--- title: "15 Continued Quotes By Judith McNaught" description: "15 Continued quotes by Judith McNaught. Plus more from Judith McNaught and more Continued sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/judith-mcnaught-687_business_when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-u_9717.jpg" --- > [“When she was turning the bacon, he came up behind her, his hands settling on her waist as he peered over her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-up-behind-her-his-hands/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/judith-mcnaught-687_business_when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-u_9717.jpg) > [“I wonder where they’ll go,” Jake continued, frowning a little. “There’s wolves out there, and all sorts of beasts.” “No self-respecting wolf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/i-wonder-where-they-ll-go-jake-continued-frowning-a-little-there-s/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae0/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_i-wonder-where-they-ll-go-jake-continued_3003133.jpg) > [“What does it take to make you stop?” Elizabeth flinched from the hatred in the voice she loved and drew a shaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/what-does-it-take-to-make-you-stop-elizabeth-flinched-from-the-hatred/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_what-does-it-take-to-make-you-stop-eliza_2055399.jpg) > [“If you’re hoping for a good meal, you’ve come to the wrong place. Miss Cameron has already attempted to sacrifice herself on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/if-you-re-hoping-for-a-good-meal-you-ve-come-to-the-wrong-place-miss/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-re-hoping-for-a-good-meal-you-ve_2417001.png) > [“If you'll kiss me back," he whispered huskily, brushing his lips along the curve of her jaw, "I'll make it six million.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/if-you-ll-kiss-me-back-he-whispered-huskily-brushing-his-lips-along/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-ll-kiss-me-back-he-whispered-husk_619750.jpg) > [“His heart is weak, but his will is strong-more so now than ever,” he continued, shrugging into the light cape Ormsley was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/his-heart-is-weak-but-his-will-is-strong-more-so-now-than-ever-he/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_his-heart-is-weak-but-his-will-is-strong_2893221.png) > [“I also suspect that he loves you." Trying to suppress the anguished hope that flared in her heart, Lauren turned her face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/i-also-suspect-that-he-loves-you-trying-to-suppress-the-anguished/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/judith-mcnaught-687_affair_i-also-suspect-that-he-loves-you-trying_1448974.jpg) > [“You will help, won’t you?” Dragging his gaze from the doorway, he shook his head as if to clear it. “ Help?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/you-will-help-won-t-you-dragging-his-gaze-from-the-doorway-he-shook/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/100/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_you-will-help-won-t-you-dragging-his-gaz_1764628.jpg) > [“Snowbound up here with you. Without books or business to occupy my time, I wonder what I’ll do,” he added with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/snowbound-up-here-with-you-without-books-or-business-to-occupy-my/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/judith-mcnaught-687_beyond-belief_snowbound-up-here-with-you-without-books_1124894.jpg) > [“I’m going to sleep now,” she said in a strangled voice. “ Alone, ” she added, and his face whitened as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/i-m-going-to-sleep-now-she-said-in-a-strangled-voice-alone-she-added/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/judith-mcnaught-687_adult-life_i-m-going-to-sleep-now-she-said-in-a-str_877226.jpg) > [“He’d promised she would be “safe,” which she now realized left a great deal of room for personal interpretation. “If I’m going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/he-d-promised-she-would-be-safe-which-she-now-realized-left-a-great/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/judith-mcnaught-687_believe-in-god_he-d-promised-she-would-be-safe-which-sh_1692384.jpg) > [“Speaking of debutantes,” Jake continued cautiously when Ian remained silent, “what about the one upstairs? Do you dislike her especially, or just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/speaking-of-debutantes-jake-continued-cautiously-when-ian-remained/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_speaking-of-debutantes-jake-continued-ca_2424598.jpg) > [“Let's get it over with, so I can stop wondering. How many have there been?" Lauren stared at him."How many what?" "Lovers,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/let-s-get-it-over-with-so-i-can-stop-wondering-how-many-have-there/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_let-s-get-it-over-with-so-i-can-stop-won_799975.jpg) > [“She was still standing there several moments later when Ian walked in to invite her to ride with him. “Still trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/she-was-still-standing-there-several-moments-later-when-ian-walked-in/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_she-was-still-standing-there-several-mom_2626241.jpg) > [“They won’t do it, Ian,” Jordan Townsende said the night after Ian was released on his own recognizance. Pacing back and forth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/they-won-t-do-it-ian-jordan-townsende-said-the-night-after-ian-was/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c59/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_they-won-t-do-it-ian-jordan-townsende-sa_2648489.jpg) ## Other authors on Continued ## More by Judith McNaught > [“What, may I ask, does your one truck contain if not gowns?” Inspiration struck, and Elizabeth smiled radiantly. “Something of great value. Priceless value,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/what-may-i-ask-does-your-one-truck-contain-if-not-gowns-inspiration/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“When she was turning the bacon, he came up behind her, his hands settling on her waist as he peered over her shoulder. “That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-up-behind-her-his-hands/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“At five minutes to five,Jim walked into Mary's office, wearing his gray sweater and balancing four pieces of birthday cake on two plates. