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“It really is great to finally meet you,” Niko said to me. “He talks about you all the time.”

Orion rested his scruffy chin on my shoulder. “We were actually waiting for you to get here so we can go meet up with Niko’s wife Sadie and my other teammates Ryke and Luke and their wives.”

“Should I change?” I asked, looking down at my jeans and plain green t-shirt.

“Nope. We’re having dinner at a pub,” Orion said.

The banter between Orion and Niko on the cab ride to the restaurant made me smile a few times. Niko seemed to have a wild streak, and Orion was the straight man in their duo for the most part.

The pub was full when we arrived. Niko led the way to a back room, where the others were waiting. As we wound through the crowd, Orion never let go of my hand. I clutched his fingers nervously when we arrived at a large table full of ridiculously attractive people whose eyes were all on me.

“Samara,” a blonde woman said, smiling, “it’s so great to meet you. I’m Kate.”

She hugged me and rubbed a hand over my back in a reassuring circle. Her skin glowed with a golden tan, her maxi dress exposing perfect bare shoulders.

After the hug, Orion wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close, pointing at each person he introduced.

“Babe, this is Ryke.” He had dark hair and a movie-star handsome face.

“Luke.” Dark blond hair and wide shoulders, with a friendly grin.

“Dell.” A stunning redhead who looked effortlessly gorgeous.

“And Sadie.” She was a pretty, petite woman with dark hair and huge brown eyes.

“Hi,” I said, sitting down in the chair Orion pulled out for me.

A server approached and took drink orders. Orion reached for my hand under the table, our interlocked fingers resting on my thigh. When I looked over at him to smile, the wink he gave me made my heart skip a beat.

“So how’d you guys meet?” Ryke asked Orion.

“We went to high school together but our paths didn’t cross much. I ran into her my first day home and she checked me out.”

“At the grocery store,” I added. “I was his checker at the grocery store I work at.”

“Yeah, but you were
checking me out
, too,” he said, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing my knuckles. “And trying to look disinterested. It was so damn cute.”

Heat spread up my neck to my face. “I won’t deny I was looking.”

“So was I.”

“How sweet are they?” Kate said, grinning at Ryke. “Are we that sweet?”

“I know you are,” he said, running a hand over her hair and kissing her. “And I try.”

Our drinks came, and the first round went quick. The conversation was easy. When they asked me questions, it was in a light, unassuming way. But still I knew they were sizing me up. Deciding if I was good enough for Orion.

“How’s my mom?” Orion asked me as the food we’d ordered was being delivered to the table.

“Good. She’s helping Olivia with the canned food drive for PTA. And she’s wanting to come up here for a weekend soon.”

“She can come up with you.”

“That’s what we were thinking. Maybe a girls’ weekend at a downtown hotel.”

He scrunched his face, looking wounded. “You guys can stay at my place.”

“Okay.”

Niko smirked at Orion across the table. “Mama Caldwell’s gonna be proud when she hears your name being screamed loud enough to break the windows.”

I covered my face with my hand, my cheeks ablaze. Orion laughed next to me and I shot him a dirty look.

“I don’t scream,” I said in a low, admonishing tone.

“You do get kinda loud, baby,” he said. “But I love it.”

I took a deep breath and looked up, trying to regain my composure.

“I scream sometimes,” Dell said from the other side of the table.

Luke grinned and gave her a side-eyed glance. “Every time.”

“Don’t women only scream when they’re faking?” Ryke asked, arching his brows at Luke.

Luke shook his head with disgust. “Fuck you.”

Beneath the good looks and expensive clothes, they were the realest group of people I’d ever known. We talked and laughed for hours, and I was buzzed not just from alcohol, but happiness when Orion led me back through the bar by the hand and hailed a cab back to his apartment.

“They loved you,” he said after we climbed into the back seat of a cab that smelled like spicy food.

“They’re great,” I said. He turned to me and took my face into his hands, kissing me softly. His hand slipped under my shirt at my shoulder and he stroked my neck with his thumb. A familiar warmth spread from my chest down, coming to rest between my thighs with a throbbing weight.

