“
He cleared his throat.
“You know this means that what we did what we almost did in Paris...”
“Going to the Eiffel Tower?”
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“You never let me off the hook for a single minute, do you? Never mind. It’s one of the things I love about you. Anyway, that other thing we almost did in Paris, that’s probably off the table for a while. Unless you want that whole baby-I’m-on-fire-when-we kiss thing to become freakishly literal.”
“No kissing?”
“Well, kissing, probably. But as for the rest of it…”
She brushed her cheek lightly against his. “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with you.”
“Of course it’s not okay with me. I’m a teenage boy. As far as I’m concerned, this is the worst thing that’s happened since I found out why Magnus was banned from Peru.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
“
Lonely.
My heart grips as the word crosses my mind. So many different feelings come with the word, not just loneliness. The word went beyond its definition. Loneliness has a deeper meaning to those who truly know what it means to be alone.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
The hours tick by as I lie in bed.
Memories keep surfacing, tormenting me into unbelievable sadness. I can't bring myself to move. I can't fight the memories that keep filling my thoughts. I stay curled in the fetal position as each memory plays out. I can't stop them from coming. I can't make them go away. Nothing can distract me. I can't block the memories, so they continue to come.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
It’s amazing how unimpressed people are by being loved when it doesn’t fit in with their plans. Love irks them so much that they change the locks or leave without warning.
”
”
Nina George (The Little Paris Bookshop)
“
I grab the nearest lamppost when my knees threaten to give out, panting for breath as the words rip through me
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
Every gesture and every look he gives me takes me by surprise and causes my heart to stutter.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
He stares at me—taking me in—with his lips slightly parted. I struggle to hold myself in place as we gawk at each other. I want so desperately to run, but something is holding me back, keeping me in place.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
I head in the direction of the Eiffel Tower when I exit the alley, relieved to be out of the dark.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
I'm being pulled under - father and farther from the surface. My lungs continue to scream for air. Panic is building inside me, threatening to combust. I can't break free.
Help! I can't break free!
I open my mouth to scream.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
He drinks his coffee tentatively, glancing at me every few seconds, watching me. Every time he glances in my direction, I quickly turn away though he obviously knows I'm watching him. I know he's wondering why I'm staring at him, but he doesn't ask.
I finally take a sip of coffee, set the mug back on the table, and voice what's on my mind, "I want to draw you.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
Time wastes too fast… the days and hours of it… are flying over our heads like little clouds on a windy day, never to return more – everything presses on – whilst thou art twisting the lock, - see! it grows grey… and every time I kiss thy hand to bid adieu, and every absence which follows it, are preludes to that eternal separation which we are shortly to make!
”
”
Laurence Sterne
“
What say you, can you love the gentleman?
This night you shall behold him at our feast.
Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen;
Examine every married lineament,
And see how one another lends content;
And what obscured in this fair volume lies
Find written in the margent of his eyes.
This precious book of love, this unbound lover,
To beautify him only lacks a cover.
The fish lives in the sea, and 'tis much pride
For fair without the fair within to hide.
That book in many's eyes doth share the glory,
That in gold clasps locks in the golden story.
So shall you share all that he doth possess,
By having him, making yourself no less.
”
”
William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)
“
Poor Sasha. Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of love. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get. The treacled pop songs, the dresses described in the catalogs with words like "sunset" and "Paris." Then the dreams are taken away with such violent force; the hand wrenching the buttons of the jeans, nobody looking at the man shouting at his girlfriend on the bus. Sorrow for Sasha locked up my throat.
”
”
Emma Cline (The Girls)
“
Night has settled over Paris.
The streets have cleared of the crowds, and the city has been lit up. I set my book down, deciding to go for a walk. The Eiffel Tower is only a few blocks away. Now that there aren't many people out, I can walk there without having to fight my way through mobs of gawking tourists.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
When we step onto the bridge, Nathan turns and spreads his arms out wide. ‘Welcome to Pont des Arts, a.k.a. The Lock Bridge.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
One of his hands move away from my face to flatten against my back, pulling me closer to him as he deepens the kiss. He parts my lips under his as my mind seems to sign quietly in content. I kiss him back as fiercely as he kisses me, unable to control the infatuation that rushes through me - feeling almost like fireworks. Not so careful anymore.
