“With a glance over her shoulder to ensure no one saw them, she charged up the stairs. Mr. Aldercy fell into step behind her, and they hurried like schoolchildren afraid of being caught in a prank.However, at the top of the stairs, games stopped. He whisked her up the last step, twirled her around until her back was against the wall, and kissed her.”

“She didn’t want to see the blow coming, but refused to take the coward’s way. She raised her lashes, meeting his gaze with a steady one of her own, even though her knees threatened to buckle from fear.“You’ve made me very angry, Miss Constance,” he said. “No one disrespects the name Lachlan. Not without paying a price.”And then he did something she had not anticipated.He kissed her.”

“Leah’s baby was nestled protectively in the crook of Devon’s arm.In the golden firelight, his expression appeared grim. The neck of his shirt was open, the sleeves rolled up. With a soft gasp of mother love, Leah reached for her child. But Devon’s deep, silky voice stopped her.“Who is the baby’s father? And do you love him?”She froze. Her mouth went dry. Her heart pounded in her chest.He waited.”

“We were all that mattered back then, or have you forgotten? Do you not remember that night? How we stood beside the river and followed the Shawnee way? Do you remember what I whispered to you?"She shook her head, refusing to look at him. She tried to wrest her wrist free, but he held fast."You are lying," he accused quietly. "You can't forget.""How do you know?" she threw back at him.Alex smiled. "Because I can't," he admitted sadly.”

“She'd known many men in her life but this bear of a man with a lawyer's mind, an accountant's habits, and a knight's spirit outshone them all.”

“Sitting down in the evenings became a kind of torture, a bleak realization of her talents laid out against the bright shimmering fabric of her dreams. Yet she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t give up so easily. To stop writing completely produced in her a bleak and relentless depression, so she stubbornly persisted, plodding through endless drafts and revisions, telling herself she was learning something each time.”

“Before Van realized it, he was walking her back toward her stairs. He didn't stop kissing her, he wouldn't. The last thing he wanted was for her to change her mind. He managed to get her to the upstairs hallway before she pulled her mouth away. "What are you doing?" she panted out. "Taking you to your bed." "Forget it." And Van, if he were a crying man, would be sobbing. Until uptight Irene Conridge added, "The wall. Use the Wall.”