“Far be in from me to dictate how you should assuage your guilt. Do you have a lot of it?"She bit his good shoulder. "You're about to find out."She toppled them both off the bench and onto the mat. "Well, ouch. I take it guilt doesn't bring out your gentler side.”

“I'm just full of surprises." Watching her, he waved the wrapped bar from side to side. "You can have the candy if you sit on my lap."That sounds like something perverted old men say to young, stupid girls."I'm not old, and you're not stupid." He sat, patted his knee. "It's Belgian chocolate."Just because I'm sitting on your lap and eating your candy doesn't mean you can cop a feel," she said as she folded into his lap.”

“Do you think you're walking out on me, on your life, because you defended yourself against a monster?""I killed my father.""You killed a fucking monster. You were a child. Are you going to stand there, look me in the face, and tell me that child was to blame?"She opened her mouth, closed it. "It's not a matter of how I see it, Roarke. The law--""The law should have protected you!" With visions dancing evilly in his head, he snapped. He could all but hear the tight wire of control break. "Goddamn the law. What good did it do either one of us when we needed it most? You want to chuck your badge because the law's too fucking weak to care for it's innocents, for it's children, be my guest. Throw your career away. But you're not getting rid of me.”

“That Chippendale is a coffee table, Lieutenant, not a footstool.""How do you walk with that stick up your ass?" She left her feet where they were, propped comfortably on the table. "Does it hurt, or does it give you a nice little rush?""Your dinner guests," he said, curling his lip, "have arrived.""Thank you, Summerset." Roarke got to his feet. "We'll have the hors d'oeuvres in here." He held out a hand to Eve.She waited, deliberately, until Summerset had stepped out again before swinging her feet to the floor."In the interest of good fellowship," Roarke began as they started toward the foyer, "could you not mention the stick in Summerset's ass for the rest of the evening?""Okay. If he rags on me I'll just pull it out and beat him over the head with it.""That should be entertaining.”

“Hold on a minute." She leaned out the window, shouted at the messenger who'd nearly sideswiped her vehicle with his jet-board. "Police property, asshole. If I had time I'd hunt you down and use that board to beat your balls black.""Darling Eve, you know how that kind of talk thrills and excites me. How can I keep my mind off sex now?”

“Summerset, don't you ever sleep?""It's Lieutenant Dallas. She's--"Roarke dropped his briefcase, grabbed Summerset by the lapels. "Has she been hurt? Where is she?""A nightmare. She was screaming." Summerset lost his usual composure and dragged a hand over his hair. "She won't cooperate. I was about to call your doctor. I left her in her private suite."As Roarke pushed him aside, Summerset grabbed his arm. "Roarke, you should have told me what had been done to her."Roarke merely shook his head and kept going. "I'll take care of her.”

“Damn it all to hell and back again, you know very well that was a setup. You bloody well know I couldn't put my hands on her.""Yeah, yeah, sure, sure." Eve shrugged off her coat, tossed it aside. "I know a setup when I see it, and I know your face, ace. I didn't see desire on it, I saw annoyance.""Is that so? Is that bloody well so? Well, if you knew it was just what it was, why did you sucker punch me?""Mostly?" She turned, cocked a hip. "Because you're a man."Eyes narrowed on her face, he tried to stanch the blood with the back of his hand. "And do you have any sort of idea just how often I might expect your fist in my goddamn face because of my bleeding DNA?”