“For the first time ever, I'd managed a great parting line and a grand exit. And it still felt like crap.”

“There was something so . . . stalwart about Ben. I'd only known him two days and he'd managed to infuriate me most of that time. But there I was, protected by the curve of his arm, and grateful for it. And not just because it for nice, though it did.”

“You have a funny way of showing how much you don't like me.""I don't like gophers, either, but I wouldn't leave one to suffer. I'd shoot it to put it out of its misery.”

“[W]hen Ben was kissing me, the whole world retreated. I felt things I'd never felt before, in places I never knew were connected.But I was pretty sure that whatever was buzzing against my thigh was not normal. For one thing, it was ringing.Ben dragged his mouth away from mine and mumbled a curse that was a little shocking and kind of hot."Ignore it," he said.That was easy for him to say when his cell phone was rounding third base. If anyone got a home run tonight, I didn't want it to be Verizon Wireless.”

“I didn't say I was going to find the Mad Monk.""But you will," he said, placing his worn and stained Stetson on his head. "You've got that look about you."What look is that?" I asked, tired of his family maligning mine. "A Goodnight look?""A responsible one." He adjusted his hat, in a motion I'd seen Ben make a dozen times that day, right before he drove home his point. "Like you're the girl who takes care of things. So take care of it, dammit.”

“Focus, Amy. Just because he looked great in the saddle did not mean he wasn't an axe murderer.”

“i should take my dog for a walk now. i can only handle one bitch at a time”