Rene seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “He’s not very smart. And he doesn’t know you at all. He should have brought you a puppy.”

She leaned into the hug he gave her. “You are much better at knowing what I want.”

His arms wrapped around her and he kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry he bothered you. I’ll make it up to you, though.”

She could bet exactly how he would do it.

chapter ten

One week later, Sylvie looked down at the massive heap of shopping bags that covered much of the floor of her bedroom.

Not that she slept in it anymore. No. She slept with Rene because he carried her to bed every single night. They had a nightcap, and then Rene hauled her into his arms and walked up to his big bed. He told her over and over again how much he wanted her.

She’d gone to Lila LaVigne’s clinic to get a prescription for birth control pills simply because she was worried Rene was going to go through every condom in Papillon, and then they would have to have a town hall, and she was not doing that.

“What do you think, Lady? Did your dad go completely overboard or what?” She put a hand on Lady’s head, the dog’s tail thumping on her bed. She hadn’t managed to find the time to go on her promised epic shopping trip. The storm had caused an enormous amount of work over the last week. Coupled with the meetings she already had in place, she’d found little time to do anything but work and eat and sleep. “How am I supposed to wear all these clothes?”

“I think Rene would call it covering all his bases,” a familiar voice said from the doorway.

Her mother-in-law stood there, looking at her with indulgent amusement on her face. Cricket wore a pretty pantsuit, her hair in a chic silver bob. She carried her purse, a small Birkin that likely cost what a lot of people in Papillon made in a year.

But then Sylvie was fairly certain once she opened the contents of all those bags, she would have enough designer wear to support a small country.

“He wants me to look good for the party.” Aunt Roberta would be here in Papillon soon, and Sylvie would have work to do. The upcoming celebrations and the board meeting that would take place at the end of the week were exactly what she’d been brought in to handle. Not handle, exactly. She was supposed to smile and assure everyone that their marriage was real.

It was starting to feel very real.

Cricket set her bag down and walked into the room. “No. He thinks you always look good. He’s trying to make sure you’ve got a bit of armor to deal with his relatives.”

The way she worded that struck Sylvie. “His relatives? Not yours?”