Amy

“You really love him, huh? Not just the sweet ‘oh, we met in high school and just couldn’t seem to find someone else’ sort of love, but the epic, desperate, ‘move mountains and cross oceans’ sort of love.”
I chuckled. “I think that would be an apt description. When you realize that someone would do anything for you, even if it means separating themselves from you, risking that you’ll never love them again, just to make sure you’re safe and well . . . There’s no coming back from that. You’ll do whatever it takes to be with them. You might want to kick their ass a few times along the way. But when you find that, you don’t let it go.”
Jamie shuddered.
“Too mushy?” I asked.
“I’ll survive.”
― Molly Harper, Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors

“Have you given any thought to the formula you would like me to run?"
Alex nearly lost his grip on the decanter. "I beg your pardon?"
"At least a few of your patrons will need to achieve moderate success, and the occasional player will need to achieve considerable success at the vingt-et-un table if you hope to attract those individuals whose pocket books match their greed and belief that the next hand will change their fortune. I will require instruction as to how you wish me to deal in order to maximize both prophets and popularity." She withdrew a small square of paper from a hidden pocket somewhere in the folds of her skirts and held it out to him.
"I've run some scenarios, allowing for a margin of error that I will not be able to avoid. It's all basic accounting worked into a matrix of probabilities, but I thought you might want to review it."
Alex very carefully replaced the heavy crystal on the surface of his desk struggling to draw a breath. This was not good at all. Forget his alarming charge into the fray on a white horse, he was rather afraid he had just fallen in love.”
― Kelly Bowen, Between the Devil and the Duke

“She slashed at him again.
"Is this your idea of foreplay?" he asked, ducking the knife. "Because I rather prefer something with costumes. You could be the saucy chambermaid"—he ducked again—"and I could be the frigid butler who needs warming up."
"I'll show you foreplay," she spat.
He jumped back and narrowly avoided a knife slicing across the gut. He thought about kicking her in the chest—his feet were already bloody and numb from the walk here—but she was a woman, and he still believed in chivalry. "Very well," he conceded, knocking a chair over and tossing it in her path. She had to jump to avoid it, giving him a moment to strategize.
"I'll be the saucy chambermaid. But just this once. And I draw the line at frilly aprons.”
― Shana Galen, True Spies

“Why are you limping?” I demanded. “The arrow didn’t hit you in the leg.”
He stopped, his shift in weight pulling me to a halt, too. “I don’t know. It just seems like the thing to do after you’ve received an arrow wound.”
I sighed as he straightened his gait and walked normally. “You are so the guy for me.”
― Molly Harper, Nice Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors