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“You see, I have to keep my promises to my husband," Phoebe said, sounding nearly as distracted as he felt. "I owe it to him."
That rankled far more than it should have, jolting West out of the momentary trance. "You owe the benefit of your judgement to the people who depend on you," he said in a low voice. "Your greater obligation is to the living, isn't it?"
Phoebe's brows rushed down.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil's Daughter

“I don't want to see you ever again."
He flinched the tiniest bit, but a slight smile still played on his lips. "So the engagement is off? I'd say it was a pleasure but..."
"It wasn't." Daisy finished his sentence.
A shadow of sorrow flickered across his face so quickly she wondered if she'd seen it. "See you in another ten years." His softened tone, unwanted and unexpected, rippled gently over her senses like a warm summer breeze.
Disconcerted by the flare of heat that flooded her skin, she stumbled over her final words. "That will be too soon.”
― Sara Desai, The Dating Plan

“Not now, Em."
I hopped over a paver, my pace just shy of making me pant. "If not now, when?"
"How about never?"
"Yeah, that's not going to work."
He snorted with feeling. "You're operating under the misconception that I owe you anything. I don't."
Definitely touchy.
"And I didn't owe you anything when you asked about Dark Castle. But I told you how I felt anyway."
"That's on you."
We rounded a corner, heading toward the tennis court. I had no idea where he was going; maybe he simply thought he could wear me out and pull away.
"You're right." I stopped on the trail, my arms falling to my sides as I caught my breath. To hell with it. I didn't need to be chasing a man who didn't want to be bothered.
Weirdly, as if compelled, Lucian came to a halt and half turned my way to glare at me from over his wide shoulder. His body remained tense and poised to take flight once more.
"We owe each other nothing," I said, raising my voice enough to be clear over the ten feet that separated us. "But no one lives in a complete void. Your grandmother and Sal walk on eggshells around you."
Oh, but that got him. Red suffused his neck, and he stalked back my way, coming within touching distance. "You know nothing about them. Or me."
Yeah, that hurt. It shouldn't have, but it did.
"I know enough. They worry about you. They love you."
Lucian's nostrils flared. "I mean it, Emma. I do not do well with guilt trips."
"If you feel guilty, that's on you.”
― Kristen Callihan, Make It Sweet

“Maybe I've put too much high hopes and expectations on you, or started holding you to an unreachable standard."
"That isn't fair," he says, his own breath coming quicker. He's starting to look less confused and more straight-up angry. Join the club, bud. "I probably should have told you before Geoffrey and Aiden, but I was excited, and you've been ignoring all my attempts to talk since UltiCon. And I really didn't think you would take the news this way. I thought it was a good thing and truthfully? I think you're overreacting."
The little porcupine quills that I imagine live just beneath my skin, primed to shoot up and protect me at a moment's notice, are at the ready now. Except they feel more like Wolverine claws in this case, and Norberto Beneventi's about to feel their wrath.
"Overreacting, huh? Love to hear that. Sorry I'm not over the moon, shooting rainbows out my eyeballs because I'm so delighted for you. Sorry I'm not a selfless little woman whose only goal in life is to see her man shine, that I have real feelings and ambitions for myself."
"Reese, for the love of---" he shouts, throwing his hands up in the air and walking in a tight circle before returning to stand in front of me. He adjusts his cap with a long-suffering sigh. "You know what? I think you've been waiting for this. I think you figured out that there was more to say after our last conversation, and you know this is not that big of a deal, but you've been scared for so long, and angry, and the world's been unfair to you. And I bet whether you realize it or not, you've been waiting for the first excuse to get rid of me for good. You're used to being alone and it's easier than letting another person in, so all you needed was the smallest hint that something may not be perfect and boom---no more Benny. Am I right?"
I scoff, moving to pass him for real this time and not stopping when his hand brushes my shoulder. "You just know me so well, don't you? Please, tell me more about how I'm feeling, why I do the things I do. But you'll have to send it in another message, because I don't have to stay here and listen to it."
I hoist my bag farther onto my shoulder and stomp away from him, my own fury nearly blocking out his parting words.
"Go on, then. Maybe you can move back across the country. See if running from your problems works the second time around.”
― Kaitlyn Hill, Love from Scratch

