Page 122 of Pucking the Team

“What?” I laughed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the bad bits about his reputation. I would never have compared you.”

Eduardo kissed the tip of my nose. “You just know him to be a man who loved women a little too much.”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible for a man to love a woman too much?”

“I guess not.” I tipped my head. “But maybe a man could love too many women.”

“Are you asking me for numbers?”

“Definitely not.”

“Good, because I would not say.”

“Or could not?”

He kind of shrugged. “All you need to know is that I am here with you and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” He ran his hand down my back, over the silky robe I’d put on to eat. “And I can’t imagine that there is any other woman I’ll want to be with now that I’ve been with you.”

“Are you serious? Have I just tamed the wild man of The Vipers?”

“Believe me, I am not the only wild Viper.” He chuckled, his chest touching mine. “Butoui, when I am with you I feel such happiness in my heart. And when I am not with you I am thinking of you and hoping that you are well. That you are happy, satisfied, being cared for.”

“By Ben, Theo, and Dylan?”

“Oui, by the men I have come to consider as my brothers.”

I paused, seeing a vulnerability in him that hadn’t been there before. “Are you saying you’rereallynot jealous of them?” I remembered the fight on the ice.

“I am really not jealous, as long as they treat you right.”

“My relationship with each of you is different, you know.”

“I know, and I’m glad. I think what we have is special and is just for us.”

“So do I.” I kissed him and tasted the sweetness of the key lime pie lingering on his lips. “But I’m going to ask something of you now, and you might not like it because it isn’t fair.”

“It isn’t fair?”

“No.” I shook my head. “And I’m sorry.”

“Just ask.”

I swallowed. Just thoughts of it made me feel nauseated and selfish. “I don’t want you to see other women, Eduardo. If I’m with one of the other guys for the night, I don’t want you to be out with someone else. I can’t stand the idea of you being your wonderful, romantic, seductive self then sleeping with them, I just—”

“Hey, hey, that is not going to happen.” He cupped my cheeks and lifted my face to his. “I just told you, I’m not interested in anyone else. I just want to be with you. You are more than enough for me. My very own supermodel.”

“Rink bunnies won’t tempt you?” I searched his eyes.

“Rink bunnies won’t tempt me.” He kissed me. “That is a promise, there is only you, and if that changes, which it won’t, I promise it would be a conversation before anything happened.”

“You absolutely promise?”

“On my heart.” He closed his eyes. “I’m falling in love with you, Pippa, and I’m a man who wasn’t sure if that would ever happen, but I can feel it. It’s like a landslide going through me, I have no control over it, it’s just sweeping me up, gripping me, and I am enjoying every moment even though it’s scaring the fuck out of me.”

“Don’t be scared.” I squeezed closer. “You are in my heart, too. A heart I wasn’t sure would ever be able to even beat again at one point in my life, and now there you are. It’s wonderful.”

“It is.”