Pikaneige

“Jeremy felt the laughter bubbling up inside him but knew it would be a mistake to let it out. God, he had forgotten how much he liked talking with her. It was so strange how she still had the ability to make him feel like the world was a better place simply by being in her presence.”
― Alice Coldbreath, A Foolish Flirtation

“Don’t mistake softness for weakness. Only a strong man can be soft with a woman.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Hello Stranger

“Above all else, prepare yourself, for at the end of these two weeks I will return, and you will be mine. Jeremy”
― Alice Coldbreath, A Foolish Flirtation

“Would you like more sauce, sweeting?”
His fingers strangled the stem of his wineglass. She could practically hear the grapes calling for help. She hoped that was a good sign. “If you don’t cease that nonsense,” he said, “you will regret it.”
“Is that so, my heart?”
“What about ‘precious’?” she suggested.
“No.”
“‘Angel’?”
“God, no.”
“‘Muffin’?”
In response to that, he hit the shuttlecock so hard, it sailed all the way to the back wall and thwacked one of his ancestors right in the powdered wig. She cheered. “Well done, my precious angel muffin.”
“This stops,” he said. “Now.”
― Tessa Dare, The Duchess Deal