“I love you,” he whispered, over and over. “I love you.”

She whispered it back, the words so sweet on her lips. He kissed her jaw, her cheek, her eyebrows. He felt it right to his bones, his need for her. Heat slid down his spine and gathered in his balls and he pushed into her hot softness. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she made the hottest little noises of pleasure. She tipped her head back and he kissed her throat, sucked gently there, then dragged his tongue over soft skin.

They drifted into another dimension, lost in the pleasure of each other, moving together, murmuring soft words, touching each other everywhere. Heat twisted inside him, pressure built, perspiration gathered on his body and he came inside her, hands in her hair, his mouth on hers. “I love you.”

Remi woke up to Jason’s furnace-like body wrapped around her in her bed. Saturday morning.

She had laundry to do. Grocery shopping. Her car needed an oil change and she needed to sit down and pay some utility bills. And then there was the marking of tests, preparing for a big project.

Later.

Jason was there, in her bed, big and warm and hard, and she wasn’t going to let that go to waste.

She shifted against him and his hand went to her butt. “Mmm,” he said.

“I love you, Jase,” she whispered, not sure if he was even awake enough to hear her.

He was.

He flipped her onto her back, and smiled down at her. “I love you too. So much, Remi.”

He bent his head and kissed her. “Oh, let me go brush my teeth,” she begged. He laughed and rolled to his back, taking her with him.

“I don’t care,” he said.

“I do.”

She buried her face in the space between his neck and his shoulder and felt his cock harden against her leg. “I’ll be right back.”

She quickly used the bathroom and brushed her teeth, then slipped back into bed beside him. He pulled her on top of him and she gazed down at his face, the beard stubble darkening his strong jaw, eyes so deep and delicious, his beautiful mouth. She traced a finger over one eyebrow, brushed her fingertips across his lips.

“Last night…” she began and then emotion clogged her throat up. Last night he’d made love to her with such tenderness and devotion she’d cried after, pressed against him, her love for him so huge and engulfing.

“I know,” he murmured, running his hands down her back, over her butt, back up and into her hair. “I know.”

She gave him a shaky smile, touching her mouth to his. His opened immediately to her and he tilted her head for a deeper angle.

The alarm pinged, announcing someone had just entered the house.

They both froze and lifted their heads.

It could only be Jasmine. No one else had a key.

“Remi?” Jasmine’s voice called out.

What the hell was she doing there this early? Remi frowned and looked at her alarm clock. Okay, it wasn’t early, it was almost ten-thirty. They’d had a late night with Jason’s family and then they’d made love half the night, so they’d slept late.

She met Jason’s eyes and hitched her shoulders, then smiled. “I met your family,” she said. “Now it’s your turn.”

“I’ve met Jasmine.”

“Bah. For thirty seconds.”

“Uh…this isn’t the best…”

The bedroom door opened. “Remi, are you still…oh my god.”

Remi, on top of Jason, with her back to the door, froze. Then she glanced over her bare shoulder.

“Jasmine.”

“Sorry, sorry.” The door closed.

A few weeks ago, Remi would have been horrified. Mortified. Distraught. Now—she laughed.

She rolled out of bed. “I better go see what she wants.” Still smiling, nothing able to penetrate her blissful bubble, she slid her arms into the silk wrap she’d bought at Victoria’s Secret the other day and tied the belt as she meandered down the hall.

“Are you still here?” she called out.

“In the kitchen.”

Remi walked into the kitchen smiling. “Hi.”

“What the hell, Remi?”

Remi frowned. “What do you mean, what the hell?”

“There’s a man in your bedroom!”

“Uh…yeah. So?”

Jasmine just looked stunned. “I…I just…you don’t…”

Remi waved a hand and filled the coffeepot with water. “You met Jason.”

“That’s the guy who came that night…”

“Mmmhmm.” Remi scooped grounds into the filter, brushed off her fingertips and pressed the button to start the coffee. She needed coffee.

“So you and him…”

Remi smiled, leaned against the counter. “Yes. Me and him.”

“Oh.”

“What are you doing here, Jas?”

“Oh. Yeah. I needed to talk to you about something.”

Jason sauntered into the kitchen in his boxers and T-shirt. Remi rolled her lips in, even as she admired his long muscular legs and broad chest.

Jasmine’s eyes widened.

“Hi. You must be Jasmine.” Jason held out a hand and speared her with his charming smile.

Jasmine made a noise and shook his hand.

“We met before, but only briefly. I’m Jason.”

“Uh. Yeah. I remember. Hi.”

Remi put her fingers to her mouth. “Jasmine apparently dropped by to talk to me about something. So, what is it, Jasmine?”

“Maybe I should come back later.” She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Jason.

Remi almost laughed. “No, don’t be silly. What is it?”

Jasmine looked back and forth between them, watching Jason cross the kitchen and kiss Remi’s forehead. Remi smiled up at him.

“I gotta go,” he said regretfully. “To take my parents to the airport.”

“Oh yeah. Okay.” She went on her toes and he lifted her against him for a long, sweet kiss.

Jason kissed Remi, smiled at her sister then headed back to her bedroom to get dressed.

See, this was the problem. His suit and shirt were wrinkled from lying in a heap on the floor where he’d left them last night and he had nothing else to wear. Saturday morning he did not feel like putting on a suit. He’d have to rush back to his place, change and then get to the hotel to pick his parents up. Everything would be easier if they lived together.

He waited for the familiar panicky feeling to claw inside him at the thought of committing like that, but it didn’t come. He buttoned his shirt with fingers that didn’t tremble. Huh. It was kinda weird, but they’d figure it all out later.

Remi followed him to her front door, holding her coffee mug. He bent and kissed her mouth. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Okay.”

He patted her cute butt under the silky robe, drawing a smile from her, and then he left, locking her door behind him. The early April morning held hints of spring, the breeze softer, the sun warmer as he strode down the sidewalk to his Jeep, parked at the curb.

It felt like a beginning.

As he drove downtown and thought about everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, an expansive feeling of well-being rose inside him. He smiled as he drove. They’d made the playoffs. Yeah, there was still a long road to the Stanley Cup ahead of them, but they’d done it after a long season that had handed them lots of challenges—injuries, trades, talk of financial problems with the team.

He winced a bit, remembering that Tag hadn’t made it. But that was life.

His parents had been there, had been proud of him, had seen him play better than Tag. He didn’t like to gloat, but he couldn’t help a tiny feeling of satisfaction at that. It had been a long time coming.

Remi had been there and she’d been proud of him too. He loved that. And he liked knowing his parents had met her and liked her and now…the M word even popped into his head and didn’t cause a panic attack.

In his apartment, he quickly showered and changed into jeans and a T-shirt, threw on his jacket and headed out again, over to the hotel.

Marriage.

He could see being married to Remi one day. Moving in together was a big step, marriage would really be rushing it, but the idea of one day taking that leap didn’t scare the shit out of him. He grinned. Maybe he was growing up.