“Not into older guys, huh?" asked Adrian once we were alone."You're imagining things," I said. "Clearly, my stunning beauty has clouded your mind.”

“You're imagining things. Clearly, my stunning beauty has clouded your mind. -Rose Hathaway”

“I don't suppose," I said, once we were in the car, "that she just gave you the job based on looks alone?" Adrian had been staring off but now flashed me a big smile. "Why, Sage, you sweet talker." "Thats not what I meant! What happened?" He shrugged. "I told the truth." "Adrian!" "I'm serious. She asked me what my greatest strength was. I said getting along with people." "Thats not bad," I admitted. "Then she asked what my greatest weakness was. And I said, 'Where should I start?'" "Adrian!" "Stop saying my name like that. I told her the truth. By the time I was on the fourth one, she told me I could go.”

“Plus, you're the last Dragomir. You're always going to be in the spotlight. Who’s she? Just another Ivashkov. There are tons of them.''Probably because all the guys like Adrian and have all sorts of illegitimate children.''Adrian doesn’t have any children.''That we know of,' I said mysteriously.”

“Did you really just invite Adrian to your room later?" asked Lissa.Avery shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. Sometimes we hang out once you guys are all tucked into bed. You aren't going to get jealous, are you?" "No," laughed Lissa. "Just curious. Adrian's a good guy." "Oh?" asked Christian. "Define 'good'." Avery held up her hand and began ticking items off with each finger. "He's devastatingly handsome, funny, rich, related to the queen..." "You got your wedding colors picked out?" asked Lissa, still laughing. "Not yet," said Avery. "I'm still testing the waters. I figured he'd be an easy notch on the Avery Lazar belt, but he's kind of hard to read." "I really don't want to be hearing this," Christian said.”

“I didn't realize when I brought him back here that you'd inflict more damage." I said, once I'd finished the story."I was defending your honor." Adrian gave me that devil-may-care smile that always managed to both infuriate and captivate me. "Pretty manly, huh?”

“Because it's one of those things I never expected in my lifetime," he told me. "Like a comet. Or world peace. I'm just used to you being single."For some reason, that bothered me. "What, you don't think any guy would ever be interested in me?"Actually," said Adrian, sounding remarkably serious, "I can imagine lots of guys being interested in you.”