Lisa Kleypas

“You’re going to shoot the messenger?”“Yeah, Dad, if the messenger can’t learn to keep his interfering ass out of my business.”

“Want to try it?" Dad offered, patting the arm of the chair. "Fifteen different kinds of massage. It analyzes your back muscles and makes recommendations. It also grabs and stretches the thigh and calf muscles.""No, thanks. I prefer my furniture to keep its hands to itself.”

“Sometimes the closest-held secrets in the world can be pried out by the right question at the right time.”

“Roy received my comments with a forcedsmile. "Hardy, didn't I warn you not to date a woman who reads?"Hardy seemed amused by my outspokenness. "Keeps the arguing to a minimum," he replied. "No point in trying when I know she's going to win.”

“Falling hard and fast. And there didn't seem to be a thing I could do about it.”

“I could apologize for all the women I knew before you. But I'm not going to.""Didn't ask you to," I said sullenly.His hand slipped under the sheet, gently sweeping over me. "I learned something from every woman I've been with. And I needed to learn a lot before I was ready for you."I scowled. "Why? Because I'm complicated? Difficult?" I fought to keep my breathing steady as he cupped my breast and shaped it.He shook his head. "Because there's so much I want to do for you. So many ways I want to please you." He bent to kiss me, and brushed the tip of his nose against mine in a playful nudge. "Those women were just practice for you.""Good line," I said grudgingly.”

“It was a train wreck happening right in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it, except that not only was I watching, I was also the train.”

“But when you started dating someone, you could never be sure what you were getting into. You had to give someone a chance to show you who he really was . . . and believe him when he did.”

“Dad," I said hesitantly, "I wish you could be there for me even when I'm doing the wrong thing. I wish you could love me even when I'm screwing up.”

“If you don't want to have sex, I don't want to talk about our feelings."He scrubbed his hand through his hair, looking confused. "Well, that's for damn sure the first time a woman's ever said that to me.”

“Because letting someone in close meant they could hurt you. I knew all about that kind of fear. I lived with it.”

“But I hadn't known what love was. And I wondered how you could ever be sure, when you thought you loved someone, if you really did.”

“I think at this point, safety isn't a feeling, it's a process. Starting with trust.”

“I scowled defensively. "My conversations don't usually include the subject of erections.""Too bad," he said. "All the best conversations do.”

“Do you think I should stay away from him?"I asked in a scratchy voice.Todd took a long time to answer. "My advice is, if you're inclined in that direction, go with your eyes open. It's okay to let someone play you, Haven, as long as you know what's going on.”

“It's just . . . I'd like you to find some nice guy with no weird fuckin' baggage."I had to laugh. My irritation vanished, and I reached over to pat his hand. "If you ever meet one," I said, "let me know.”

“Maybe he's not college-smart, but he's smart in a way they can't teach.”

“Yeah, I knew," he finally said, his voice soft. "I always knew I'd do whatever it took. Living in a trailer park, running in a pack of barefoot kids . . . my whole life was already set out for me, and I sure as hell didn't like the looks of it. So I always knew I'd take my chance when I got it. And if it didn't come, I'd make something happen.”

“And it occurred to me that friendship was a lot more dependable, not to mention long-lasting, than love.”

“But sometimes normal just isn't happening. Sometimes crazy feels too good to resist.”

“But it was too late now. A lifetime too late. A million wishes too late.”

“God, it was good. Comforting and stimulating at the same time. Absolute world-class pheromones. I wished I could take his jacket home with me.Not him, just the jacket.”

“Bad divorce?" Hardy asked, his gaze falling to my hands. I realized I was clutching my purse in a death grip.“No, the divorce was great,” I said. “It was the marriage that sucked.”

“I felt the kind of loneliness that can happen in a roomful of people when everyone but you seems to be in on the good time.”

“Rebound guys are the best." "They are?""They never even think of getting serious, because everyone knows you don't jump into a relationship right after a divorce. They just want to be your welcome wagon when you start having sex again. It's your time to experiment, girl!""The world is my petri dish," I said, raising my drink.”

“I was a new person in the same world, which was a lot more difficult than being the same person in a new world.”

“His quiet certainty made the ground beneath my feet feel solid. Like someday everything might actually be okay.”

“I figured if I told it to myself often enough, I would start believing it.”

