“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.”

“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.”

“I think I'm going to cry, this is crazy.""No, you're just processing. Go ahead and cry.""I thought men got nervous around crying females.""I'm a Marine, remember? We're trained to handle anything.”

“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.”

“Friends may come and go but enemies accumulate.”

“I love threats. They make great quotes. Is that recorder working, Irene?”

“The hero in a romance is the most important challenge the heroine must face and conquer. The hero is her real problem in the book, not whatever trendy issue or daring adventure is also going on in the subplot. In some way, shape, or form, in some manner either real or perceived on the heroine's part, the hero must be a source of emotional and, yes, sometimes physical risk. He must present a genuine threat.”