“The socializing hadn't been so bad, he acknowledged, and he couldn't say he minded the food, though a man would do better with a good beef sandwich. Still it was plentiful, even if you did have to pick your way through half of it to get to something recognizable.”

“There was nothing like an extra helping of guilt to cool a man's blood.And it was guilt as much as the hot food and the glass of good wine that got Brian through the evening in the Grant kitchen. The size of it left little room for lust, considering.There was Adelia Grant giving him a warm greeting as if he was welcome to swing in for dinner anytime he had the whim, and Travis getting out an extra plate himself-as if he waited on employees five days a week-and saying that there was plenty to go around as Brendon had other plans for dinner.Before he knew it, he was sitting down, having food heaped in front of him and being asked how his day had been.And not in a way that expected a report.He didn't know what to do about it. He liked these people, genuinely liked them. And there he was lusting after their daughter. An alley mutt after a registered purebred.”

“It was his fault.She could put the blame for this entirely on Brian Donnelly's shoudlers.If he hadn't been so insufferable,if he hadn't been there being insufferable when Chad had called, she wouldn't have agreed to go out to dinner.And she wouldn't have spent nearly four hours being bored brainless when she could've been doing something more useful.Like watching paint dry.There was nothing wrong with Chad, really.If you only had,say,half a brain, no real interest outside of the cut of this year's designer jacket and were thrilled by a rip-roaring debate over the proper way to serve a triple latte,he was the perfect companion.Unfortunately,she didn't gualify on any of those levels. Right now he was droning on about the painting he'd bought at a recent art show. No,not the painting,Keeley thought wearily. A discussion of the painting,of art,might have been the medical miracle that prevented her from slipping into a coma.But Chad was discoursing-no other word for it-on The Investment.He had the windows up and the air conditioning clasting as they drove. It was a perfectly beautiful night, she mused, but putting the windows down meant Chad's hair would be mussed. Couldn't have that.At least she didn't have to attempt conversation. Chad preferred monologues. What he wanted was an attractive companion of the right family and tax bracket who dressed well and would sit quietly while he pontificated on the narrow areas of his interest.Keeley was fully aware he'd decided she fit the bill,and now she'd only encouraged him by agreeing to this endlessly tedious date.”

“You must have six boxes of cat food in that cupboard.""Moshe gets cranky if I don't keep a variety."After tasking his breakfast, Alan found it better than he had expected. "I have a hard time understanding anyone as strong-willed as you being intimidated by a temperamental cat."Shelby lifted her shoulders and continued to eat. "We all have our weaknesses.Besides,as roommates go, he's perfect.He doesn't listen in on my phone calls or borrow my clothes.""Are those your prerequisites?""They're certainly in the top ten."Watching her,Alan nodded. She'd plowed hre way through the toast in record time. "If I promised to restrain myself from doing either of those things, would you marry me?”

“What are these?”Meg looked at the rings of keys in Nate’s hand, deliberately furrowed her brow. “Those would be keys.”“Why do you need so many keys?”“Because there are so many locks? Is this a quiz?”He jingled them in his palm while she continued to give him a sunny, innocent smile. “Meg, you don’t even lock your doors half the time. What are all these keys about?”“Well… There are times a person needs to get into a place, and hey, that place is locked. Then she would need a key.”“And this place that, hey, is locked, wouldn’t be the property of that person. Would that be correct?”“Techincally. But no man is an island, and it takes a village, and so on. We’re all one in the Zen universe.”“So these would be Zen keys?”“Exactly. Give them back.”“I don’t think so.” He closed his fist around them. “You see, even in the Zen universe I’d hate to arrest my wife for unlawful entry.”“I’m not your wife yet, buddy. Did you have a search warrant for those?”“They were in plain sight. No warrant necessary.”“Gestapo.”“Delinquent.”

“That had been her plan, he decided. The devious witch. She’d planted the seed in his brain, stirred up his loins, as he was only a man, after all, and now she could torment him just by being in the same vicinity.Well, two could play this game.Rather than waiting for Darcy to pick up the orders, he carried them out himself. Just to show Brenna O’Toole that she didn’t trouble him in the least.The perverse creature didn’t even glance his way as he swung into the pub and wound his way through the crowd to the tables.”

“Once I've made up my mind, I'm rock hard.""We've more than ancestry in common." He watched the sunlight add more heat to the flames of her hair. Touching it, lightly, fingertips only, Alan wondered how it would look after they'd made love. Wild strands of fire. "I wanted you from the minute I saw you, Shelby. I want you more with every minute that passes."She turned her head at that, surprised and unwillingly excited.It hadn't been an empty phrase or cliche.Alan MacGregor said precisely what he meant."And when I want something that immediately and that badly," he murmured while his fingertips strayed to her jawline, "I don't walk away from it."Her lips parted as his thumb brushed over them.She couldn't prevent it, or the lightning-flash thrill of desire. "So-" Striving to be casual, Shelby dug out some more popcorn before she set the bucket on a bench. "You put your engergies into convincing me that I want you."He smiled.Slowly, irresistibly, he circled her neck with his fingers. "I don't have to convince you of that. What I have to convince you of," he began as he drew her closer, "is that the stand you're taking is unproductive, self-defeating, and hopeless.”