“Sometimes an imitation of love can be pretty damn convincing.”

“This is a process," she said gently. "I know we want Haven to skip over the middle part and get right to the end . . . but I think the only way for her to get out of it is to go through it. Step by step.”

“Sometimes a simple question could have a complicated answer.”

“He had found my worst weakness: I was one of those people who was desperate to be needed, to matter to someone.”

“Of all the things he wants," Liberty said, "money's the easiest to get.”

“Make your choice and accept the consequences.”

“Sometimes I'm not nice for a reason. It's a way to find out what someone's made of.”

“The Travises who had survived were the most purely stubborn people on earth, the kind who relied on their backbones when their wishbones were broken.”

“He was my confidant, the person who was always on my side even when he wasn't taking my side.”

“I lacked some essential skill for attracting people, for giving and receiving love easily. It meant too much to me. I seemed to be driving away the people I most wanted. Finally I had realized that getting someone to love you was like trying to coax a bird to perch on your finger . . . it wouldn't happen unless you stopped trying so hard.”

“Aristotle taught that stars are made of a different matter than the four earthly elements— a quintessence— that also happens to be what the human psyche is made of. Which is why man’s spirit corresponds to the stars. Perhaps that’s not a very scientific view, but I do like the idea that there’s a little starlight in each of us.”

“…I love you. I love you desperately, violently, tenderly, completely. I want you in ways that I know you would find shocking……I want to talk with you forever. I remember every word you've ever said to me.If only I could visit you as a foreigner goes into a new country, learn the language of you, wander past all borders into every private and secret place, I would stay forever. I would become a citizen of you.You would say it's too soon to feel this way. You would ask how I could be so certain. But some things can't be measured by time. Ask me an hour from now. Ask me a month from now. A year, ten years, a lifetime. The way I love you will outlast every calendar, clock, and every toll of every bell that will ever be cast….”

“Admit it, Ella. It's not so bad being a carnivore."I reached for a chunk of bread and dabbed it in soft yellow butter. "I'm not a carnivore, I'm an opportunistic omnivore.”

“I should have told you to go to hell," I muttered.He smiled smugly. "I knew you wouldn't.""How?""Because women who are willing to cheat a little can always be talked into cheating a lot.”

“It sounds like if it weren't for your boyfriend, you'd be eating meat.""Probably," I admitted. "But I agree with Dane's take on the issues, and most of the time it's not a problem for me. Unfortunately, I'm temptable.""I like that in a woman. It almost makes up for your conscience.”

“Hello?""How's it going?" Dane asked.I relaxed at the familiar voice. "I'm having a fling with a younger man," I told him. "He's kind of short for me, and there's a little incontinence problem . . . but we're working to get beyond all that.”

“You've always been a know-it-all. Well, you're about to find out how much you don't know.""Believe me," I muttered, "I'm the first one to admit that I have no clue about any of this stuff. I had nothing to do with it. This isn't my baby.""Then give it to Social Services." She was getting agitated. "Whatever happens to him will be your fault, not mine. Get rid of him if you can't handle the responsibility.""I can handle it," I said, my voice quiet. "It's okay, Mom. I'll take care of him. You don't have to worry about anything."She subsided like a child who had just been mollified by a lollipop. "You'll have to learn the way I did," she said after a moment, reaching down to adjust her toe ring.A hint of satisfaction edged her tone as she added, "The hard way.”

“Dane picked up on the second ring. "How's Operation Baby Rescue going?""I've rescued the baby. Now I'd like someone to rescue me.""Miss Independent never needs to be rescued."I felt the hint of a genuine smile appear on my face, like a crack in the winter ice. "Oh, right. I forgot.”

“We were each other's only link to the past . . . that was the strength of our bond, and also our weakness.”

“Dane was shaking his head firmly. "Don't bring it here, Ella. No babies."I gave him a dark look. "What if it were a baby polar bear or a baby Galapagos penguin? I bet you'd want it then.""I'd make an exception for endangered species," he allowed."This baby is endangered. It's with my mother.”

“From what I was able to hear," Dane said, "Tara dumped off a surprise baby with your mother, who's planning to sell it on eBay.""Social Services," I said. "She hasn't thought of eBay yet.”

“I'm not running away from my fears," I told Dane. "I'm running away from my relatives.”