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/at-five-minutes-to-five-jim-walked-into-mary-s-office-wearing-his/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“To have him look at her as if she was a piece of office equipment whose presence offended him but whom he was obliged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/to-have-him-look-at-her-as-if-she-was-a-piece-of-office-equipment/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“Am I to assume the Valerie I was introduced to earlier was the Valerie of our greenhouse notes?” He realized his mistake the instant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/am-i-to-assume-the-valerie-i-was-introduced-to-earlier-was-the/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“How ‘bout some coffee?” Jake said as he hurried over to the coffee pot on the stove and filled a mug with the remainder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/how-bout-some-coffee-jake-said-as-he-hurried-over-to-the-coffee-pot/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“He bowed politely to Hortense, who tipped her head toward the elderly gray-haired lady beside her, who seemed to be dozing, her head drooping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/he-bowed-politely-to-hortense-who-tipped-her-head-toward-the-elderly/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“He finished his meeting a few minutes later and almost rudely ejected his business acquaintances from his library, then he went in search of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/he-finished-his-meeting-a-few-minutes-later-and-almost-rudely-ejected/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“When I’m under stress,” he emphasized, sliding the magnificent emerald onto her finger, “I buy everything in sight. It took my last ounce of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/when-i-m-under-stress-he-emphasized-sliding-the-magnificent-emerald/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [Some people feel love in their hearts, Julie. Some of us feel it all way into our souls. We're the ones who can't forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/some-people-feel-love-in-their-hearts-julie-some-of-us-feel-it-all/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“Lady Thornton, how very good of you to find the time to pay us a social call! Would it be too pushing of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/lady-thornton-how-very-good-of-you-to-find-the-time-to-pay-us-a/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“The truth is that I want you. I have always wanted you, and you know that.” “I hate that word,” she burst out, trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/the-truth-is-that-i-want-you-i-have-always-wanted-you-and-you-know/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“In some ways it seemed wrong that he lived here now, in this solitary place. At least part of the time he ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/in-some-ways-it-seemed-wrong-that-he-lived-here-now-in-this-solitary/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [“We need to straighten out some personal matters between us. Why don't we do it over dinner tonight?" he suggested. Lauren courteously refused with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/we-need-to-straighten-out-some-personal-matters-between-us-why-don-t/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [she kissed him with all the aching longing that being this close to him evoked; she kissed him in all the ways he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/she-kissed-him-with-all-the-aching-longing-that-being-this-close-to/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/judith-mcnaught/#itemlist", "name": "15 Continued Quotes By Judith McNaught", "numberOfItems": 15, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When she was turning the bacon, he came up behind her, his hands settling on her waist as he peered over her shoulder. “That looks awfully edible,” he teased. “I was rather counting on our ‘traditional’ breakfast.” She smiled and let him turn her around. “When do we have to return?” she asked, thinking whimsically of how cozy it was up here with him. “How does two months sound?” “It sounds wonderful, but are you certain you won’t be bored-or worried about neglecting your business affairs?” “If they were going to suffer overmuch from my neglect, my love, we’d have pockets to let after the last three months. Evidently,” he continued with a grin, “I’m much better organized than I thought. Besides, Jordan will let me know if there’s a particular problem that needs my attention.” “Duncan has provided me with nearly a hundred books,” she said, trying to think of ways he could occupy his time if they stayed, “but you’ve probably read them already, and, even if you haven’t,” she said with laughing exaggeration, “you’d be done with the lot of them by Wednesday. I’m afraid you’ll be bored.” “It will be difficult for me,” he agreed dryly. “Snowbound up here with you. Without books or business to occupy my time, I wonder what I’ll do,” he added with a leer.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-up-behind-her-his-hands/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/judith-mcnaught-687_business_when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-u_9717.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/judith-mcnaught-687_business_when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-u_9717.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/judith-mcnaught-687_business_when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-u_9717.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When she was turning the bacon, he came up behind her, his hands settling on her waist as he peered over her…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I wonder where they’ll go,” Jake continued, frowning a little. “There’s wolves out there, and all sorts of beasts.” “No self-respecting wolf would dare to confront that duenna of hers, not with that umbrella she wields,” Ian snapped, but he felt a little uneasy. “Oho!” said Jake with a hearty laugh. “So that’s what she was? I thought they’d come to court you together. Personally, I’d be afraid to close my eyes with that gray-haired hag in bed next to me.” Ian was not listening. Idly he unfolded the note, knowing that Elizabeth Cameron probably wasn’t foolish enough to have written it in her own girlish, illegible scrawl. His first thought as he scanned the neat, scratchy script was that she’d gotten someone else to write it for her…but then he recognized the words, which were strangely familiar, because he’d spoken them himself: Your suggestion has merit. I’m leaving for Scotland on the first of next month and cannot delay the trip again. Would prefer the meeting take place there, in any case. A map is enclosed for direction to the cottage. Cordially-Ian. “God help that silly bastard if he ever crosses my path!” Ian said savagely. “Who d’you mean?” “Peters!” “Peters?” Jake said, gaping. “Your secretary? The one you sacked for mixin’ up all your letters?” “I should have strangled him! This is the note I meant for Dickinson Verley. He sent it to Cameron instead.” In furious disgust Ian raked his hand through his hair. As much as he wanted Elizabeth Cameron out of his sight and out of his life, he could not cause two women to spend the night in their carriage or whatever vehicle they’d brought, when it was his fault they’d come here. He nodded curtly to Jake. “Go and get them.” “Me? Why me?” “Because,” Ian said bitterly, walking over to the cabinet and putting away the gun, “it’s starting to rain, for one thing. For another, if you don’t bring them back, you’ll be doing the cooking.” “If I have to go after that woman, I want a stout glass of something fortifying first. They’re carrying a trunk, so they won’t get much ahead of me.” “On foot?” Ian asked in surprise. “How did you think they got up here?” “I was too angry to think.