“You wanna be friends?"Click click. Was that so impossible? Was he so mad, suddenly disliked her so much again, that he didn't want to be in the same building? "Yes.""Friends like before or after we had sex on the floor?"Her thumb stopped. "Before.""Not interested.""Why?""Because I don't want to be your friend.""Oh." She swallowed her disappointment. It might be for the best, but she suddenly didn't want what was for the best. She didn't want to hate Sam and have Sam hate her. What choice did she have? "Okay.""I want to be your lover. I can't pretend I don't want more. I want to be with you, Autumn. I want to get you naked and throw your legs over my shoulders"She dropped the pen."I want to leave a mark on the inside of your thigh.”

“I have friends. I want more from you than that. I’m a selfish guy, Jane. If I can’t be your lover, if I can’t have all of you, then I don’t want anything.”

“He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked at her through those intense brown eyes she loved. "I wanted you when I thought you'd pull a bag over my head and snuff out my life. I wanted you more than I've wanted anything. I love you more than I've loved anyone. You burst into my life like sunshine and made me see how lonely I was. I don't want to live that way anymore." He pressed a kiss to her hairline. "I will love you with my last breath.”

“If she doesn't want to be friends with us, I certainly don't want to be friends with her. Hell, I didn't like the bitch anyway.”

“You're beautiful, Delaney, and you could have anyone you want. Why me?" She knew she wasn't beautiful, not like her mother. But the way he looked at her and touched her, and the tone of his voice when he said it made her almost believe him. He made her believe anything was possible. "Because you make me not want to say no.”

“The other night when I walked by and saw you in the media lounge, I fantasized about throwing you up on the table and doing you right there on top of the dessert trays.”“Sounds ... messy.”“And fun. I thought about all the interesting places I’d get to lick you clean.”She sounded as if she were holding her breath when she said, “I thought you don’t eat sugar.”He laughed. “I want to eat yours,” he said as he kissed the crook of her neck. “Does that shock you, little Jane?”

“Probably when we were fishing, but I got serious about it yesterday when we were swapping spit in your momma's front yard and I didn't care who was watching." He sat up and took her hand in his. "I wanted people to watch. I wanted people to see us together. I wanted people to see us kissing today. I want everyone to know that you're mine.”