She took a black marker out of a pocket in her sweater and grabbed my right hand. She wrote numbers on it in heavy black strokes. "Call me here, maybe tonight, and we'll figure out when."

I let her do it, amused. "All right."

She popped the cap back on the marker and smiled up at me. "All right, then."

I picked up my staff. "Shiela, look. I might not be around this place. I'll respect Bock's wishes. But let him know that if there's any trouble, all he has to do is call me."

She shook her head, smiling. "You're a decent person, Harry Dresden."

"Don't spread that around too much," I said, and started for the door.

And froze in my tracks.