Practically Wicked Quotes

“I wasn't about to admit to the lady I was hoping to impress that I wished to be a man of business. I wasn't that drunk."

Anna was certain that, for as long as she lived, she would never understand how it was the inebriated sorted out their priorities. Drunk enough to offer marriage, but still sufficiently sober to keep his secret? It was baffling.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Much of how a person defined himself was through his interactions with the world. When that world was very small, it probably felt as if the opportunities for definition were very limited.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“You loathe the practice of dueling.” Lucien shrugged. “I’ve never wanted to shoot anyone before.” “Unbearable as a brother, just as I said.” “Say whatever the devil you like, just remember who’s the better shot.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“nothing tempts curiosity like ignorance and nothing courts disaster like curiosity.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Courage is doing what is needed despite one’s fear. Without the fear, it’s merely . . . fearlessness.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“And how do simpletons, particularly the arrogant, self-important sort, react to something they can’t understand? Something that perhaps frightens them?” “Generally, we’d prefer to shoot it.” “He ignores it,” she continued on, ignoring him. “He renames it, belittles it. He makes it less than it is so that he may appear more than he is.” She smiled, just a little. “Or he shoots it.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“That which cannot be comprehended by man must therefore be wrong.” “Beg your pardon?” “Something Mrs. Culpepper said to me when I was younger. She is of the opinion that men are highly predictable creatures.” “Because we’re rational?” “Because you’re simple,”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Non tutti quelli che hanno lettere sono savi.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“I’m not in the habit of offering suggestions I think unwise.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“You want a hound. Like your mother’s pug?” “No, not a lapdog. A hound,” she emphasized with a hint of excitement. “I want a sturdy sort of dog I can stroll with through a forest or have run beside me when I ride. Something not apt to disappear into a well or be trampled under a carriage.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“I said I had an explanation, not an excuse. If I had an excuse, I wouldn’t need to be apologizing.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“The drawing Anna was thinking of wasn't particularly wicked, not so far as drawings in Anover House went. It was a colored sketch of a young man and woman embracing in a sun-dappled garden.

Her embarrassment was not in the nudity portrayed ... well, not all the embarrassment ... it was in the sentiment. The couple were entwined in each other's arms, lost in each other's gaze, seemingly oblivious to the world around them.

For Anna, the picture was a sweet bit of ink and imagination that epitomized every silly romantic notion she'd ever had about falling in love. And it was that silly romanticism that embarrassed her. It was always a little uncomfortable to admit wanting something you knew you couldn't have.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“He was quiet a moment, studying her. "I don't have a mistress."

"Oh. Well." What did she say to that? Good? Damned right, you don't?”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Choose the one you want," he told her.

She giggled as the puppy contorted itself in an effort to lick her hand without rolling off its back. "Oh, you are silly, aren't you? Just the silliest little ..." Her hand stilled on the puppy. Her eyes shot to his. "What did you just say?"

"Choose which pup you'd like as your own."

"My own?"

"You wanted a hound," he reminded her.

"Yes, I ..." She looked at the dogs, then back at him. "Are you giving me a dog?"

"For the sake of propriety, we are to say it is a gift from your brother, but ..."

"But it's from you. You're giving me a dog," she said, and there was a notable catch in her voice.

"Well ... More or less." For reasons that baffled him, he suddenly felt equal parts embarrassed and pleased. "It was my idea." He cleared his throat, fought off the urge to shift his feet.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Do you mean to stay on at Caldwell?"

"For a time," he replied.

It took all her courage and determination to meet his eyes. "Then we've time to know each other."

She'd issued exactly two invitations for friendship in her life, both of them to Max. God willing, this one would fare better than the last.

His smile was slow and perfect. "I do look forward to it.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“After Mrs. Culpepper, Max probably knew more about her than any other person in her life. They were the only two people who knew of her dream to buy a country cottage. And he was the only one to know of her silly wish for a hound.

Which, now that she thought on it, was a sad state of affairs, indeed. She had no better claim to friendship outside of Mrs. Culpepper than a man with whom she'd spent such a nominal amount of time? And who had been read to toss her bodily from Caldwell Manor only yesterday?

Surely she had more depth of character than what could be mined in the course of an evening. She did not begin and end with her dreams of a thousand pounds, a hound, and a home. She was vastly more complex, far more interesting than that. She had to be. The alternative was too depressing to entertain. Almost as depressing as never having known a friend who'd not been paid to keep her company. But that, at least, could be changed.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Perhaps we might start again?" she suggested. It was never truly possible to start over, of course. One could no more erase the past than predict the future. But sometimes, a second chance could be had. Perhaps their meeting again, after so many years, was such a chance.
"I would like that.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Max offered his hand. "One of us needs to take the higher road, sweet."

Again, the use of an endearment. What the devil had changed in the last twelve hours? "Are you volunteering?"

His smile was slow, wicked, and filled with humor. "Darling, I wouldn't know where to begin looking for it.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“She's from your world. Your presence might well put her at ease."
"We live in the same world, Lucien," Max drawled. "I just know more interesting people.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“She might ban me from the library."
"The marvelous thing about libraries is that their contents can be easily moved.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "Yes, all right. Call on you tomorrow."

"Next week," she reminded him softly.

His eyes remained closed but his lips curved. "Next week."

She was silent a moment, debating. He was drunk. He was part of a world she despised and sought to escape. He was everything her mother and, more convincingly, Mrs. Culpepper had ever warned her about.

In that moment, he was all she wanted.

She took a deep breath, and then the second biggest chance of her life.

"Do you promise?" she asked on a whisper.

"Promise," he mumbled. "Next week.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Dreams of freedom and country cottages were all well and good, but Anna rather thought that she was nothing, if not practical. She would likely never have that cottage, never have true freedom. And she would almost certainly never have a chance such as this again.

Let them call her the Ice Maiden of Anover House, she thought. She would know differently. She, and no one else.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“She was fascinated by Max Dane. And not simply because he was handsome, though that detail had not escaped her notice. He seemed such a contradiction to her, at once both playful and dangerous.

His mischievous charm delighted her. His deep-set, hazel eyes held the unmistakable light of humor, and the loose curl in his tousled hair of rich brown lent him an endearingly boyish look. Though she imagined he'd not be pleased to hear it, there was something about the man that struck her as being just a little bit adorable.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“When one spends little time outside one's rooms, one gains information in bits and pieces. I encountered your name and reputation in passing."

"Everything you do is in passing. A moment in the ballroom, a mere peek out of the opera box. I've never met the man to have spent more than thirty seconds in your company."

A flicker of unease crossed her features, but it was gone almost the instant it arrived.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“And you aren't willing to leave me sitting here alone? That is ... unexpected." He leaned in for a closer inspection of her features. "Aren't you supposed to be frigid and uncaring?"

She looked at him, her eyes narrowing just a hair. "Aren't you supposed to be charming?"

He grinned at her, appreciating the sharp retort.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Regrets are like mistresses," he informed her.

"I ..." Her hand dropped from the handle. "What?"

"Good men don't have them."

She blinked at that, then broke into a soft laughter that sent pleasant chills along his skin. "That is the most ridiculous adage I have ever heard."

"I'm foxed," he pointed out and shrugged. "I'm cleverer when ... cleverer? Is it cleverer? Or is it more clever? Whichever. I'm brilliant when I'm sober."

"And less inclined to announce it, one might hope.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“I suppose one’s view of that world is dependent upon how one arrived there, and whether or not one is allowed to leave.”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked

“Courage is doing what is needed despite one’s fear. Without the fear, it’s merely . . . fearlessness.” He”
― Alissa Johnson, Practically Wicked