“But you know what else never happened to me?""Tell me," he ordered, still...freaking...grinning."Seeing him just a day later in a clinch with a brunette.""You knew me, you'd know she didn't have staying power and you'd know you do.""And how's that?" I snapped."She's dark, you're red. I'll fuck dark, I'll fuck sun but only red has staying power. Considered sun once. Lost her. Now it's you.”

“I don't know what shit you're working though but I know its there. I know you'd rather not even acknowledge it and definitely don't want me to be a part of the process. I don't care. Princess, this is happening between you and me.""What, exactly, do you mean by 'this'? You fucking me?" I snapped..." Yeah. Me fucking you. In your bed, on your couch, in my bed and anywhere else I can think of. I'm gonna do you on your back, on your knees and you're gonna ride me. And when I've exhausted you and you don't have those fucking shields up, I'm gonna make you talk to me and tell me what this shit is about and then, maybe, I can help you with it.”

“I know you're freaked, I know you're scared and I know you can come up with a million reasons that you're not ready, all of which will be excuses. But now that I know exactly what's behind those shields you got up... you gotta know that knowin' that makes me no less into you... In fact, it makes me more into you... And you'll learn, because I'll prove it to you, I'll never hurt you.”

“You do it for me because you were the girl across the street, your hair shining in the sun, laughing, making me fall in love with you, and I didn't even goddamned fucking know you.”

“<…>Days before, seconds after she told him she wanted to have breakfast with her husband and he liked hearing her say that, he liked it too fucking much, he fucked up. Then he kept fucking up. Then he kept fucking doing it. He knew it and he couldn't stop. Then, the instant she pressed her mouth to his, her soft body in his lap, overwhelmed with emotion and sharing that with him he lost control and he knew he couldn't do that. And the only way he could manage to keep control was to stay the fuck away from her, her sweet smiles, her soft voice, her brightness, that fantastic fucking body. He couldn't hold up. So he stayed the fuck away from her and spent a lot of time thinking about how to encourage her to stay the fuck away from him.<…>”

“Today, I show you Lake Como even though I don’t know fuck all about Lake Como; I do know how to drive a boat. Tonight, no parties, no friends, no nothing. You, me, dinner. Later tonight, just you and me. You with me?”“I’m with you,” I whispered, and I was with him. So with him.”

“Tack grinned."You know," I started, "it's annoying when you grin all know-it-all.""This isn't my know-it-all grin, Red. This is my I'm gonna get me some later grin."I felt a couple of quivers that were on the high end of pleasant scale.Still, I shared. "That's even more annoying.""Don't know why since me gettin' some means you're gonna get some.”