“Because if she had to be off-track and a little lost, then she was going to have fun while she was at it, dammit.”
“But dammit, she was tired. Tired of doing what was expected, tired of feeling like she was missing something.”
“He didn't see anything."She rolled to her feet. "I was in your bed! We could have scarred him for life!""Grace, we weren't doing anything. Well, I wasn't. You were snoring.""I don't--" She smoothed her dress down and searched out her sandals, shoving her feet into them. She glanced at herself in the mirror over his dresser and groaned. Hair, wild. Lips, swollen. Face, flushed. Nipples, hard."Dammit!" She clapped her hands over them. "It's like they're broken!”
“She was like a drug. The most addicting kind, and he had a problem—he was pretty sure that she was developing feelings for him. He had no idea what to do with that, or with is own feelings, which were definitely getting in his way. This whole "no emotional attachment" thing had gone straight to shit. Because Mallory Quinn was emotionally attached to every person she ever met, and she had a way of making that contagious. He craved contact with her in a way that he wasn't experienced with.”
“You're not going to be bear bait," he promised, turning her so that she was behind him. "Not today anyway."She grabbed a fistful of the back of his uniform shirt and pressed up against his back. "How do you know?""Well, you're behind me, for one thing. So if anyone's going to be bear bait, it'll be me. And brown bears are extremely passive. If we take a step toward him, he'll take off."She let go of him, presumably so he could do just that, even giving him a little nudge that was actually more like a push. With a laugh, Matt obliged and stepped toward the bear, waving his arms. With a look of reproof, the bear lumbered to his feet and vanished into the bush.”
“Sugar," Tara said in a voice that was pure Pissed-Off South. "You need to go far, far away."A few weeks ago, he'd have taken that to mean she didn't want to see his face within a six-hundred-mile radius. Now he knew the truth. He distracted her. He could live with that. "Came to see if I can help.""I think I know how to make burgers," she said smoothly. "But bless your heart."In other words, f*** off and die.”
“He slid her a look, and she held up her hand in a solemn vow, making him smile. "Were you a Girl Scout?" he asked."Not even a little bit," she said. -Matt and Amy”