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/i-wonder-where-they-ll-go-jake-continued-frowning-a-little-there-s/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae0/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_i-wonder-where-they-ll-go-jake-continued_3003133.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae0/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_i-wonder-where-they-ll-go-jake-continued_3003133.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae0/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_i-wonder-where-they-ll-go-jake-continued_3003133.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wonder where they’ll go,” Jake continued, frowning a little. “There’s wolves out there, and all sorts of…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What does it take to make you stop?” Elizabeth flinched from the hatred in the voice she loved and drew a shaking breath, praying she could finish without starting to cry. “I’ve hurt you terribly, my love, and I’ll hurt you again during the next fifty years. And you are going to hurt me, Ian-never, I hope, as much as you are hurting me now. But if that’s the way it has to be, then I’ll endure it, because the only alternative is to live without you, and that is no life at all. The difference is that I know it, and you don’t-not yet.” “Are you finished now?” “Not quite,” she said, straightening at the sound of footsteps in the hall. “There’s one more thing,” she informed him, lifting her quivering chin. “ I am not a Labrador retriever! You cannot put me out of your life, because I won’t stay.” When she left, Ian stared at the empty room that had been alive with her presence but moments before, wondering what in hell she meant by her last comment. He glanced toward the door as Larimore walked in, then he nodded curtly toward the chairs in front of his desk, silently ordering the solicitor to sit down. “I gathered from your message,” Larimore said quietly, opening his legal case, “that you now wish to proceed with the divorce?” Ian hesitated a moment while Elizabeth’s heartbroken words whirled through his mind, juxtaposed with the lies and omissions that had begun on the night they met and continued right up to their last night together. He recalled the torment of the first weeks after she’d left him and compared it to the cold, blessed numbness that had now taken its place. He looked at the solicitor, who was waiting for his answer. And he nodded.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/what-does-it-take-to-make-you-stop-elizabeth-flinched-from-the-hatred/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_what-does-it-take-to-make-you-stop-eliza_2055399.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_what-does-it-take-to-make-you-stop-eliza_2055399.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64d/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_what-does-it-take-to-make-you-stop-eliza_2055399.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What does it take to make you stop?” Elizabeth flinched from the hatred in the voice she loved and drew a…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If you’re hoping for a good meal, you’ve come to the wrong place. Miss Cameron has already attempted to sacrifice herself on the altar of domesticity this morning, and we both narrowly escaped death from her efforts. I’m cooking supper,” he finished, “and it may not be much better.” “I’ll try my hand at breakfast,” the vicar volunteered good-naturedly. When Elizabeth was out of earshot, Ian said quietly, “How badly is the woman hurt?” “It’s hard to say, considering that she was almost too angry to be coherent. Or it might have been the laudanum that did it.” “Did what?” The vicar paused a moment to watch a bird hop about in the rustling leaves overhead, then he said, “She was in a rare state. Quite confused. Angry, too. On the one hand, she was afraid you might decide to express your ‘tender regard’ for Lady Cameron, undoubtedly in much the way you were doing it when I arrived.” When his gibe evoked nothing but a quirked eyebrow from his imperturbable nephew, Duncan sighed and continued, “At the same time, she was equally convinced that her young lady might try to shoot you with your own gun, which I distinctly understood her to say the young lady had already tried to do. It is that which I feared when I heard the gunshots that sent me galloping up here.” “We were shooting at targets.” The vicar nodded, but he was studying Ian with an intent frown. “Is something else bothering you?” Ian asked, noting the look. The vicar hesitated, then shook his head slightly, as if trying to dismiss something from his mind. “Miss Throckmorton-Jones had more to say, but I can scarcely credit it.” “No doubt it was the laudanum,” Ian said, dismissing the matter with a shrug. “Perhaps,” he said, his frown returning. “Yet I have not taken laudanum, and I was under the impression you are about to betroth yourself to a young woman named Christina Taylor.” “I am.” His face turned censorious. “Then what excuse can you have for the scene I just witnessed a few minutes ago?” Ian’s voice was clipped. “Insanity.” They walked back to the house, the vicar silent and thoughtful, Ian grim. Duncan’s untimely arrival had not bothered him, but now that his passion had finally cooled he was irritated as hell with his body’s uncontrollable reaction to Elizabeth Cameron. The moment his mouth touched hers it was as if his brain went dead. Even though he knew exactly what she was, in his arms she became an alluring angel.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/if-you-re-hoping-for-a-good-meal-you-ve-come-to-the-wrong-place-miss/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-re-hoping-for-a-good-meal-you-ve_2417001.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-re-hoping-for-a-good-meal-you-ve_2417001.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a55/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-re-hoping-for-a-good-meal-you-ve_2417001.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you’re hoping for a good meal, you’ve come to the wrong place. Miss Cameron has already attempted to…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If you'll kiss me back,\" he whispered huskily, brushing his lips along the curve of her jaw, \"I'll make it six million. If you'll go to bed with me tonight,\" he continued, losing himself in the scent of her perfume and the softness of her skin, \"I'll give you the world. But if you'll move in with me,\" he continued, dragging his mouth across her cheek to the corner of her lips, \"I'll do much better than that.\" Unable to turn her face farther because his arm was in the way, and unable to turn her body because his body was in the way, Meredith tried to infuse disdain in her voice and simultaneously ignore the arousing touch of his tongue against her ear. \"Six million dollars and the whole world!\" she said in a slightly shaky voice. \"What else could you possibly give me if I move in with you?\" \"Paradise.\" Lifting his head, Matt took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced her to meet his gaze. In an aching, solemn voice he said, \"I'll give you paradise on a gold platter. Anything you want— everything you want. I come with it, of course. It's a package deal.