“Correct me if I’m wrong,” he said, “but I was under the impression that you weren’t looking for anything more than a short-term arrangement either, Miss Free Spirit.”She flushed. “I wasn’t the one who ran for the door that night. I was doing just fine with the summer-fling thing.”“I did not run for the door. I left in a hurry, but I did not run.”“Details.”“Important details. And I’d like to remind you that I showed at your gallery the next morning,” he said. “It’s not like I didn’t call. And how the hell do you think I felt when you told me that the sex had been therapeutic? You made it sound like a good massage or a tonic, damn it.”She bit her lip. “Well, it was in a way.”“Great. Well, do me a favor. The next time you want physical therapy, call a masseuse or a chiropractor. Or buy a vibrator.”

“Later we can go to dinner.”“I suppose that might work,” she said.She sounded so damn casual, he thought. As if the decision she had just made weren’t staggering in its implications. As if it weren’t going to alter destinies and change the fate of nations.”

“I love you, Desdemona.”“I know,” she whispered. “You don’t have to say the words.”He smiled slowly. “Trust me, you’re going to hear them every day for the rest of our lives.”

“Probably a good idea, let me know how it ends""I already know how it ends""You read the ending first?""I always read the ending before I commit to the whole book.""If you know how it ends, why read the book?""I don't read for the ending. I read for the story".”

“He ran the back of his fingers along her cheek. “Being withyou this weekend made me realize how much I actually missed you. Andnot just sexually. I miss your smile. Your laugh. Your presence. Our latenight conversations while we lie in bed and I hold you. The way you raiseyour right eyebrow when you think I’m being an idiot. The way youknow exactly what I’m thinking or what I need without me having to evensay it. It just hit me hard that I truly miss you.”

“Trust me, Wainwright, ninety-nine times out of a hundred you can bet the bank that I’m serious.”“What about the one time when you’re not?”“I’m asleep.”

“You told me to tell the truth, and this is exactly why I didn’t want to. You want me to think I’m selfish.” “I want you to own your thoughts and actions, and not be afraid of them. Accepting your limitations is every bit as important as embracing your strengths.”