His lips traveled from my lips to my jaw line, and then down to my neck, which he kissed and nipped at lightly. A shiver ran the length of my spine and I sighed silently, not wanting to moan in front of the cab driver.

“Have you waited for me?” he whispered in my ear.

“Hmm?” I asked, lost in the sensation of his mouth on my skin.

“I’m asking if these fingers—” he said, lacing his fingers with mine, “have been in your pussy since I left.”

I gasped, half turned on by his dirty talk and half mortified that the driver might’ve heard.

“Maybe …” I whispered softly. “Maybe once.”

He groaned into my ear and slid his hand around the back of my neck, his mouth returning to mine for a kiss with more fire.

“Save yourself for me,” he said, his teeth tugging gently on my earlobe.

“Will you do the same?”

A hum of amusement sounded from his chest. “If you want me to. As long as you don’t mind getting fucked seven ways from Sunday every weekend.”

The cab driver’s eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror and I tried to conceal my smile.

“I’ll make that sacrifice,” I said, grabbing two handfuls of Orion’s shirt and pulling his mouth back to mine.

We were both heated up by the time the cab cruised to a stop in front of Orion’s building. He passed the driver some cash and slid out after me.

The elevator ride up to his apartment was a jumble of hands caressing skin and pulling on clothes, mouths offering tender kisses and less tender nips. I wasn’t sure how we made it through his apartment door since neither of us was paying much attention to anything around us.

He undressed me in his living room and the cool air of an unfamiliar place washed over my skin. I remembered the wall of windows I’d seen when I got here.

“No one can see in here, right?” I asked breathlessly.

“No, the lights are off in here, babe.”

He picked me up and I wrapped myself around him. His jeans and boxers were the only clothes left between us as he walked down a dark hallway.

The bed he set me on was huge. The firm mattress was covered with plush pillows and a soft comforter. He stood to get rid of his jeans and boxers. I laid back, admiring the perfect, shadowed lines of his body.

When he reached for a box of condoms on the nightstand, I smiled and bit my lip. He’d planned for my visit, and something about that struck me as incredibly sweet.

The lovemaking was different than it had been in Henley. We’d taken our time there, savoring the buildup of sensations. But neither of us could wait here. After our time apart, we were both too hungry to go slow.

“I’ll go slower tomorrow,” he said against my ear as he plunged all the way in with just one thrust. “I need you right now.”

“Yes,” I said, panting hard.

Our bodies still fit together perfectly. He knew exactly how to bring me to the brink and then push me over it in the most delicious way.

He pressed his palms to the backs of my thighs, pushing them up so he could sink himself in deeper. After just a few more thrusts, I cried out his name several times, the orgasm seizing control of every nerve in my body. He was right behind me, the way he growled out my name sending another wave of pleasure all the way down to the tips of my toes.

We didn’t even get out of bed to clean up. He set the used condom on the nightstand and spread a blanket from the foot of the bed over us. When he pulled my body against his, my back to his chest, a blissful contentment settled over me. It wasn’t just from the sex. I loved how safe I felt with him.

The next morning Orion made breakfast and I made a light, late lunch. We stayed in bed until early evening, when we got up to take showers and get ready for dinner with Niko and Sadie.

Being part of Orion’s life here was like a dream. He got approached for autographs and photos and he spent time talking with everyone who asked. When he noticed my wine glass was empty at dinner and he got the waiter’s attention and asked, ‘Can you get my girlfriend some more wine?’, I’d had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from breaking out in a big, stupid grin.

I was Orion Caldwell’s girlfriend. For the first time in my life, I was with a man I was proud of.

True to his word, he took his time Saturday night. He kissed every inch of my body more than once before finally giving me the satisfaction of release. We made love for hours that night, saying many things to each other without a single word.

Sunday morning I slept in while he worked out at the gym in his building. We spent the rest of the day downtown – shopping, eating and just walking around.

I hated to leave that night. Orion walked me to my car, which he’d moved to the garage beneath his building. He kissed me and leaned his forehead against mine.

“I’m in Indy Thursday night,” he said softly. “I understand if you can’t come. It’d be a late night for you.”