\" Meredith wallowed audibly, mesmerized by the melting look in his silver eyes and the rich timbre of his deep voice. \"We'll be a family,\" he continued, describing the paradise he was offering while he bent his head to her again. \"We'll have children ... I'd like six,\" he teased, his lips against her temple. \"But I'll settle for one. You don't have to decide now.\" She drew in a ragged breath and Matt decided he'd pushed matters as far as he dared for one night. Straightening abruptly, he chucked her under her chin. \"Think about it,\" he suggested with a grin.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/if-you-ll-kiss-me-back-he-whispered-huskily-brushing-his-lips-along/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-ll-kiss-me-back-he-whispered-husk_619750.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-ll-kiss-me-back-he-whispered-husk_619750.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_if-you-ll-kiss-me-back-he-whispered-husk_619750.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you'll kiss me back,\" he whispered huskily, brushing his lips along the curve of her jaw, \"I'll make it…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“His heart is weak, but his will is strong-more so now than ever,” he continued, shrugging into the light cape Ormsley was putting over his shoulders. “What do you mean, ‘more now than ever’?” The physician smiled in surprise. “Why, I meant that your coming here has meant a great deal to him, my lord. It’s had an amazing effect on him-well, not amazing, really. I should say a miraculous effect. Normally he rails at me when he’s ill. Today he almost hugged me in his eagerness to tell me you were here, and why. Actually, I was ordered to “have a look at you,” he continued in the confiding tone of an old family friend, “although I wasn’t supposed to tell you I was doing so, of course.” Grinning, he added, “He thinks you are a ‘handsome devil.’” Ian refused to react to that admonishing information with any emotion whatsoever. “Good day, my lord,” the doctor said. Turning to the duke’s sisters, who’d been hovering worriedly in the hall, he tipped his hat. “Ladies,” he said, and he departed. “I’ll just go up and look in on him,” Hortense announced. Turning to Charity, she said sternly, “Do not bore Ian with too much chatter,” she admonished, already climbing the stairs. In an odd, dire voice, she added, “And do not meddle.” For the next hour Ian paced the floor, with Charity watching him with great interest. The one thing he did not have was time, and time was what he was losing. At this rate Elizabeth would be giving birth to her first child before he got back to London.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/his-heart-is-weak-but-his-will-is-strong-more-so-now-than-ever-he/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_his-heart-is-weak-but-his-will-is-strong_2893221.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_his-heart-is-weak-but-his-will-is-strong_2893221.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91a/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_his-heart-is-weak-but-his-will-is-strong_2893221.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“His heart is weak, but his will is strong-more so now than ever,” he continued, shrugging into the light…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I also suspect that he loves you.\" Trying to suppress the anguished hope that flared in her heart, Lauren turned her face to the stained-glass window near their table. \"What makes you think so?\" \"To begin with, he isn't treating you the way he normally treats the women in his life.\" \"I know that. He's nice to the others,\" Lauren said bitterly. \"Exactly!\" Mary agreed. \"He's always treated his women with an attitude of amused indulgence...of tolerant indifference. While an affair lasts he's attentive and charming. When a woman begins to bore him he courteously but firmly dismisses her from his life. Not once to my knowledge has any woman touched an emotion in him deeper than affection or desire. I've seen them try in the most inventive ways to make him jealous,yet he has reacted with nothing stronger than amusement, or occasionally exasperation. Which brings us to you.\" Lauren blushed at being correctly categorized with the other woen Nick had taken to bed,but she knew it was useless to deny it. \"You,\" Mary continued quietly, \"have evoked genuine anger in him.He is furious with you and with himself. Yet he doesn't dismiss you fro his life; he doesn't even send you downstairs. Doesn't it seem odd to you that he won't let you work for Jim,and simply have you come upstairs to act as translator when Rossi's call finally comes through?\" \"I think he's keeping me up there for revenge,\" Lauren said grimly. \"i think he is too.Perhaps he's trying to get back at you for what you're making him feel.Or possibly he's trying to find fault with you,so that he won't feel the way he does any longer. I don't know. Nick is a complex man. Jim, Ericka and I are all very close to him, and yet he keeps each one of us at a slight distance. There's a part of himself that he will not share with others, not even us.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/i-also-suspect-that-he-loves-you-trying-to-suppress-the-anguished/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/judith-mcnaught-687_affair_i-also-suspect-that-he-loves-you-trying_1448974.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/judith-mcnaught-687_affair_i-also-suspect-that-he-loves-you-trying_1448974.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80f/judith-mcnaught-687_affair_i-also-suspect-that-he-loves-you-trying_1448974.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I also suspect that he loves you.\" Trying to suppress the anguished hope that flared in her heart, Lauren…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You will help, won’t you?” Dragging his gaze from the doorway, he shook his head as if to clear it. “ Help? ” he uttered dryly. “I’m tempted to offer her my very desirable hand in marriage! First I ought to know her name, though I’ll tell you she suddenly seems damned familiar.” “You will help?” “Didn’t I just say so? Who is that delectable creature?” “Elizabeth Cameron. She made her debut last-“ Alex stopped as Roddy’s smile turned harsh and sardonic. “Little Elizabeth Cameron,” he mused half to himself. “I should have guessed, of course. The chit set the city on its ear just after you left on your honeymoon trip, but she’s changed. Who would have guessed,” he continued in a more normal voice, “that fate would have seen fit to endow her with more looks than she had then.” “Roddy!” Alex said, sensing that his attitude toward helping was undergoing a change. “You already said you’d help. “You don’t need help, Alex,” he snickered. “You need a miracle. ” “But-“ “Sorry. I’ve changed my mind.” “Is it the-the gossip about that old scandal that bothers you?” “In a sense.” Alexandra’s blue eyes began to spark with dangerous fire. “You’re a fine one to believe gossip, Roddy! You above all know it’s usually lies, because you’ve started your share of it!” “I didn’t say I believe it,” he drawled coolly. “In fact, I’d find it hard to believe that any man’s hands, including Thornton’s, have ever touched that porcelain skin of hers. However,” he said, abruptly closing the lid on his snuffbox and tucking it away, “society is not as discerning as I, or, in this instance, as kind. They will cut her dead tonight, never fear, and not even the influential Townsendes or my influential self could prevent it. Though I hate the thought of sinking any lower in your esteem than I can see I already have, I’m going to tell you an unlovely truth about myself, my sweet Alex,” he added with a sardonic grin. “Tonight, any unattached bachelor who’s foolish enough to show an interest in that girl is going to be the laughingstock of the Season, and I do not like being laughed at. I do not have the courage, which is why I am always the one to make jokes of others”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/you-will-help-won-t-you-dragging-his-gaze-from-the-doorway-he-shook/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/100/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_you-will-help-won-t-you-dragging-his-gaz_1764628.