The first and smartest is to apologize to all of us and ask us to forgive you for your hasty, unthought, and ill chosen words. Doing so will not make...you any less of a man, for a true man can also admit that he has made a mistake and apologize. The second is to follow through and give you the chance to prove you are as good as your word. If you make no choice, that means you cannot admit to your error, and in effect force us to assume you've made the second choice. I insist that you decide. Her hateful Mom had coerced her Dad into humiliating her, but he had always been good to her, had always been her guiding light, always there when she needed him. Why was he now treating her like this? She managed to turn a little and was stunned when she saw the eyes sparkling with moisture on his saddened face, showing sorrow for what he was doing. She felt her heart shrink at this unexpected show of affection. At the same time, an entirely different sensation was rising inside her. The big. ??Uh-huh,? I murmured, railing against the happy tendrils still lingeringin my noggin.?I didn?t know what else to do. I took a chance that if I kissed youagain, they?d simply shut up about it.? Then his apologetic tone grew alittle haughtier. ?Looks like I was right.??You can?t keep doing it,? I said, not really feeling much in agreementwith my words. Despite knowing that the effect was a result of the stone?spower, I found it was starting to grow on me.Not unlike what had transpired with Lee.. . me." Money has nothing to do with it. If anything, most rich guys I know want to – and expect to – fuck everything that moves, but can't stand the thought of someone else laying a finger on 'their toys'." John shook his head.I chuckled at that.He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table while giving me that sincere, serious look again. "You and I are not so very different, at least when it comes to these complicated relationships. It certainly can be hard striking the right balance.