“This is where we left off, isn't it? Me, throwing myself at you. You, turning me away. I thought I understood before. I wasn't well enough for the kind of relationship I wanted with you. But now I don't understand. Because there's nothing to stop us from finding out if... if we are meant to..." Distressed and mortified, she couldn't find words for what she wanted. "Unless I was mistaken in how you once felt for me? Did you ever desire me, Kev?"
"No." His voice was barely audible. "It was only friendship. And pity."
Win felt her face go very white. Her eyes and nose prickled. A hot tear leaked down her cheek. "Liar," she said, and turned away.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Seduce Me at Sunrise

“A man must be judged by what he makes of himself, Dr. Harrow. By what he does when no one else is looking. And having lived in proximity to Mr. Merripen and Mr. Rohan, I can state with certainty that they are both fine, honorable men."
Dodger extracted an object from the coat pocket and wriggled with triumph. He began to lope slowly around the edge of the room, watching Harrow warily.
"Forgive me if I don't accept assurances of character from a woman such as you," Harrow said to Miss Marks. "But according to rumor, you've been in rather too much proximity with certain gentlemen in your past."
The governess turned white with outrage. "How dare you?"
"I find that remark entirely inappropriate," Leo said to Harrow. "It's obvious that no sane man would ever attempt something scandalous with Marks.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Seduce Me at Sunrise

“They'll even marry an aging spinster to get it."
She hated him then. Hated the words, the way he spoke them with such simple cruelty. Tears threatened.”
― Sarah MacLean, A Rogue by Any Other Name

“You think Both Sides is ill-conceived and pretentious?"
"I think it was pretty obvious that it was never going to be Ichigo, but it was what you wanted to do, so I supported you."
"You're saying it's my fault?"
"No, I'm agreeing maybe it was more your idea than mine."
"Ichigo was my idea, too. They're ALL my ideas."
"It's nice that you see it that way, and if it helps you to make a villain out of me, go for it. But if I hadn't pushed you to make Ichigo, where would you even be? You'd be one of a hundred programmers at EA working on Madden Football, if you were lucky. There aren't that many girls in our field, you know. You'd probably be working for Dov. He'd probably have you handcuffed to your desk.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“You can't unilaterally decide to work on it."
"Marx'll back me."
"I bet he will."
"He'll back me because it could be a great game, Sam."
"He'll back you because he takes your side in everything. Because he's screwing you.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Why did you go through with it?" she heard him ask quietly.
"I thought it best for Michael." She felt a twinge of satisfaction as she saw how that had annoyed him.
Harry half sat on the bed, his posture informal. His gaze didn't stray from her. "Had there been a choice, I would have done all this the ordinary way. I would have courted you openly, won you fairly. But you'd already decided on Bayning. This was the only alternative."
"No, it wasn't. You could have let me be with Michael."
"It's doubtful he ever would have offered for you. He deceived you, and himself, by assuming he could persuade his father to accept the match. You should have seen the old man when I showed him the letter- he was mortally offended by the notion of his son taking a wife so far beneath him."
That hurt, as perhaps Harry had intended, and Poppy stiffened.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Tempt Me at Twilight

“He ought to be more clever in his murder attempt. Done properly, he could make a wealthy widow of you, and then you'd both have your happy ending.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Tempt Me at Twilight

“Perhaps it's better after all that you stop writing to him. You seem rather fixed on him. I hope you have no thought that Christopher would ever..." She paused delicately. "Never mind."
"I know what you were going to say," Beatrix had said in a matter-of-fact manner. "Of course I have no illusions about that. I haven't forgotten that he once compared me to a horse."
"He did not compare you to a horse," Prudence said. "He merely said you belonged in the stables. However, he is a sophisticated man, and he would never be happy with a girl who spends most of her time with animals."
"I much prefer the company of animals to that of any person I know," Beatrix shot back. Instantly she regretted the tactless statement, especially as she saw that Prudence had taken it as a personal affront. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
"Perhaps you had better leave, then, and go to your pets," Prudence had said in a frosty tone. "You'll be happier conversing with someone who can't talk back to you."
Chastened and vexed, Beatrix had left Mercer House. But not before Prudence had said, "For all our sakes, Bea, you must promise me never to tell Captain Phelan that you wrote the letters. There would be no point in it. Even if you told him, he wouldn't want you. It would only be an embarrassment, and a source of resentment. A man like that would never forgive such a deception.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Love in the Afternoon