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/100/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_you-will-help-won-t-you-dragging-his-gaz_1764628.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/100/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_you-will-help-won-t-you-dragging-his-gaz_1764628.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You will help, won’t you?” Dragging his gaze from the doorway, he shook his head as if to clear it. “ Help?…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Snowbound up here with you. Without books or business to occupy my time, I wonder what I’ll do,” he added with a leer. She blushed gorgeously, but her voice was serious as she studied his face. “If things hadn’t gone so well for you-if you hadn’t accumulated so much wealth-you could have been happy up here, couldn’t you?” “With you?” “Of course.” His smile was as somber as hers. “Absolutely.” “Although,” he added, linking her hands behind her back and drawing her a little closer, “you may not want to remain up here when you learn your emeralds are back in their cases at Montmayne.” Her head snapped up, and her eyes shone with love and relief. “I’m so glad. When I realized Robert’s story had been fabrication, it hurt beyond belief to realize I’d sold them.” “It’s going to hurt more,” he teased outrageously, “when you realize your bank draft to cover their cost was a little bit short. It cost me $45,000 to buy back the pieces that had already been sold, and $5,000 to buy the rest back from the jeweler you sold them to.” “That-that unconscionable thief!” she burst out. “He only gave me $5,000 for all of them!” She shook her head in despair at Ian’s lack of bargaining prowess. “He took dreadful advantage of you.” “I wasn’t concerned, however,” Ian continued teasing, enjoying himself hugely, “because I knew I’d get it all back out of your allowance. With interest, of course. According to my figures,” he said, pausing to calculate in his mind what it would have taken Elizabeth several minutes to figure out on paper, “as of today, you now owe me roughly $151,126.” “ One hundred and- what?” she cried, half laughing and half irate. “There’s the little matter of the cost of Havenhurst. I added that in to the figure.” Tears of joy clouded her magnificent eyes. “You bought it back from that horrid Mr. Demarcus?” “Yes. And he is ‘horrid.’ He and your uncle ought to be partners. They both possess the instincts of camel traders. I paid $100,000 for it.” Her mouth fell open, and admiration lit her face. “$100,000! Oh, Ian-“ “I love it when you say my name.” She smiled at that, but her mind was still on the splendid bargain he’d gotten. “I could not have done a bit better!” she generously admitted. “That’s exactly what he paid for it, and he told me after the papers were signed that he was certain he could get $150,000 if he waited a year or so.” “He probably could have.” “But not from you!” she announced proudly. “Not from me,” he agreed, grinning. “Did he try?” “He tried for $200,000 as soon as he realized how important it was to me to buy it back for you.” “You must have been very clever and skillful to make him agree to accept so much less.” Trying desperately not to laugh, Ian put his forehead against hers and nodded. “Very skillful,” he agreed in a suffocated voice. “Still, I wonder why he was so agreeable?” Swallowing a surge of laughter, Ian said, “I imagine it was because I showed him that I had something he needed more than he needed an exorbitant profit.” “Really?” she said, fascinated and impressed. “What did you have?” “His throat.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/snowbound-up-here-with-you-without-books-or-business-to-occupy-my/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/judith-mcnaught-687_beyond-belief_snowbound-up-here-with-you-without-books_1124894.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/judith-mcnaught-687_beyond-belief_snowbound-up-here-with-you-without-books_1124894.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/judith-mcnaught-687_beyond-belief_snowbound-up-here-with-you-without-books_1124894.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Snowbound up here with you. Without books or business to occupy my time, I wonder what I’ll do,” he added…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I’m going to sleep now,” she said in a strangled voice. “ Alone, ” she added, and his face whitened as if she had slapped him. During his entire adult life Ian had relied almost as much on his intuition as on his intellect, and at that moment he didn’t want to believe in the explanation they were both offering. His wife did not want him in her bed; she recoiled from his touch; she had been away for two consecutive nights; and-more alarming than any of that-guilt and fear were written all over her pale face. “Do you know what a man thinks,” he said in a calm voice that belied the pain streaking through him, “when his wife stays away at night and doesn’t want him in her bed when she does return?” Elizabeth shook her head. “He thinks,” Ian said dispassionately, “that perhaps someone else has been taking his place in it.” Fury sent bright flags of color to her pale cheeks. “You’re blushing, my dear,” Ian said in an awful voice. “I am furious!” she countered, momentarily forgetting that she was confronting a madman. His stunned look was replaced almost instantly by an expression of relief and then bafflement. “I apologize, Elizabeth.” “Would you p-lease get out of here!” Elizabeth burst out in a final explosion of strength. “Just go away and let me rest. I told you I was tired. And I don’t see what right you have to be so upset! We had a bargain before we married-I was to be allowed to live my life without interference, and quizzing me like this is interference!” Her voice broke, and after another narrowed look he strode out of the room. Numb with relief and pain, Elizabeth crawled back into bed and pulled the covers up under her chin, but not even their luxurious warmth could still the alternating chills and fever that quaked through her. Several minutes later a shadow crossed her bed, and she almost screamed with terror before she realized it was Ian, who had entered silently though the connecting door of their suite. Since she’d gasped aloud when she saw him, it was useless to pretend she was sleeping. In silent dread she watched him walking toward her bed. Wordlessly he sat down beside her, and she realized there was a glass in his hand. He put it on the bedside table, then he reached behind her to prop up her pillows, leaving Elizabeth no choice but to sit up and lean back against them. “Drink this,” he instructed in a calm tone. “What is it?” she asked suspiciously. “It’s brandy. It will help you sleep.” He watched while she sipped it, and when he spoke again there was a tender smile in his voice. “Since we’ve ruled out another man as the explanation for all this, I can only assume something has gone wrong at Havenhurst. Is that it?” Elizabeth seized on that excuse as if it were manna from heaven. “Yes,” she whispered, nodding vigorously. