I--" She swallowed, perhaps summoning her courage, then continued, "I would not lie to you and say that I did not want this." "Me," he cut in peevishly. "You wanted me." She closed her eyes. “Yes,” she finally said, “I wanted you.” Part of him wanted to interrupt again, to remind her that she still wanted him, that it wasn’t and would never be in the past. “But I can’t have you,” she said quietly, “and because of that, you can’t have me.” And then, to his complete astonishment, he asked, “What if I married you?

— Julia Quinn

#anne-wynter #daniel-smythe-smith #julia-quinn #smyth-smith-quartet #courage