“Sometimes one appears to have more freedom than one actually possesses. It is easy to see what one wishes to see.”

“Sometimes the world is better off if one always defaults to option number two.”

“No one knocked on his door the next day. Nor theday after. Nor the one after that. But that didn’t meanhe was unaware of what was happening. Someonehad carried a plate of those fucking biscuits past hisroom, and even the oak door had provided nobarrier for the smell. Not for anything of hers.”

“No one is fine on his own. People just say they are.”

“Gabriel didn't need to look back. To see. He trusted his friend. He smiled grimly. And wasn't that the crux?”

“Good morning.” His lips quirked. “I nearly expired from old age, waiting to see if you would actuallyknock on the damn thing. My heart couldn’t take it any longer.”She lifted her chin and stepped inside, brushing past him as she did so. “So you are saying that if only Ihad had a few beats more, I would finally have been rid of you?”She caught his lazy grin as she passed. “I plan to haunt you even in the afterlife,” he whispered, the air ofhis words brushing her ear, the door engaging behind her.”

“I suppose I will just have to make sure that I marry someone I look forward to curling around every morning. Whom I can't be without before breakfast. Or in the noon. Whom I need to race home to see after each appointment. Determined to lock her in my rooms, not because I need to hide anything but because I'd just as soon have her all to myself. To look upon her beloved face and hear her lips whisper in my ear.”