“And if what I want is to be such a good husband you won’t ever want to leave me?”
“Then you have to let me in,” she said. “You have to tell me how you feel and when you hurt. You have to trust me.”
“I trust you more than I trust anyone.”
“Then you have to learn to trust me more.” It was time to see if he could open up a bit. She’d noticed something. “You seemed to struggle when you were sleeping.”
She’d drowsed, but mostly she’d lain in bed and thought about what had happened. And then she’d watched him while he slept. He’d grimaced as though having a bad dream, and he’d muttered something about not wanting to go.
He seemed to breathe her in for a moment. “I was dreaming about the accident. One minute I was walking along, heading toward city hall. I was coming to see you that day. I was going to convince you to work on a project with me. I was going to ease my way into your world. So I was walking along and happy and then I was fighting for my life.”
She’d only heard about the accident. She hadn’t been there. Hallie’s mom had a heart attack while driving, and she’d lost control of her SUV. Hallie almost lost her baby girl, and it was only Lila LaVigne’s swift action that saved any of them.
“Gertie didn’t tell me you had an appointment that day.” She remembered how terrified she’d been when she’d heard Rene had been hurt and that they were taking him to the hospital hours away. She’d run down to the site, but he’d already been taken in the ambulance.
“I didn’t make one because I thought you would duck out on me. I was tired of waiting. I was going to bring you a project and use the time we spent together to get close to you again.” He shifted and suddenly she found herself on her back on the bed with Rene looming over her. “I sat there on the sidewalk while I was bleeding out and all I knew was that I’d wasted the best part of my life by walking away from you. I don’t know that I would do it again. I think if I went back, I might let the selfish part of me win, and then we could have been married for years.”
This was a much better way to deal with her. Maybe he could learn. “You don’t know that would have happened. Maybe I would have told you I wasn’t interested in you back then.”
A slow, sexy smile curled his lips up. “Oh, you were interested. I was there. I remember everything about that night.”
Her body was already heating up again, and she wanted to let all her doubts go because she wanted this to work. “You’re older than me. I’m the youngster, remember? I think your memory might be going.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “If I’m old, then I should make up for lost time.” He sobered slightly. “I want to make this work. I don’t ever want you to feel like I don’t want you.”
What if this was his version of love? Rene was surprisingly wounded, and he didn’t seem to understand how to ask for her help. Maybe Hallie was right and she needed to be patient.
“Then let me in. Tell me what you need,” she said as he started to kiss her neck and make her forget about anything but the feel of him against her. “And maybe we should get a dog before we start talking about kids.”
“I think that’s a fine idea,” he agreed as he started to work his way down her body. “We’re going to make a great team. You’ll see.”
She would have said something else, but his mouth found her core and she couldn’t talk anymore.
She sighed and relaxed and let him prove that in this—at least—they were already a great team.
chapter eight
Rene stirred awake, the early morning light starting to filter through the filmy curtains. He’d slept better than he had in years despite the fact that the storm had kept up unabated late into the night. It might have had something to do with the fact that he hadn’t slept alone.
After they’d made love for a second time, he’d gotten up and built the fire he’d promised her, and Sylvie had put together a dinner that should have been terrible but had tasted good simply because she’d made it. They’d sat by the fire and he’d talked about what was going on at the office. He’d meant to keep her out of it, but she’d been firm that evening. She wanted to be a full partner, and she wouldn’t take anything less. So he’d told her about the suspicious bids and how they were losing long-term clients by pennies. He’d told her how he was certain there was a spy in his office, and that it might be his actual family members who were conspiring against the company that had taken care of them for years. She’d listened and then hugged him tight, and he’d realized that maybe he didn’t have to be alone in this.
How long had it been since he’d confided in someone he trusted? He didn’t talk to his mother about the company because she’d always said she didn’t want to hear about work. Work, she’d claimed, was the one thing that could turn his father into a bear, and she shouldn’t have to put up with that.
He needed to realize, despite years of conditioning, that Sylvie wasn’t his mother and never would be.
He stared down at her for a moment, taking in how lovely she was in the early morning light, taking in her gentle curves.
He had to convince her this could work, that he was a good bet, because he was fairly certain he didn’t want to go back to life before Sylvie.
He stretched and decided to let her sleep. He’d kept her up for a long time the night before. He found an old pair of sweatpants and dragged them on before heading into the kitchen to take a quick inventory. There was instant coffee, but he would need hot water for that to work.
He couldn’t even make her coffee because Charles was an asshole.
He would go and get the boat ready and take her to breakfast. He hoped someone was at the marina this early in the morning, because both of their cell phones had died in the night. His mother was likely worried, and she would have called Sylvie’s mom, who would have started talking to the spirits to find them. But only after she called the sheriff, because Momma Marcelle believed in covering all the bases.
He would steal some coffee from the marina because his wife liked her coffee in the mornings. He made sure she had a big mug before she walked out the door because she could be a bear before her coffee.
Of course he found that side of her cute, too.
The sound of a board creaking caught his attention. It sounded like something was on the porch.
He moved into the living room, not too worried because the cabin was old and things creaked, but he wanted to make sure there wasn’t a critter waiting to welcome his wife. Sylvie wouldn’t faint at the sight of a wild animal, but she also wouldn’t be happy if Otis decided to bask on the porch. He would have to shoo the big guy away.