Do You Want to Start a Scandal Quotes

“I can’t agree to a convenient arrangement, my lord. Your devotion to duty may be admirable, but ‘lie back and think of England’ simply isn’t for me.” His voice became low and dark. “I cannot promise you everything you might wish, but I promise you this: When I take you to bed, you will not be thinking of England.” “Oh.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“You see, a man's... ahem... is shaped differently from a woman's..." Mama fluttered her hand. "... whatsit. And in the marital bed, he will wish to place his..." More hand fluttering. "... inside yours."
"His ahem goes in my whatsit."
"In so many words. Yes.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“I hadn’t simply taken a fancy to you.” “No?” He shook his head slowly. His thumb traced the shape of her lips. “Fancy doesn’t begin to describe it. This is closer to . . . an obsession. An enchantment, or perhaps a curse. You’re like a little fair-haired witch who cast a spell on me, and I can’t concentrate. I can’t sleep. I can’t think of anything but hearing you laugh and holding you close and imagining what you’ll look like naked in my bed.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“She unsettled him; he anchored her. Together, they could be more than they were apart.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“What to make of this man? He was proper. He was passionate. He had the public demeanor of an iceberg, but he kissed her as if she were his oasis in a vast, arid desert.
What are you doing to me? he'd whispered.
Charlotte had no idea.
But whatever it was, he was doing it back.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“There was a moment of tenderness between them, and for a moment he experienced the most rare, ridiculous emotion- hope.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“You’re Piers Brandon, the Marquess of Granville, diplomat and secret agent in the Crown’s service.” She ran a fingertip down the noble slope of his nose. “And I’m Char—”
Her words were lost in a gasp.

With the speed and strength of a whip, he had her turned on her back, sprawled beneath him on the tufted carriage seat.
“You will be Lady Charlotte Brandon, the Marchioness of Granville, diplomat’s wife and mother of my heir.”
.......
“You’ll be mine,” he murmured. “I swear it, Charlotte. I will make you mine.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“Admit it, I was right.” “Very well, you were right.” She grinned. “I’ll never let you forget it, either.” Piers wouldn’t have it any other way. She must always remain the optimist to his cynic, the laughter to his silence, the chaos to his order, the warmth to his cool. Their hearts would meet in the middle somehow.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“The most dangerous weapon is the one that strikes closest to the heart.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“I rather adore that about you.

Her heart gave a bittersweet twinge.

Don't be greedy, she told herself. With a bit of strategic memory, the redaction of a word or two, she could remember that as I adore you - or close enough to it.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“Charlotte decided to change the subject. "You wouldn't believe what goes in these things." She offered her perfumed wrists. "Here, tell me which scent you prefer. Lilies and whale vomit, or lemon balm and beaver's arse.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“He had years of experience and training. She'd unraveled them in a week, and he was left at loose ends. This distraction, this madness of desire and yearning- it was everything a man in his position needed to avoid.
On second thought, perhaps his senses hadn't been muddled. After all, they had been meticulously attuned to detect the slightest hint of peril.
This woman- this beautiful, unbiddable, all-too-perceptive woman- was his personal embodiment of danger. She could ruin him. Destroy everything he'd worked to become.
And she would do it all with a smile.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“This wasn't her first kiss. He could tell that much, though he doubted any of the young men who'd kissed her had known what the hell they were doing. He felt a vague, stupid sort of rage toward them. It made him all the more resolved to make this kiss sublime. Sufficiently long and slow and sweet and deep to obliterate those embraces from her memory.
From this day forward-when she thought of kisses, she would think only of him.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“I'm not interrogating him. I'm merely asking him questions.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“In fact, if I let myself come anywhere near you”—he caught her wrists and lifted them, pinning her arms to the wall—“I’d have your skirts tossed up to your ears and my cock buried inside you before the rest of them looked up from their tea.” Excitement pulsed through her veins. He had her at his mercy, but she didn’t feel the slightest whisper of fear. “And that,” he said, staring hard at her mouth, “would be very bad manners.” “Well . . .” Charlotte wet her lips, daring to look up at him. “I’ve never been too concerned with etiquette.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“When she saw the wild gleam in his eye, her body thrummed in response and she understood why. He wanted the chase. She wanted to be pursued. “So I have to ignore you, you see,” he continued in that low, devastating tone of aristocratic command. “If I were to look at you, I would want to strip you naked. If we conversed, I would need to hear you sigh and moan. That’s not proper drawing room behavior.” He had her backed up against a wall now. Which was a fortunate thing, because her legs had gone weak. “In fact, if I let myself come anywhere near you”—he caught her wrists and lifted them, pinning her arms to the wall—“I’d have your skirts tossed up to your ears and my cock buried inside you before the rest of them looked up from their tea.” Excitement pulsed through her veins. He had her at his mercy, but she didn’t feel the slightest whisper of fear. “And that,” he said, staring hard at her mouth, “would be very bad manners.” “Well . . .” Charlotte wet her lips, daring to look up at him. “I’ve never been too concerned with etiquette.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“Here, tell me which scent you prefer. Lilies and whale vomit, or lemon balm and beaver’s arse.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“What if I told you I know the risks, and I'm willing to take my chances?"
"It wouldn't change a thing. Those walls, as you call them. . . They're apart of me now, and they are iron strong." He lifted a hand to her face, skimming his thumb over her lower lip. "Even if I wished to, I wouldn't know how to dismantle them."
"I know," she said quietly. "I know." She wreathed her arms around his neck. "That's why you need me. I'm going to burn them to the ground.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“He couldn't escape it. She'd begun re-calibrating his senses the moment she came through that library door. His peripheral vision was now trained for flashes of golden hair: his ears, trained for her melodic laugh. He found himself following the drifting scent of her soap and dusting powder, like a dog panting after the butcher's wife.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“Perhaps... Perhaps he could make her happy. Not with the Granville money or his social cachet, but just by being the man he was, at his core. Sometimes, when he looked deep into those blue eyes, it felt like anything was possible.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“There’s a reason the poets say ‘falling in love,’ and not ‘climbing.’ There’s no controlling it, no choosing where one lands.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“It's a truth universally acknowledged that a titled man in possession of a fortune should steer clear of me.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“Bosh, she told her heart. Stop twisting and aching.
He's a wealthy, powerful marquess, not a lost whelp in the rain.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“You’re being absurd.” He rose to his feet, pacing away. “There are fleas that jump from dog to dog with greater difficulty than your mind leaps from one conclusion to the next.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“No one had warned her it would be like this. Love was supposed to feel good. Wasn’t it? Not terrifying. Perhaps this wasn’t love after all, but malaria.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“So it's a marriage of convenience you're proposing. A simple transaction. Your wealth for my womb.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“And chances were, it worked the same for women, too. Charlotte doubtless had flaws or some insecurity she’d rather swallow tacks than let him see. It wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference in the way he felt. He didn’t love her for being perfect, he loved her for being Charlotte.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“It was all very unladylike. But she wasn’t supposed to be a lady in times like these, just a woman.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“I’m innocent, but not ignorant.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal

“There’s innocent, and then there’s ignorant. I might be the first, but I am not the second.”
― Tessa Dare, Do You Want to Start a Scandal