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.