“How is Prudence?" she heard him ask. It hurt to hear the note of wary longing in his voice.
"Quite well, I believe. She's in London for the season." Beatrix hesitated before adding carefully, "We are still friends, but perhaps not as fond of each other as we once were."
"Why?"
His gaze was alert now. Clearly any mention of Prudence earned his close attention.
Because of you, Beatrix thought, and managed a faint, wry smile. "It seems we have different interests." I'm interested in you, and she's interested in your inheritance.
"You're hardly cut from the same cloth."
Hearing the sardonic note in his voice, Beatrix tilted her head and regarded him curiously. "I don't take your meaning."
He hesitated. "I only meant that Miss Mercer is conventional. And you're... not." His tone was seasoned with the merest hint of condescension... but there was no mistaking it.
Abruptly all the feelings of compassion and tenderness disappeared as Beatrix realized that Christopher Phelan had not changed in one regard: he still didn't like her.
"I would never want to be a conventional person," she said. "They're usually dull and superficial."
It seemed he took that as a slight against Prudence.
"As compared to people who bring garden pests to picnics? No one could accuse you of being dull, Miss Hathaway."
Beatrix felt the blood drain from her face. He had insulted her. The realization made her numb.
"You may insult me," she said, half amazed that she could still speak. "But leave my hedgehog alone.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Love in the Afternoon

“I suppose I thought that you might have tried to attract Christopher's attention to yourself. As ludicrous as that would have been."
Beatrix tilted her head slightly. "Ludicrous?"
"Perhaps that's not the right word. I meant unsuitable. Because a man in Christopher's position needs a sophisticated woman. Someone to support his position in society. With his fame and influence, he may enter politics someday. And he could hardly do that with a wife who spent most of her time in the forest... or the stables."
That delicate reminder was like an arrow through Beatrix's heart.
"She's more suited to the stables than the drawing room," Christopher had once said.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Love in the Afternoon

“I am also prepared to ignore the fact that you have committed an egregious breach of etiquette by moving me- bodily- from a public location to an entirely inappropriate... altogether too private one."
"And don't forget spanking you."
"That, too. Utterly... completely... beyond inappropriate."
"Appropriateness seems not to have got you very far.”
― Sarah MacLean, A Rogue by Any Other Name

“Oh, is that left over from Shine? I do hope we won't have to eat the food you served to a convicted murderer," Whitney says, clutching her pearls.
"He was a triple murderer and he ordered fried chicken," I say. Whitney and her Gang of Idiots are actually taken aback.
"Even for you, Queenie Wake, that's low," Piggy Peggy says, looking from Whitney to me. Yes, Peggy, you delivered your line perfectly.
"You'd know," I say, stepping forward. She flinches.”
― Liza Palmer, Nowhere But Home

“Do you like it?"
"Very much so." His joy at those words was diminished with her next. "I suppose an extra few hundred thousand dollars allows for some extravagance.”
― Harper St. George, The Devil and the Heiress

“She smiled, the same sunny expression that for years I had assumed was simple and guileless. "I know. You think you love him. I saw you kissing in the graveyard. Or are you going to pretend you don't enjoy bedding our enemy?"
"It's not..." But I couldn't go on; I remembered his kisses, his fingers running through my hair, his skin against mine, and it felt like my whole body was blushing.
Astraia's smile vanished. "You like it." Her voice was low and shaky. "All these years you were miserable. All these years I tried and tried to comfort you but nothing ever worked until at last I thought you were broken. I felt so useless that I couldn't heal you. But really, all you ever needed was to kiss our mother's murderer and become a demon's whore--”
― Rosamund Hodge, Cruel Beauty

“You're operating under the misconception that I owe you anything. I don't."
Definitely touchy.
"And I didn't owe you anything when you asked about Dark Castle. But I told you how I felt anyway."
"That's on you."
We rounded a corner, heading toward the tennis court. I had no idea where he was going; maybe he simply thought he could wear me out and pull away.
"You're right." I stopped on the trail, my arms falling to my sides as I caught my breath. To hell with it. I didn't need to be chasing a man who didn't want to be bothered.
Weirdly, as if compelled, Lucian came to a halt and half turned my way to glare at me from over his wide shoulder. His body remained tense and poised to take flight once more.
"We owe each other nothing," I said, raising my voice enough to be clear over the ten feet that separated us. "But no one lives in a complete void. Your grandmother and Sal walk on eggshells around you."
Oh, but that got him. Red suffused his neck, and he stalked back my way, coming within touching distance. "You know nothing about them. Or me."
"I know enough. They worry about you. They love you."
Lucian's nostrils flared. "I mean it, Emma. I do not do well with guilt trips."
"If you feel guilty, that's on you.”
― Kristen Callihan, Make It Sweet

