One eyebrow raises at Olivia, and she snickers. Turning back to Maryana, I rest my elbows on the table and lean forward. “Oh, yeah. What exactly did Olivia tell you?”

“Just that you were the king of the one-night stand. Never been in a relationship before.”

I cut a smirk over at Olivia, then look back at her mother. “Now…that’s not exactly true. I have been in a relationship before. For three years, actually.”

Olivia gasps and lurches forward in her chair to look at me. “What? You never told me that? When?”

Chuckling, I tweak her under the chin. “My last three years of high school. Kelly McCrimmons. We lost our virginity to each other and then, sadly, she crushed my young heart.”

Sympathy floods Olivia’s face, and her mom makes a sound of dismay. “Oh, Garrett,” Maryana croons. “Tell us what happened. Is that what drove you to be the man-whore that Olivia says you were?”

I choke on the water I was sipping when she says that and direct a hard look at Olivia. “You told your mom I was a man-whore?”

“Maybe not in those words,” she says cheekily. “But I did use king of the one-night stand for sure.”

“You’re rotten,” I tell her with a grin, and then look back at Maryana. “It’s not that tragic of a story. I mean, what do people know of love and commitment when you’re that young? She cheated on me, I was crushed, and then I moved on.”

“And then you’ve never been in another relationship since,” Olivia points out to me. “What’s that been…eight years? You have some issues, baby.”

I snort and reach out to pull Olivia from her chair. She willingly comes onto my lap, and a quick glance at her mom shows her very much enjoying watching her daughter and me interact together. She’s a woman who wants her daughter to be happy, and since I can tell I have Maryana’s stamp of approval, I know without a doubt that Olivia is happy.

Wrapping up Olivia tight in my arms, I rest my chin on her shoulder and say, “I don’t have issues. I haven’t thought of Kelly or our time together in years and years.”

“Then why are you relationship-averse?” Olivia asks.

“Clearly, I’m not,” I point out.

“But you were,” she counters.

“Actually…I don’t think I ever was. My parents have an amazingly long marriage, and I respect that. I honestly think I’ve just been young and carefree. Sowing my oats, so to speak. It’s what dudes do.”

“That is true,” Maryana says sagely from across the table. “Men do that. Women do too, but not as often as men.”

“Besides,” I say as I give a quick kiss to Olivia’s neck and then stand from the chair, dislodging her from my lap, “I was just waiting for the right girl to come along. Now, I’m going to clean the kitchen while you two go in the living room and relax.”

“He’s like the perfect man,” Maryana says in wonder.

“Pretty damn close,” Olivia agrees with her mom. “But I’m going to help with the dishes too. Mom, you cooked, so go in the living room and relax.”

“Sounds peachy,” Maryana says as she picks up her wineglass and practically floats into the living room. Olivia and I grab the plates and leftover lasagna, carrying them into the kitchen. We stand side by side at the sink, scraping and rinsing the plates.

Olivia bumps into me and murmurs, “My mom likes you. A lot.”

“I like her too,” I whisper back. “She’s pretty fucking cool.”

“Sorry we, um…got interrupted,” she says as she fills the sink up with soapy water. “I really, really wanted you in my mouth.”

I suppress a groan. “Stop talking like that. I can’t handle another hard-on in your mom’s presence again.”

Olivia gives a low, husky laugh that seems to coat my entire body in lust. Apparently, just her laugh is as much of a turn-on for me as her touch.

Tilting my head down and lowering my voice further, I ask, “So…I know you’ve got your mom visiting and all, but any chance we’re going to get some alone time this week?”

“Sure we will, although you’ll have to stay here. I don’t want to leave my mom to go stay at your place.” Olivia washes a plate, rinses it, and hands it to me to dry.

“And she won’t mind?” I ask dubiously as I help dry the dishes she washes.

Olivia turns to me and gives me an eye roll. “Please…you heard her. She said we’re grown-ups and she knows we do grown-up things.”

“Yeah, but I thought that was just her being wacky,” I say with a chuckle.

“She is wacky…but she was serious too. So, what days this week do you think you can come over to stay?”

“Definitely Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but Thursday we have a preseason game in Buffalo. But I’ll be back on Friday. And don’t forget…we have our first preseason game here this Tuesday night. Will you and your mom come?”

“I’d love to, and I’m sure she would too,” she says as she rinses the last plate and pulls the drain on the sink. She hands it to me and I dry it.

“Excellent, I’ll get you both tickets down on the ice.”

Olivia rinses her hands as I take the dried plates and put them back in her cupboard. “You don’t have to get us special tickets or anything.”

Throwing my towel over my shoulder, I turn to Olivia and pull her in to me. We wrap our arms around each other’s waists, and as I stare down at her, I become overwhelmed by her beauty. Her eyes, lips…her nose, and smooth skin. Fucking beautiful hair and a body that will always star in my fantasies. And yet the thing that gets me most excited about this moment is that she just said I didn’t have to do anything special for her. She doesn’t expect anything from me, and that’s one of the reasons I’m attracted to her.