“Time had come to formulate a reason to abandon the gardens and leave Miss Bower to leech onto some other gentleman, preferably one who had a certain fondness for parasites.”

“You are a cad,' he told himself. 'A cur. A bounder. A scoundrel. A ... human thesaurus.”

“It's not broken--""It is now." What? Had it not been gentlemanly to tear up her motor?”

“His fingers snaked between them and found her clit. His thumb pushed against her even as his cock shoved inside in a thrust that had her gasping.“Come for me.” His whisper.Her eyes opened. When had she closed them? Lora met his stare. “Make me.” A taunt. One she’d never given a man before. What the hell was her problem? What was she—He pulled on her clit. Thumb and forefinger, tugging, then pressing, pushing down with just the right force as his cock thrust into her, again and again.His hips bucked. Then his eyes went wild, and he came.So did she.”

“Heaven and hell could wait.He had paradise right there in his arms.”

“Whenever that happened, Joey clung to Troy's hand, willing him to know that Riker meant nothing.Well, maybe not nothing. He'd given Joey a valuable gift; he'd taught him what love wasn't. During their showdown in the men's room, it had dawned on Joey what love was. Love took long walks, spent time together talking about nothing. It gave smiles, and hugs, and trips to the beach when it really didn't want to go, because it wanted to share a special place with someone else. Love gave away possessions it valued, knowing the receiver valued them more. Love admitted being wrong, said it was sorry, and did whatever it took to make things right. It called in favors and put a town on the map to make life better for one person who lived there.Love was Troy.”

“Running into a burning building probably wasn't the smartest move Kenton Lake had ever made. Then again, sadly, it wasn't his dumbest either.”