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss on her forehead and said teasingly, “Let me guess-you discovered the mill overcharged you?” Elizabeth thought she would die of the sweet torment when he continued tenderly teasing her about being thrifty. “Not the mill? Then it was the baker, and he refused to give you a better price for buying two loaves instead of one.” Tears swelled behind her eyes, treacherously close to the surface, and Ian saw them. “ That bad?” he joked.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/i-m-going-to-sleep-now-she-said-in-a-strangled-voice-alone-she-added/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/judith-mcnaught-687_adult-life_i-m-going-to-sleep-now-she-said-in-a-str_877226.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/judith-mcnaught-687_adult-life_i-m-going-to-sleep-now-she-said-in-a-str_877226.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/judith-mcnaught-687_adult-life_i-m-going-to-sleep-now-she-said-in-a-str_877226.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I’m going to sleep now,” she said in a strangled voice. “ Alone, ” she added, and his face whitened as if…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He’d promised she would be “safe,” which she now realized left a great deal of room for personal interpretation. “If I’m going to remain,” she said uneasily, “I think we ought to agree to observe all the proprieties and conventions.” “Such as?” “Well, for a beginning, you really shouldn’t be calling me by my given name.” “Considering the kiss we exchanged in the arbor last night, it seems a little absurd to call you Miss Cameron.” It was the time to tell him she was Lady Cameron, but Elizabeth was too unstrung by his reference to those unforgettable-and wholly forbidden-moments in his arms to bother with that. “That isn’t the point,” she said firmly. “The point is that although last night did happen, it must not influence our behavior today. Today we ought-ought to be twice as correct in our behavior,” she continued, a little desperately and illogically, “to atone for what happened last night!” “Is that how it’s done?” he asked, his eyes beginning to glint with amusement. “Somehow I didn’t quite imagine you allowed convention to dictate your every move.” To a gambler without ties or responsibility, the rules of social etiquette and convention must be tiresome in the extreme, and Elizabeth realized it was imperative to convince him he must yield to her viewpoint. “Oh, but I am,” she prevaricated. “The Camerons are the most conventional people in the world! As you know from last night, I believe in death before dishonor. We also believe in God and country, motherhood and the king, and…and all the proprieties. We’re quite intolerably boring on the subject, actually.” “I see,” he said, his lips twitching. “Tell me something,” he asked mildly, “why would such a conventional person as yourself have crossed swords with a roomful of men last night in order to protect a stranger’s reputation?” “Oh, that,” Elizabeth said. “That was just-well, my conventional notion of justice. Besides,” she said, her ire coming to the fore as she recalled the scene in the card room last night, “it made me excessively angry when I realized that the only reason none of them would try to dissuade Lord Everly from shooting you was because you were not their social equal, while Everly is.” “Social equality?” he teased with a lazy, devastating smile. “What an unusual notion to spring from such a conventional person as yourself.” Elizabeth was trapped, and she knew it. “The truth is,” she said shakily, “that I am scared to death of being here.” “I know you are,” he said, sobering, “but I am the last person in the world you’ll ever have to fear.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/he-d-promised-she-would-be-safe-which-she-now-realized-left-a-great/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/judith-mcnaught-687_believe-in-god_he-d-promised-she-would-be-safe-which-sh_1692384.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/judith-mcnaught-687_believe-in-god_he-d-promised-she-would-be-safe-which-sh_1692384.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32a/judith-mcnaught-687_believe-in-god_he-d-promised-she-would-be-safe-which-sh_1692384.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He’d promised she would be “safe,” which she now realized left a great deal of room for personal…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Speaking of debutantes,” Jake continued cautiously when Ian remained silent, “what about the one upstairs? Do you dislike her especially, or just on general principle?” Ian walked over to the table and poured some Scotch into a glass. He took a swallow, shrugged, and said, “Miss Cameron was more inventive than some of her vapid little friends. She accosted me in a garden at a party.” “I can see how bothersome that musta been,” Jake joked, “having someone like her, with a face that men dream about, tryin’ to seduce you, usin’ feminine wiles on you. Did they work?” Slamming the glass down on the table, Ian said curtly, “They worked.” Coldly dismissing Elizabeth from his mind, he opened the deerskin case on the table, removed some papers he needed to review, and sat down in front of the fire. Trying to suppress his avid curiosity, Jake waited a few minutes before asking, “Then what happened?” Already engrossed in reading the documents in his hand, Ian said absently and without looking up, “I asked her to marry me; she sent me a note inviting me to meet her in the greenhouse; I went there; her brother barged in on us and informed me she was a countess, and that she was already betrothed.” The topic thrust from his mind, Ian reached for the quill lying on the small table beside his chair and made a note in the margin of the contract. “ And? ” Jake demanded avidly. “And what?” “And then what happened-after the brother barged in?” “He took exception to my having contemplated marrying so far above myself and challenged me to a duel,” Ian replied in a preoccupied voice as he made another note on the contract. “So what’s the girl doin’ here now?” Jake asked, scratching his head in bafflement over the doings of the Quality. “Who the hell knows,” Ian murmured irritably. “Based on her behavior with me, my guess is she finally got caught in some sleezy affair or another, and her reputation’s beyond repair.” “What’s that got to do with you?” Ian expelled his breath in a long, irritated sigh and glanced at Jake with an expression that made it clear he was finished answering questions. “I assume,” he bit out, “that her family, recalling my absurd obsession with her two years ago, hoped I’d come up to scratch again and take her off their hands.” “You think it’s got somethin’ to do with the old duke talking about you bein’ his natural grandson and wantin’ to make you his heir?” He waited expectantly, hoping for more information, but Ian ignored him, reading his documents. Left with no other choice and no prospect for further confidences, Jake picked up a candle, gathered up some blankets, and started for the barn. He paused at the door, struck by a sudden thought. “She said she didn’t send you any note about meetin’ her in the greenhouse.” “She’s a liar and an excellent little actress,” Ian said icily, without taking his gaze from the papers. “Tomorrow I’ll think of some way to get her out of here and off my hands.” Something in Ian’s face made him ask, “Why the hurry? You afraid of fallin’ fer her wiles again?” “Hardly.” “Then you must be made of stone,” he teased. “That woman’s so beautiful she’d tempt any man who was alone with her for an hour-includin’ me, and you know I ain’t in the petticoat line at all.” “Don’t let her catch you alone,” Ian replied mildly. “I don’t think I’d mind.” Jake laughed as he left.