I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2) QUOTES

2 " Jackson, you can’t just go around asking strange women to move in with you.”

“Why not? You need a place to live. I have three extra bedrooms. And you’re hardly strange.”

“That’s true. We’re practically family,” she muttered.

“Practically. But not.” Something in his tone had Mollie’s head snapping up.

Something low and a little bit sexy.

They weren’t family. They weren’t related.

Jackson leaned forward, his gaze strangely intent. “Come on, Mollie. What do you have to lose?”

As she stared at the man she’d once harbored an unhealthy crush on—a crush she was no longer at all sure had dissipated—she realized that the answer to his question was everything.

She had everything to lose. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

4 " His eyes were hot and angry as they burned into hers. “I talked to Madison, and that’s it. I didn’t agree to go on a date; I didn’t agree to get back together. In fact, after a certain point in the conversation, I was having a hard time even paying attention to her.”

She swallowed.

“Why do you think that is, Mollie?” he asked quietly. “What do you think was distracting me?”

Oh God, why does he have to be so beautiful?

“You, Mollie,” he said, pulling her closer. “You were distracting me. You were all I could think about. All I’ve been thinking about.”

Her heart thudded. “Yeah?”

His thumb touched her lip. “You know when you texted me today? Something dumb about whether or not we needed more paper towels? Seeing your name on my cell phone did a hell of a lot more for me than my entire meeting with Madison. Are you hearing me? It was the mere sight of your name that did it for me. That’s it, Mollie. Seeing your name undoes me. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

6 " Mollie pivoted on her seat and glared at him. "Jackson Burke, do not pull that shit with me. You're thirty-five years old. I'm willing to bet that every man in this bar wants to be you, and every woman wants to—"
He lifted his eyebrows, and Mollie hesitated only slightly before she forced herself to finish the sentence. "Mate."
Jackson burst out laughing. "You still do that?"
"Do what?"
"Talk about animal mating rituals when you get nervous."
"I'm not nervous! Why would I be nervous?"
He was studying her. "You tell me."
"Don't be weird," she muttered. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

8 " It wasn't a hard kiss, but it wasn't particularly soft either. It was just perfect. The perfect amount of sweet and hot, and...
She put her hands on his chest, shoving him backward. "Please don't mess with me. Please. Just talk to me."
Jackson's eyes shadowed with regret as he slowly released her wrist, lifting a hand to her face. The back of his fingers stroked her cheek softly. “Talk to you?”
She nodded.
“What shall I talk about?” he whispered.
“How about the fact that you’re supposed to be in Houston right now? It’s the only reason I came over.”
“I was in Houston,” he said.
“For what, an hour?” she asked.
“Probably about that, yeah.” He was watching her mouth as his thumb brushed softly over her lips.
Her breath caught at the tenderness in his touch—in his eyes.
“What happened?”
His eyes flicked up to hers. “You want the full story, or the important part?”
“The important part,” she whispered.
“I love you. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

10 " Are you okay?” she asked. Because she couldn’t not ask. Not after she’d seen the weariness around his eyes, the slight tension in his shoulders.

Jackson turned his head so their eyes locked and he frowned before returning his attention to the mermaid. “Nobody ever asks me that.”

Her heart squeezed at the lost note in his voice. It was strange to think of someone as big and important as Jackson Burke being lonely, but somehow…somehow she knew he was. Even here, among all these people, he was somehow alone. Apart.

Like her. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

12 " But somewhere along the line, Mollie Carrington had ceased to be that awkward kid who talked about bugs at inopportune times. Somewhere along the line, she’d become his rock. The one person in the world, save for perhaps his parents, who always knew the exact right thing to say to make him feel like a human whenever he’d started to feel like a caricature of himself.

For years he’d tried to tell himself that it was just sibling affection—that he cared about her the way he would a sister. But then things had gotten worse with Madison—way worse. And Jackson had been hit upside the head with the truth: that maybe he’d married the wrong sister. That he didn’t want to spend the rest of his days married to the beautiful, brittle Madison.

He wanted someone who made him laugh. Who listened. Someone who cared more about people than she did about hair appointments.

Someone like Mollie.

“Fuck,” Jackson muttered under his breath as he took another sip of his drink. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

14 " Bow down, peons,” Lincoln said. “I’m a king among men.” “Where are you coming up with this?” Cole asked him. Lincoln pointed at Jackson. “Um, hello—Jackson Burke knows my name. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

16 " he couldn’t stop watching her and wondering if this was one case where complicated would be absolutely fucking worth it. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

18 " Jackson slid a finger under the collar of his shirt and tugged. He didn't care what his tailor said. The damn thing was too tight. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)

20 " Mollie chewed her lip, and he felt a strange satisfaction at seeing her caught in turmoil. Mollie had seemed so confident, so sure of herself and everyone around her. He liked that he could put her off balance, just a little bit. Because God knew she’d been knocking him off balance all night.

“Madison would kill me,” she said quietly.

He met her eyes. Held them. “Do you care?”

It was a big question—a bold one. And from the way she looked at the floor, he could tell that she knew he wasn’t just asking about Madison’s feelings on the roommate situation. He wanted to know how much his ex-wife still had her claws into Mollie. "

― Lauren Layne , I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, #2)