“He scooped up Victoria practically before she hit the ground, well within the five-second rule. If she'd been a potato chip, he could have still eaten her. Not something I particularly wanted to contemplate.”

“I couldn't see him putting up with the restraints and discipline of being a Bottom - he wouldn't have been able to remember half the rules - and no sane person would allow Rob to be his Top.”

“She didn‟t look like the athletic type to me.” “Maybe Nemov carried her. He looked like he could.” “He looked like he could carry his SUV. I don‟t know why he didn‟t.”

“I’ve been telling you that you should hire Warren.”“Nat, I’m not going to hire Warren.”“Why not?”I opened my mouth to tell her exactly why not, but as I stared at her too-bright blue eyes and the way her chin was quivering, I chickened out.“Because…because I promised Angus when he left that he could have his job back.”“Adrien, he was involved in a murder.”“But he was very good at alphabetizing.”

“Well, well," he said. "This can't be a coincidence.""It could," I said. "The odds aren't high, but they do exist.""Uh-huh.”

“It was nearly five before Jake walked in. He was sunburnt, wet, and smelled faintly of fish. Sexy as hell. Don’t ask me to explain.”

“He was right. I knew the score. He’d never pretended it was other than it was--whatever the hell that was. I’d never kidded myself there was any chance for us. Well, not often anyway.I guess my mistake had been in believing he was too smart and too honest not to eventually realize…Not his feelings for me--because I didn’t think what he felt for me was that significant--but his own true nature. How could he deny what he was? How could he choose to live such a profound and cancerous deception?”