The Affair Quotes

“I want you,” he said, low and vehement, “any way you’ll let me have you. I’d prefer marriage, as I’d like to bind you to me in every way known to man. But if you don’t want to marry again, I’ll gladly take you as my mistress. You should know, though, even then I’m never letting you go.”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair

“Cale gazed into the fire. “You didn’t see the way he looked at you. Or you didn’t recognize it.” She blinked, startled. “What do you mean?” His voice took on a low fervency. “I watched you dance with him at the ball. He looks at you in awe, like you’re untouchable. He puts you on a pedestal, Elizabeth. He’ll treat you like glass, like you’re too fragile to hear certain things, to know certain things. He’ll make love to you in the dark with half his clothes still on, like a true aristocratic husband. He’ll be too afraid to break you. Or to ever really know you.” It took her a moment to speak past her consternation. “You gathered all of that from one dance?” she said, striving for levity, frightened by his intensity.”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair

“The vulnerability was an unpleasant reminder of how much he desired her. He would have thought it a weakness in anyone else, an obstacle that would take too much time and effort to overcome. But because this was Elizabeth, he wanted to overcome it, he wanted to smooth away all the little hurts her husband had inflicted”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair

“His philosophy was to enjoy life. The only thing he threw himself into wholeheartedly was his work. Lovers, friendships, they slipped in and out of his life like changing ocean tides. He never tried to hold on to them too tightly. Once he started to covet, he started to worry, and it took all the pleasure out of things.”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair

“A walk?” she echoed. “It’s nighttime.” “But a warm night. A good time for a walk.” “I cannot simply leave.” “You’ve already left the ballroom. You can claim you had a headache and went outside for fresh air. And you can stop staring at me like that,” he added drily. “I won’t try anything untoward. You have my word as a gentleman.” Her lips quirked. “Fine. You have my word as a bookseller,” he amended. She laughed. She glanced down the hallway, feeling restless. Nothing could come from a friendship between them. Nothing.”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair

“Anne kept her eyes glued to the floor clock on the other side of the room. “Oh, damnation,” she bit out when Thornhill stopped directly in front of them and bowed. It had taken just under the seven minutes she needed to win. Unfortunately, Anne didn’t swear quietly. Everyone heard. And everyone turned to stare, one by one. A long, blue vein in their mother’s forehead gave an alarming twitch. The glare she shot her middle child promised a slow, painful death.”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair

“It’s best to end these affairs before the passion fades.” She felt her face drain of blood. These”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair

“It amuses me, I suppose. If I actually let myself be bothered by everything that was said of me, I would probably go mad.”
― Lily Maxton, The Affair