“V had a passing thought that she used the word "anyway" like an eraser on a crowded chalkboard. She said it whenever she needed to clear off the things she'd just shared to make room for more.”

“She'd ended up passing out, and sometime later, John must have gotten up to use the loo and left the light on. Probably to make sure she didn't feel lost if she woke up. Because that's the kind of male he was.”

“Butch, I got sick and needed some time to regroup. But I wanted to see you. That's why I asked you to come calling when I ran into you back in December. When you said no, I thought... well, you'd lost interest."She'd wanted to see him? Had she said that?"Butch, I wanted to see you."Yeah, she had. Twice.Well, now... didn't that perk a guy up.”

“When she orgasmed, she said his name. Twice. And didn’t it make him glad that even though he had no voice, his ears worked just fine. –JM”

“She wanted to walk into a crowded restaurant where a man would look up and take her into his arms with his eyes. She wanted to know what it was like to feel that she was beautiful to someone and had been eagerly waited for”

“And it was funny. The silence of him had a bizarre effect on her. Normally, she was the quiet one in situations, preferring to keep her own council and not share her thoughts on anything. But with John's mute presence, she felt curiously compelled to talk."I'm stuffed," she said, lying back against the pillows. As he cocked a brow and lifted the last Danish, she shook her head."God...no. I couldn't manage another thing."And it was only then that he began to eat."You waited for me ?" she said, frowning. When he ducked her gaze and shrugged, she cursed softly." You didn't have to."Another shrug. As she watched him, she murmured, "You have beautiful table manners." His blush was the color of Valentine's Day and she had to tell her heart to calm the fuck down as it started to beat fast.”

“if she thought she'd seen his eyes burn before, it was nothing compared to what they were doing now. Frost had never been so hot.”