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to tell you the other morning not to listen to them when I saw Bob dropping you off, but then I figured you’d already made up your mind about me and there was no point.”
    Amber was silent for a moment. “I’m really sorry if I came across as rude. It’s true the Crow s did tell me a few things along those lines about you , and I’m ashamed to say I believed them, except the werewolf part , of course.” To her relief Jesse smiled . “But I was lucky enough to run into a friend of yours called Tom in town today , and he set me straight on a few things. He is very complimentary about what you’ve done for the kids in the community.” She saw Jesse ’s shoulders visibly relax , and his smile reached all the way to his eyes.
    “It’s good to know some people can still see reason. Does this mean we can be friends?”
    “Of course, but I have one more question to ask you.”
    “What is it?”
    “Why didn’t you tell me you were a horror author when I asked what you wrote?”
    Jesse frowned. “I was a bit of a weird kid and when the other kids found out I wrote horror stories they gave me a hard time about it . It made me feel ashamed and I’ve never been comfortable telling people. W hen all this business started with Tehya I became even more paranoid. I didn’t want to scare you away , I guess.”
    “I wouldn’t have been scared away, in fact I love horror.”
    “Really? ” He look ed sceptical. “You’re an author of sel f-help books promoting love, light and positive vibes . How could you enjoy horror?” She caught a vaguely disparaging tone in his voice and her hackles stirred. She hated it when people disrespected her profession.
    “Okay , just because I write self-help books it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy other genres as well. I’m sure you read other books besides horror.”
    “True, but self-help and ho rror seem to be polar opposites. Self-help is about being positive while horror explores people’s worst fear a nd nightmares, which isn’t very conducive to positive thinking , you have to admit .”
    “That’s where you’re wrong. Horror is actually very beneficial to a healthy state of mind because it allows people to exp lore their darkest fears and desires in a safe way. Self-help is not about pretending the world is perfect or ignoring your dark side , but understanding yourself as thoroughly as possible. Knowledge is power , as they say.” Jesse looked thoughtful , and Amber couldn’t help comparing his reaction to being told he was wrong to Dominic’s. The few occasion s she had dared to challenge her husband had ended in a row with him sulking for hours . Eventually she had backed down just to restore peace.
    “I’ve never really thought about it like that before , but it does make sense. I’ve got to admit I’ve never had a high opinion of self-help and usually avoid that part of the bookstore.”
    “Have you e ver read any books in the genre? Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. ”
    A strange look passed across his face and Amber wondered what she had said to off end him, but then he laughed. “ I might as well admit this no w. After I met you I googled you and found some of your books so I b r ought one.”
    “Which one was that?”
    “ Treat ‘Em Mean ”.
    “No.” Amber hid her face in her hands . “I wish you had read any one but that one.”
    “So that’s not a typical example of your w ork then? ”
    “Far from it. It was the very first book I ever wrote , and I basically had no say in it at all. My publisher insisted that there was a big market for a book targeted at insecure men who found it hard to attract women. The message was that you need to behave arrogantly and treat women like sex objects in order to pull chicks. I’m so ashamed of it.”
    “I’m very relieved to hear that because it was pretty disturbing, and none of the techniques worked by the way .”
    He gave her a sly wink and t he penny dropped. “So that’s why you were