“He sighed, Selange was perplexing, and an adulterous prude seemed a contradictory term. She had a fierce spirit one minute and the next she cried like a baby. Damn, he missed her silly ass. [Right now, he could see so damn clear--he wanted the crybaby-fierce adulterous prude in his arms--He loved this goddamn woman. Period. End of story!]”

“Touch me." He instructed as he lifted her hands and placed them on his chest, "See, I am just Alfonzo. I'm human, not the boogey-man," then he smiled reassuringly...”

“You're not driving home if it's late, though. I am accustomed to dropping my women off at their door," he snickered because he knew she'd blush and he wanted her to, "and sometimes I put them to bed.”

“She had told him that she loved him. He had known that, but hearing it in the traditional phrase had affected him in new and blinding ways.Ways that made him believe that he could do anything.Anything she needed or wanted him to do. Because her loving him meant so much more than him loving her.”

“Jemu watched his father disappear. He didn't throw the coconut and he didn't cry. Never again would he know love for another human being that wasn't adulterated by another, contradictory emotion.”

“Love is always a battle.”

“Why on earth had I agreed to this? Oh, that's right. He suckered me into it with his manipulating words and those damn dimples.”