Little shivers of urgency shoot through me. I push off the window, pressing closer to him. The rush of sensation that is coursing through me feels like I've drunk a gallon of coffee. It feels like an electric buzz is flooding between us.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
Poor Sasha. Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of love. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get. The treacled pop songs, the dresses described in the catalogs with words like "sunset" and "Paris." Then the dreams are taken away with such violent force; the hand wrenching the buttons of the jeans, nobody looking at the man shouting at his girlfriend on the bus. Sorrow for Sasha locked up my throat.
”
”
Emma Cline (The Girls)
“
I take in all the colorful locks that line the bridge. Each one told a story. Each lock represented a relationship that was once special, whether it ended or turned into true happiness. The locks represented a past, present, and a possible future.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
He smirks, shaking his head and letting his eyes wander. I watch him carefully, wondering what I can say to get him to leave. “I’m not leaving until you answer some questions. Plus, I’m holding your sketchbook hostage, so you might want to cooperate.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. I guess there isn’t much I can say. “This isn’t a hostage negotiation.”
He chuckles half-heartedly as his eyes take me in, almost sizing me up. “I guess I should introduce myself.” He holds a hand out for me to shake. “I’m Nathan.”
I stare at his hand for a moment. “Taylor,” I reply, meeting his eyes again without taking his hand.
He lets his hand fall back to his side. “At least I got you to say something non-hostile.”
“I haven’t been hostile,” I object.
His eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, haven’t you?”
“Why don’t you leave me alone?” I snap. “Leave and don’t come back.” I move passed him, heading for my apartment. He can’t follow and annoy me if I lock the door.
“Where are you going?” he demands. I look back over my shoulder and roll my eyes at him, indicating the answer should be obvious: anywhere he isn’t. Once inside, I slam the door behind me.
“That was totally not hostile!” he calls after me, sarcastically. I quickly head for my bedroom door, slamming it, too.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
I freeze, my feet suddenly glued to the floor. It takes me a minute to gather the courage to turn around, but when I do, I immediately wish I hadn't. The boy is standing in the doorway at the end of the hall.
Why is he here again? I barely allow myself time to ask the question before I move. Panicked, I turn and run back downstairs as fast as I can.
"Hey! Wait!" he calls after me.
I don't stop.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
Poor Sasha. Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of love. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get. The treacled pop songs, the dresses described in the catalogs with words like “sunset” and “Paris.” Then the dreams are taken away with such violent force; the hand wrenching the buttons of the jeans, nobody looking at the man shouting at his girlfriend on the bus. Sorrow for Sasha locked up my throat.
”
”
Emma Cline (The Girls)
“
Poor Sasha. Poor girls. The world fattens them on the promise of love. How badly they need it, and how little most of them will ever get. The treacled pop songs, the dresses described in the catalogs with words like “sunset” and “Paris.” Then the dreams are taken away with such violent force; the hand wrenching the buttons of the jeans, nobody looking at the man shouting at his girlfriend on the bus. Sorrow for Sasha locked up my throat. She
”
”
Emma Cline (The Girls)
“
Erica! The voice of Bill Rivers that day on the street goes through my mother’s heart like a stake. Erica, he says. (She thinks he says.) Tell me, what did you do with your glittering mind? Did you make the right choice? Marry the right man? Would you have studied at the Sorbonne, Erica? Laughed with writers at Les Deux Magots? Did you lock up that dazzling wit of yours, or did you write a book? Did you get to stroll in Paris? Would you care if your daughter were a perfect doll of a brown baby? Who would you love, Erica? Who would you be?
