“Why did you call me that?""Cinda? Because no one else does.”

“You're so sweet . . . Cinda ... I knew you would feel like this ... I knew it would be this way. Put your arms around me . . . ah, Cin. . .”

“I want you any way I can get you. Not because you’re beautiful or clever or kind or adorable, although devil knows you’re all those things. I want you because there’s no one else like you, and I don’t ever want to start a day without seeing you.”

“Captain Phelan and I dislike each other,” Beatrix told her. “In fact, we’re sworn enemies.”Christopher glanced at her quickly. “When did we become sworn enemies?”Ignoring him, Beatrix said to her sister, "Regardless, he’s staying for tea.”“Wonderful,” Amelia said equably. “Why are you enemies, dear?”“I met him yesterday while I was out walking,” Beatrix explained. “And he called Medusa a ‘garden pest,’ and faulted me for bringing her to a picnic.”Amelia smiled at Christopher. “Medusa has been called many worse things around here, including ‘diseased pincushion,’ and ‘perambulating cactus.”

“It's just...Hardy was always the one I was supposed to end up with. He was everything I dreamed of and wanted. But damn it, why did he have to show up when I thought I'd finally gotten over him?”

“I know I'm a bad bargain. But I'm begging you to have me anyway. Because I want a chance to make you as happy as you make me. I want to build a life with you."He fought to steady his voice. "Please come to me, Cat, because there's no surviving you. You don't have to love me back. You don't have to be mine. Just let me be yours.”

“Please come to me, Cat, because there's no surviving you. You don't have to love me back. You don't have to be mine. Just let me be yours.”