Damn, but she looked good. Growing up, she’d had a quiet beauty about her. Even in college there had been an academic air that clung to her. She’d been the smart one, the Hermione of her group.

Then she’d walked back into town three years ago and he’d been floored by how lovely she was. Elegant and sweet, and he had to wonder how hot he could make her if she gave him a chance.

But his proposal wasn’t about sex, either. Sex would simply be a nice bonus.

“You haven’t redecorated.” The office was still masculine and dated back to the early nineties, the last time Mayor Malloy had redone the place.

“Well, we have a budget here at city hall, and it doesn’t include much for redoing individual offices.” She placed her handbag on the massive cedar desk, which didn’t match her classic feminine style at all. “So what is this craziness about?”

“It’s not crazy, and I didn’t put it the right way. You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve never proposed marriage before.” And that was part of the problem. He’d had many a girlfriend, but none of them had been the “one.” After a while he’d started to think there was no mystical one person in the world for him, and if he waited for a woman to knock him on his ass, he would be alone for the rest of his life. He would miss out on something he considered important.

She stared at him like he’d grown two heads. “Rene, we’ve barely talked since I got back.”

“That is not my fault,” he pointed out. She’d been frustratingly hard to get close to the last few months. “You’ve been good at walking away anytime I show up.”

“That’s not true.” But her shoulders had straightened, a tell she’d had for many years. When Sylvie Martine decided to lie, she got a superhero posture, as though she could sell it through sheer will.

Luckily the only things she lied about were minor fibs to cover her vulnerabilities.

“I have to wonder if you’re embarrassed by the fact that we almost went to bed together back in college.”

He would have sworn she gained an inch in height. That chin of hers came up and there was fire in her eyes. “We did not.”

She didn’t remember that moment the way he did. He could still feel how soft she’d been, how she’d thrown herself into that kiss with every bit of passion she had. It was one of the things he’d always found fascinating about her. She cared about so many things. It made him wonder what it would be like to be someone Sylvie Martine cared for. “Oh, we did. We came close.”

“Well, I don’t think about it.”

“I do. I think about it a lot.” That one night had been haunting him lately. It had been the last time he’d been deeply moved by a woman.

She seemed to deflate. “Rene, what is this about?”