Remy kissed her several times before pulling back, afraid of his weight hurting her. Reluctantly, he slipped out of her. Still, he kept her pinned, one thigh over hers, looking down into her eyes. He framed her face with both hands. “Do you have any idea how I feel about you?”

“Maybe. A little. You don’ talk much about it,” Bijou pointed out.

“I’ve never told a woman I love her. Never. Not once. But you, Blue.” He shook his head.

“You don’ have to . . .”

He laid a finger across her lip, that amazing, fantasy lower lip he couldn’t resist. “Let me say this to you. I need to. Even if it’s just this once. You deserve to know.”

Bijou nodded, her tongue curling around his finger and drawing it into the warmth of her mouth. His cock jerked in response.

“Everything you do is so fuckin’ sensual, Blue. Everything. I tried to make this about our leopards. And then about sex. But I ran out of places to hide. I had no idea what love was. I’d never felt it before you came along. I needed time to sort it all out. I didn’t honestly think it would happen for me. You came along, and you were just too damn good to be true. I had no idea the emotion would be like this. All encompassing. So intense. I feel a little like a deer caught in the headlights.”

He used his finger to tease her mouth before bending his head to hers and kissing her. “What I’m tryin’ to say in my own clumsy way is, I’m very much in love with you.”

Bijou’s long, feathery lashes swept down and up several times. For a moment he thought tears swam in her eyes, but after she’d blinked a few times, her eyes were clear, sparkling and looking at him with everything he could have wanted.

“Say it. Tell me,” he urged.

“I don’ have near the confidence in myself you think I do. When I’m singing, Remy, that’s someone else. When I’m me, I have no real idea of even how to be in a relationship, let alone how to love someone properly. You’re taking a big risk.”

He smoothed back her hair. “I told you right from the start to trust me. I’ll get you through it. We’ll find our own way, Blue. But you’d better tell me before I do something rash.”

She laughed softly. “You’re so crazy.” She traced the smile on his face. “Of course I love you. I came back to New Orleans just for you. It’s always been you.”

Satisfaction went deep. He kissed her again. “Come on, honey, I can smell coffee and breakfast.” He slipped off the bed and pulled her up beside him.