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/speaking-of-debutantes-jake-continued-cautiously-when-ian-remained/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_speaking-of-debutantes-jake-continued-ca_2424598.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_speaking-of-debutantes-jake-continued-ca_2424598.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_speaking-of-debutantes-jake-continued-ca_2424598.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Speaking of debutantes,” Jake continued cautiously when Ian remained silent, “what about the one upstairs?…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Let's get it over with, so I can stop wondering. How many have there been?\" Lauren stared at him.\"How many what?\" \"Lovers,\" he clarified bitterly. She could hardly believe her ears. After treating her as if her standards of morality were childish, after acting as if promiscuity was a virtue, after telling her how man preferred experienced women, he was jealous. Because now he cared. Lauren didn't know whether to hit him, burst out laughing or hug him. Instead she decided to exact just a tiny bit of revenge for all the misery and uncertainty he had put her through. Turning,she walked over to the bar and reached for a bottle of white wine. \"Why should the number make any difference?\" she asked innocently. \"You told me in Harbor Springs that men don't prize virginity anymore, that they don't expect or want a woman to be inexperienced.Right?\" \"Right,\" he said grimly, glowering at the ice cubes in his glass. \"You also said,\" she continued, biting back a smile, \"that women have the same physical desires men have,and that we have the right to satisfy them with whomever we wish.You were very emphatic about that-\" \"Lauren,\" he warned in a low voice, \"I asked you a simple question. I don't care what the answer is, I just want an answer so I can stop wondering. Tell me how many there were. Tell me if you liked the, if you didn't give a damn abou them,or if you did it to get even with me.Just tell me.I won't hold it against you.\" Like hell you wouldn't! Lauren thought happily as she struggled to uncork the bottle of wine. \"Of course you won't hold it against me,\" she said lightly. \"You specifically said-\" \"I know what I said,\" he snapped tersely. \"Now,how many?\" She flicked a glance in his direction, implying that she was bewildered by his tone. \"Only one.\" Angry regret flared in his eyes,and his body tensed as if he had just felt a physical blow. \"Did you...care about him?\" \"I thought I loved him at the time,\" Lauren said brightly, twisting the corkscrew deeper into the cork. \"All right.Let's forget him,\" Nick said curtly. He finally noticed her efforts with the wine bottle and walked over to help her. \"Are you going to be able to forget him?\" Lauren asked, admiring the ease with which he managed the stubborn cork. \"I will...after a while.\" \"What do you mean,after a while? You said there was nothing promiscuous about a woman satisfying her biological-\" \"I know what I said,dammit!\" \"Then why do you look so angry? You didn't lie to me,did you?\" \"I didn't lie,\" he said, slamming the bottle onto the bar and reaching for a glass from the cabinet. \"I believed it at the time.\" \"Why?\" she goaded. \"Because it was convenient to believe it,\" he bit out. \"I was not in love with you then.\" Lauren loved him more at that moment than ever. \"Would you like me to tell you about him?\" \"No,\" he said coldly. Her eyes twinkled, but she backed a cautious step out of his reach. \"You would have approved of him. He was tall, dark, and handsome, like you. Very elegant,sophisticated and experienced. He wore down my resistence in two days,and-\" \"Dammit, stop it!\" Nick grated in genuine fury. \"His name is John.\" Nick braced both hands on the liguor cabinet,his back to her. \"I do not want to hear this!\" \"John Nicholas Sinclair,\" Lauren clarified.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/let-s-get-it-over-with-so-i-can-stop-wondering-how-many-have-there/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_let-s-get-it-over-with-so-i-can-stop-won_799975.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_let-s-get-it-over-with-so-i-can-stop-won_799975.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_let-s-get-it-over-with-so-i-can-stop-won_799975.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let's get it over with, so I can stop wondering. How many have there been?\" Lauren stared at him.\"How many…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She was still standing there several moments later when Ian walked in to invite her to ride with him. “Still trying to find your answer, sweetheart?” he asked with a sympathetic grin, mistaking the cause of her wary stare. “No, I found mine,” she said, her voice unintentionally accusing as she thrust both pieces of paper toward him. “What I would like to know,” she continued, unable to tear her gaze from him, “is how it happens to be the same answer you arrived at in a matter of moments.” His grin faded, and he shoved his hands into his pockets, ignoring the papers in her outthrust hand. His expression carefully impassive, he said, “That answer is a little more difficult than the one I wrote down for you-“ “You can do this-calculate all those figures in your mind? In moments? ” He nodded curtly, and when Elizabeth continued to stare at him warily, as if he was a being of unknown origin, his face hardened. In a clipped, cool voice he said, “I would appreciate it if you would stop staring at me as if I’m a freak.” Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open at his tone and his words. “I’m not.” “Yes,” he said implacably. “You are. Which is why I haven’t told you before this.” Embarrassed regret surged through her at the understandable conclusion he’d drawn from her reaction. Recovering her composure, she started around the desk toward him. “What you saw on my face was wonder and awe, no matter how it must have seemed.” “The last thing I want from you is ‘awe,’” he said tightly, and Elizabeth belatedly realized that, while he didn’t care what anyone else thought of him, her reaction to all this was obviously terribly important to him. Rapidly concluding that he’d evidently had some experience with other people’s reaction to what must surely be a form of genius-and which struck them as “freakish”-she bit her lip, trying to decide what to say. When nothing came to mind, she simply let love guide her and reacted without artifice. Leaning back against the desk, she sent him an amused, sidelong smile and said, “I gather you can calculate almost as rapidly as you can read?” His response was short and chilly. “Not quite.” “I see,” she continued lightly. “I would guess there are close to ten thousand books in your library here. Have you read them all?” “No.” She nodded thoughtfully, but her eyes danced with admiring laughter as she continued, “Well, you’ve been quite busy the past few weeks-dancing attendance on me. No doubt that’s kept you from finishing the last thousand or two.” His face softened as she asked merrily, “Are you planning to read them all?” With relief, she saw the answering smile tugging at his lips. “I thought I’d attend to that next week,” he replied with sham gravity. “A worthy endeavor,” she agreed. “I hope you won’t start without me. I’d like to watch.” Ian’s shout of laughter was cut short as he snatched her into his arms and buried his face in her fragrant hair, his hands clenching her to him as if he could absorb her sweetness into himself. “Do you have any other extraordinary skills I ought to know about, my lord?” she whispered, holding him as tightly as he was holding her. The laugher in his voice was replaced by tender solemnity. “I’m rather good,” he whispered, “at loving you.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/she-was-still-standing-there-several-moments-later-when-ian-walked-in/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_she-was-still-standing-there-several-mom_2626241.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_she-was-still-standing-there-several-mom_2626241.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_she-was-still-standing-there-several-mom_2626241.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She was still standing there several moments later when Ian walked in to invite her to ride with him. “Still…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They won’t do it, Ian,” Jordan Townsende said the night after Ian was released on his own recognizance. Pacing back and forth across Ian’s drawing room, he said again, “They will not do it.” “They’ll do it,” Ian said dispassionately. The words were devoid of concern; not even his eyes showed interest. Days ago Ian had passed the point of caring about the investigation. Elizabeth was gone; there had been no ransom note, nothing whatever-no reason in the world to continue believing that she’d been taken against her will. Since Ian knew damned well he hadn’t killed her or had her abducted, the only remaining conclusion was that Elizabeth had left him for someone else. The authorities were still vacillating about the other man she’d allegedly met in the arbor because the gardener’s eyesight had been proven to be extremely poor, and even he admitted that it “might have been tree limbs moving around her in the dim light, instead of a man’s arms.” Ian, however, did not doubt it. The existence of a lover was the only thing that made sense; he had even suspected it the night before she disappeared. She hadn’t wanted him in her bed; if anything but a lover had been worrying her that night, she’d have sought the protection of his arms, even if she didn’t confide in him. But he had been the last thing she’d wanted. No, he hadn’t actually suspected it-that would have been more pain than he could have endured then. Now, however, he not only suspected it, he knew it, and the pain was beyond anything he’d ever imagined existed. “I tell you they won’t bring you to trial,” Jordan repeated. “Do you honestly think they will?” he demanded, looking first to Duncan and then to the Duke of Stanhope, who were seated in the drawing room. In answer, both men raised dazed, pain-filled eyes to Jordan’s, shook their heads in an effort to seem decisive, then looked back down at their hands. Under English law Ian was entitled to a trial before his peers; since he was a British lord, that meant he could only be tried in the House of Lords, and Jordan was clinging to that as if it were Ian’s lifeline. “You aren’t the first man among us to have a spoiled wife turn missish on him and vanish for a while in hopes of bringing him to heel,” Jordan continued, desperately trying to make it seem as if Elizabeth were merely sulking somewhere-no doubt unaware that her husband’s reputation had been demolished and that his very life was going to be in jeopardy. “They aren’t going to convene the whole damn House of Lords just to try a beleaguered husband whose wife has taken a start,” he continued fiercely. “Hell, half the lords in the House can’t control their wives. Why should you be any different?” Alexandra looked up at him, her eyes filled with misery and disbelief. Like Ian, she knew Elizabeth wasn’t indulging in a fit of the sullens. Unlike Ian, however, she could not and would not believe her friend had taken a lover and run away. Ian’s butler appeared in the doorway, a sealed message in his hand, which he handed to Jordan. “Who knows?” Jordan tried to joke as he opened it. “Maybe this is from Elizabeth-a note asking me to intercede with you before she dares present herself to you.” His smile faded abruptly. “What is it?” Alex cried, seeing his haggard expression. Jordan crumpled the summons in his hand and turned to Ian with angry regret. “They’re convening the House of Lords.” “It’s good to know,” Ian said with cold indifference as he pushed out of his chair and started for his study, “that I’ll have one friend and one relative there.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Judith McNaught" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/they-won-t-do-it-ian-jordan-townsende-said-the-night-after-ian-was/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c59/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_they-won-t-do-it-ian-jordan-townsende-sa_2648489.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c59/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_they-won-t-do-it-ian-jordan-townsende-sa_2648489.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c59/judith-mcnaught-687_continued_they-won-t-do-it-ian-jordan-townsende-sa_2648489.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They won’t do it, Ian,” Jordan Townsende said the night after Ian was released on his own recognizance…” — Judith McNaught", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/judith-mcnaught/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/judith-mcnaught/", "name": "Continued Quotes by Judith McNaught", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/judith-mcnaught/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/judith-mcnaught-687_business_when-she-was-turning-the-bacon-he-came-u_9717.jpg" }, "description": "15 Continued quotes by Judith McNaught. Plus more from Judith McNaught and more Continued sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/judith-mcnaught/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/judith-mcnaught/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Continued", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Judith McNaught", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continued/judith-mcnaught/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```