“Do you think I need the turmoil and complication you’ve brought into my life?Dou you actually think I’d tolerate al that because we’re good in bed?”“You don’t have to tolerate it” she fisted her hands on his chest. “ you don’t have to tolerate any of it.”“Damn right I don’t. But I am tolerating it because I think I’m in love with you.”

“I don't think you tell someone you love them because you expect something. I think you tell them because you have something to give.”

“What are these?”Meg looked at the rings of keys in Nate’s hand, deliberately furrowed her brow. “Those would be keys.”“Why do you need so many keys?”“Because there are so many locks? Is this a quiz?”He jingled them in his palm while she continued to give him a sunny, innocent smile. “Meg, you don’t even lock your doors half the time. What are all these keys about?”“Well… There are times a person needs to get into a place, and hey, that place is locked. Then she would need a key.”“And this place that, hey, is locked, wouldn’t be the property of that person. Would that be correct?”“Techincally. But no man is an island, and it takes a village, and so on. We’re all one in the Zen universe.”“So these would be Zen keys?”“Exactly. Give them back.”“I don’t think so.” He closed his fist around them. “You see, even in the Zen universe I’d hate to arrest my wife for unlawful entry.”“I’m not your wife yet, buddy. Did you have a search warrant for those?”“They were in plain sight. No warrant necessary.”“Gestapo.”“Delinquent.”

“Because you’re the one. Because I’ve never felt for anyone what I feel for you. I want a lifetime with you, Abigail. I want a home with you, family with you. I want to make children with you, raise them with you. If you truly don’t want any of that with me, I’ll give you the best I’ve got, and hope you change your mind. I just need you to tell me you don’t want it.”

“You asked him to go to bed with you?”“I did, and you’d think I’d smashed him in the balls with my wrench. So that’s the end of that.”Jude folded her hands, leaned forward. “I’m going to pry.”Brenna’s lips twitched. “Oh, you haven’t started that yet?”“Not nearly. What exactly did you say to him?”“I said, plain enough, that I thought we should have sex. And what’s wrong with that?” she demanded, gesturing with her spoon. “You’d think a man would appreciate clear, honest speaking.”

“I think writer is a word without gender, and a good writer observes, absorbs, hopefully empathizes then translates that into character and story.You don’t have to do or be or have experienced, traveled to, but you have to imagine all of that, very well–and believe it completely during the bubble of the work.”

“It’s good to be with someone when you know you matter. Not assume,” she qualified, “but know. To be with someone, who even when you don’t think you want or need it, will stand up for you. Someone who sends you flowers and buys you magic wands. I’m not going to look around the corner for what’s next.”