”
”
Michele Filgate (What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence)
“
Women and horses have a lot in common. Would you like to know what? Fine. Well, if a horse refuses, you've phrased your question wrongly. It's the same with women. Don't ask them: 'Shall we go out to dinner?' Ask: 'What can I cook for you?' Can she say no to that? No, she can't. Instead of whispering instructions to them like you would to a horse - lie down, woman, put your harness on - you should listen to them. Listen to what they want. In fact, they want to be free and to sail across the sky. It takes only one word to hurt a woman, a matter of seconds, one stupid, impatient blow of the crop. But winning back her trust takes years. And sometimes there isn't the time. It's amazing how unimpressed people are by being loved when it doesn't fit in with their plans. Love irks them so much that they change the locks or leave without warning. And when a horse leaves us, Jeanno, we deserve that love as little as when a woman does. They are superior beings to us men. When they love us, then they are being gracious, for only rarely do we give them reason to love us. And that's why it hurts so much. When women stop loving, men fall into a void of their own making.
”
”
Nina George (The Little Paris Bookshop)
“
If Z had only known in his perfectly lovely two rooms in Paris what he'd come to know in his single 6x8 block somewhere, he guessed, just outside Tel Aviv. If he'd had an inkling in that breezy French apartment of what true boredom felt like and true loneliness, and true limbo - what it might actually be like to be locked up, hidden away without hope. If he'd tasted real madness at that point, he'd not have decided that he was so bored and so crazy that, without TV or Radio or a suitably advanced French, that, at the very least, he deserved a taste of the night air and something decent to read, and maybe, if the shop was still open, a decent bottle of wine.
”
”
Nathan Englander (Dinner at the Center of the Earth)
“
Harts held up his hand. “No, it doesn’t fit. The crime wave ruse was well underway before you became involved, and following you would not facilitate it.” Murphy shook his head. “What can I do?” The general took the photo, put it in an envelope and gave it back to Murphy. “You may need this. Since we now know you’re a target of surveillance, we have to proceed by different rules. When you’re walking, double back occasionally and see if anyone else does the same thing. Leave stores and cafés by a different door than you came in, if they have one. If you take the Metro, get on the first train and get off before it departs and see if anyone else does the same thing. If you see him again, let me know. Right now there is more deception and intrigue here in Paris than in the whole rest of the world. Do you still have your service weapon?” “Yes sir, but it’s under lock and key at
”
”
Mark Anthony Sullivan (A Prelude to Versailles: Love and Intrigue at the Paris Peace Conference)
“
The boy took my sketchbook.
”
”
Ashley Earley (Alone in Paris)
“
You can’t mean to marry her!” Roslyn’s shrill voice rose. “Do you forget how she stole from you? That she tried to ruin your company? If you need any reminders, just look at the new hotels going up in Paris and Rome. Your hotels, Chrysander. Only they’re going up under your competitor’s name.”
A haze blew through Marley’s mind. Red hot. Like a swarm of angry bees, tidbits of information began buzzing in her head. And suddenly it was as if a dam broke. The locked door in her mind that she’d tried so hard to budge simply opened, and the past came roaring through with vicious velocity.
She swayed and gripped the door frame tighter. Nausea boiled in her stomach as each and every moment flashed like a movie in fast-forward.
Chrysander’s angry accusation of thievery. His ordering her from their apartment, his life. Her abduction and the months she’d spent in hopeless fear, waiting for Chrysander to answer the ransom demands. Demands he’d ignored.
Oh God, she was going to be sick.
He’d left her. Discarded her like a piece of rubbish. The half million dollars, a paltry sum to a man of Chrysander’s means, was an amount he’d been unwilling to part with to ensure her return.
Everything had been a lie. He’d lied to her nonstop since she’d awoken in the hospital. He didn’t love her or want her. He despised her.
She hadn’t been worth half a million dollars to him.
Pain splintered through her chest as she shattered. As everything she’d known as true suddenly turned black. Her heart withered and cracked, falling in pieces around her.
He hadn’t tried to save her.
The tortured cry that ripped from her mouth echoed through the room. She clamped a hand over her lips, but it was too late. Everyone looked her way. Theron flinched, and an odd discomfort settled over Piers’s face. She met Chrysander’s gaze, and she could see the truth in his eyes as he realized that she remembered.
”
”
Maya Banks (The Tycoon's Pregnant Mistress (Anetakis Tycoons, #1))
“
We stood there, locked and lovely as statues in a garden.
”
”
Paula McLain (The Paris Wife)