“Is something troubling you, Miss Makepeace?" he asked mildly.
Oh, she hated that mild tone. "Who is Caro? And why did you ask about her?"
He returned his head to the book he was perusing. "You ask that almost as though you expect me to answer it." He sounded amused, distracted. Dismissive.
And this infuriated her. "You know everything about me---"
"Correction: We know nothing at all about you."
"You know what I mean! And I have a reason. You are simply secretive because... you are afraid to be otherwise. You hide from everything.”
― Julie Anne Long, Beauty and the Spy

“I'm only growing up, and maybe you should too. We always knew this would happen someday. I was born into a life in which I'm meant to rule. Not all of us have the freedom to be as carefree as you."
Aladdin stepped back, stung.
"You mean not all of us have as little to lose.”
― Alexandra Monir, Realm of Wonders

“I didn't know if you were still living... in sin. I didn't want a bad influence in his life."
I spoke past the growing lump in my throat. "I'm not a monster. Just because I naively fell in love with a semi-divorced man doesn't mean I would have harmed your son. Jesus! You'd think I spent most of my life on death row by the way you talk about me when I've never seen the inside of a jail. Unlike Warren Sr.!"
To this day, I have no idea why I had to tack on that part about Marvina's deceased husband. It was petty, but seeing as we were already wallowing in the muddy puddles of our past, what difference did it make?
"He wasn't a jailbird," Marvina spat back. "He only went in once for a ticket he didn't pay before the deadline." She opened the oven and slid the onion skins inside next to the peppers.
"Don't I know this already. I hope the forty dollars of mine that you put toward his bail served the both of y'all well.”
― Michelle Stimpson, Sisters with a Side of Greens

“Clare can be our grease woman," Jack offered. "If we have to deal with a pressure-sensitive floor or lasers in the bunker or the vault, she'll be invaluable. She's very flexible and can get through tight spaces. I've seen her bend---"
I choked and spat my drink in Jack's face. It wasn't intentional, but I was also not unhappy his face was in my way.
"Dude..." Gage shook his head.
"That's not what I meant." Jack dabbed at his face with a napkin. "She's a burglar. She's who people call if they need someone to scale a brick wall, descend from the ceiling via a series of cables, or maneuver around a laser hallway."
I had a strong feeling Clare wasn't the type of person to do her flexible twisting and bending in jogging pants and a baggy tee. She would probably put on her whitest Lycra and ask Jack to set up a pretend laser field made out of string so he could watch her practice.”
― Sara Desai, 'Til Heist Do Us Part

“I baked all those cakes, and I didn't want them to just sit."
"You could have told me," I said through gritted teeth.
"I'm sure I wasn't missed," Sabrina replied.
I looked back at Dante, who was ignoring the conversation in favor of chatting through his Bluetooth earpiece neck thingy.
"What do you sell?" I asked Tameka.
"I make jams and jellies. Chowchow."
"It's so delicious," Sabrina added.
I cocked an eyebrow at my sister.
"Sabrina had a great sales day. Most of her cakes sold out." Tameka turned to Sabrina. "How many jars did you sell?"
"Thirty-four," Sabrina said, cutting her eyes away from me.
Thirty-four. In one morning? At a farmers market? I couldn't believe it. A sting of resentment settled around my heart. I didn't know why that bothered me so much.
Tameka looked at my cake tray and said to Sabrina, "The little jars would fit nicely at events like this."
Once again, my uninventive and un-unique dessert display was dissed.”
― Rhonda McKnight, Bitter and Sweet

“I don't need the aggravation of my staff members avoiding each other when the sex goes stale. And believe me, it will."
I want to laugh. I want to slap his face. As it is, my breathing comes on quick and fast. "Which means North is really only off limits while I work for you. Good to know."
A streak of red spears across the tops of Macon's cheeks, and I swear the man growls. It rumbles in that wide chest of his as his moth tightens. "He's not for you, Delilah. Unless, of course, you're into having Sam's leftovers."
As if I've been slapped, my breath hitches. Oh, that was low. Not only to me but to North as well. My face feels tight and hot. And for an instant, something that looks like guilt flickers in Macon's brown eyes, but it's quickly smothered by stubborn self-righteousness and a pugnacious lift of his chin.
"Well then," I manage, "I guess that leaves you out of the running too.”
― Kristen Callihan, Dear Enemy