“I wish I could, but I have to work at the library.”

He kissed me again. “Next weekend then.”

“See you then,” I said, turning to open my car door. He beat me to it, pulling it open and closing it once I’d settled in.

I drove away, so lighthearted I couldn’t stop grinning. Though I’d proven to myself that I was strong enough to go it alone, I didn’t want to anymore.

Niko, Ryke and Luke were glued to a TV in the bar of our Nashville hotel. Hockey highlights were starting on Sportscenter.

“Douchebag,” Ryke muttered when Brendan Lauss was shown fist-pumping after a goal. He was an obnoxious winger for a team in our league.

“Hey, I’m goin’ up,” I said, getting up from my chair. Niko turned and gave me a quick nod.

I’d talked to Samara for a few minutes on the cab ride to the hotel after the game. But she’d stayed on my mind after that. Throughout dinner with the guys, I’d been thinking about the question I wanted to ask her.

A group of three dressed-up forty something women got on the elevator with me.

“Where you goin’, baby?” one of them asked me, her finger hovering over the numbered buttons on the wall.

“Four,” I said. “Thanks.”

“You sure?” another one asked in a slur. “You sure you’re not going to Room … uh …” she fumbled in her purse and pulled out a key card. “542?”

“Pretty sure,” I said, smiling.

She squeezed my bicep. “Look at you, all sexy and dressed up. What’s the occasion?”

“Just a work thing,” I said, shrugging.

She got up on her toes, leaning so close I could smell the alcohol on her breath.

“What do you do for a living, Sexy? Are you a businessman?”

Her hand was stroking my bicep and I stiffened uncomfortably. Her black cocktail dress was cut so low it left only her nipples to the imagination.

“I’m a hockey player,” I said, relieved when the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. I pulled my arm out from beneath her hand and stepped toward the door.

“I heard hockey players make the best lovers,” she said. “Because they have the strongest hips. Is that true?”

I arched my brows and smiled. “You’d have to ask my girlfriend.”

I stepped out and the doors closed, drowning out the cackles from inside. My tie was already loosened and I pulled it off on the way to my room, dialing Samara.

“Hey,” she said in a sleepy tone. “Twice in one night?”

“I’m a twice in one night kind of guy,” I said, grinning and pushing the door to my room closed.

She groaned softly. “I miss you.”

I undressed while we talked, tossing my suit pants and dress shirt onto a chair.

“Did I wake you up?” I asked.

“No. I was just reading.”

“Oh,
really
? And just what are you reading?”

“It’s a romance novel.”

“Hmm,” I said skeptically, laying down on my bed. “Are you saying you don’t have enough romance in your life?”

Her light laugh gave me a pang of longing for her. “Not at all. I just need something to help me fall asleep when I’m not with you.”

“Actually, about that … I need to ask you something,” I said, picking a puck up from the hotel nightstand. Niko and I had used it for an impromptu shoot out in the hallway earlier today.

“Sure.”

“What would you think about moving in with me?”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and I ran my fingers over the smooth edges of the puck and waited.

“Moving to Chicago?” she finally said.

“Yeah.”

“Oh … wow. You want me to live with you?”

“Yeah. I still have to travel, but we could be together when I’m home.”

“But, I have my job here,” she said. “Two, actually. I might not to be able to find anything there. I’m a college dropout, you know.” She paused and continued. “Wait, did you know that? Do we know each other well enough to think about this? It’s only been a few months.”

“You wouldn’t need a job. I’ve got more than enough money.”

“I know, but—”

“Just hear me out, babe. I’ve been thinking about this. I love hockey. This is my dream job, and a lot of people don’t get to have a dream job. I’ve been really lucky. What’s your dream?”

“My dream job?” she asked.

“Any dream. Do you want to open your own bakery? Finish school and do something new? Maybe volunteer at a women’s shelter? You’d be amazing at anything you do. I’ve got more than enough money, Samara. Come be with me and let’s chase your dream together.”

She exhaled softly into the phone. “Wow. You’re so … incredible for offering me that. For wanting it for me.”

“What’s your dream?” I asked. “Let’s start making it happen.”