“Jude was the sickness I didn't want to be cured of. He was the intoxicant I never wanted to be clear of.”

“As I'd discovered this week, Jude was every kind of mystery that appealed to a woman and every kind she could never unveil. He was every enigma to which I wanted the answer to.”

“That man made me feel things I never imagined could be felt. He made me want things I wasn't sure I could have. He made me need things I didn't know existed.”

“Something was fighting back, telling my gut to take a hike. Something wanted Jude Ryder in my life, no matter the consequences or the outcome. And whatever that something was, I liked it.”

“The name's Jude Ryder since you're going to be my wife soon. And I didn't used to do girlfriends, flowers, or dates. And then I met you, and that didn't work for you. So I changed for you and you changed for me too,”

“Is that one of your go to lines when a girl asks for something more than a twenty-four hour Jude furlough?" Tapping the back of the wall with his heel, he looked down the hall. "No, that's what I answer when a girl I'm falling hard for, the only girl I've fallen hard for, wants to be in a relationship with someone like me.”

“You want me?” I repeated, my bewilderment not abating, but growing. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”