Stephanie Bond

“- most people don't plan past the honeymoon. But reality sets in when it gets down to dirty socks and what's for dinner.”

“Fiancé. Americans had simply adopted a pronunciation from the French to sugarcoat the sticky implication of the word: Constrained. Bound. Trapped.”

“Fils de putain”

“Some people were like rubber bands--willing to stretch but eager to snap back into place at the first opportunity.”

“You're my hero," he murmured.She grinned up at him. "What a coincidence. You're _my_ hero.”

“Tallie looked for something to throw, but considering the fact that she threw like a girl, she dumped that plan in lieu of grabbing her new iron and swinging it like a bowling ball between the bad man's legs, where it connected with a nauseating _thunk_.”

“She had no doubt the man would kill her. Stupid things went skating through her mind--she'd never told her mother how much she loved her chocolate cupcakes... or Felicia what a kind friend she'd been... or Keith that it was cool and mature that he owned a house, even if it was in Brooklyn.”

“A lot of good the door did. The man's pheromones oozed through the keyhole and the crack underneath the panelled wood.”

“How about I kiss you so we can get past this awkwardness?”

“Says here there's a reward," Mr. Hooks said.Tallie blinked, then remembered Keith had added that tidbit for incentive. She opened her purse and scrutinized the contents of her slim wallet--twelve dollars and a book of stamps. She handed over the ten and the stamps, then tossed in a free drink coupon from Starbucks. "Thanks." Then she turned and fled.”

“Buckle up. It'd be embarrassing to die in a hearse.”

“I want to sleep in your bed."Her thighs tingled. "You must really like my mattress."He grinned. I never heard it called that, but yeah.”

“...big, strapping macho guys were like liquid diets--they were great for emergencies, but she wouldn't want to be on one all the time.”

“Girls, we're fiction editors--we know how to plot, and we know how to cover our tracks. We can teach Jerry Key a lesson he'll never forget.”

“Everything about the man spoke of virility--his quick reaction, his calm control now that danger had passed. And she'd never seen a man wield a gun in real life--it was kind of a turn-on to know that he'd protected her. Of course he had protected everyone, but he _had_ sort of singled her out by heaving her to the floor.”

“She had her own barometer for knowing when a man was getting too close: as soon as he felt comfortable enough to help himself to something in her refrigerator, he was history....Filching leftover was simply too domestic for her to stomach. A man might as well say, "I'm hungry and I'm taking your food, woman." First he'd be foraging for food in the fridge, next he'd be expecting her to cook for him, replace buttons on his shirt, and give up her job to have babies that looked like him.”

“There are a lot of things in the world that are unexplainable - love at first sight, vegetable pizza, and potpourri, for instance. But I doubt your ex's murder is one of them.”

“She might have to use her employee discount to buy something more threatening today, although at the moment the most dangerous thing she could think of that Neiman Marcus had to offer was the employee discount itself.”

“I was an intelligence agent for the British government.Agent double-oh-seven? she asked lightly.No, he said in a grave tone, then leaned forward and whispered, Agent sixty-nine.”

“I'm an acquired taste, he assured her, displaying one dimple, but addictive.”

“She cried over the messed up messy mess of her life, over her parents' failures and her own shortcomings.”

“If you tell someone you're divorced they don't even blink, but tell them you've never been married and they wonder what's wrong with you.”

“All we can do is make the best decisions we can with the best information we have at that time and place. And learn how to rebound, reinvent, and regroup. Remember—people who seem to move through life with confidence aren’t confident about the outcome of a decision; they’re confident that they can deal with the outcome, good or bad.”

“So… this business trip of yours?”“What about it?”“Are you and Coop sharing a room?”She raised her eyebrows, then said, “Right back at you, Cowboy.”“Liz and I are just friends.”“Uh-huh. I hope your shots are up-to-date.”“Meow.”