Rene seemed to sense he should take her words seriously as he opened his eyes and looked up at her. “He did. When I went down to get you a glass of water, he’d gone and left a note. He’s staying there for now. I’m supposed to take care of you and the Xbox. Why?”

“Because someone made coffee.” She rolled out of bed and luckily she’d left her big fluffy robe in the bathroom. She slipped into it, tying it at her waist.

That was when she heard the scratching sound of something at her door, and a familiar whine caught her ears. She opened the door and Lady bounced in, her whole body wriggling with excitement.

Rene pulled on his boxers just in time to catch the puppy. “Hey, there. Where did you come from? I missed you, too, sweetheart.”

There was something about a big, strong man holding a puppy that made her heart beat faster.

“Lady, don’t you go up there,” a familiar voice said. Her mother-in-law was calling from the bottom of the stairs. “They’re sleeping.”

“Your mother is here.” Sylvie watched her husband’s eyes go wide.

“How did she get in?” Rene set Lady down and reached for his slacks. “I kept your flowerbed key.”

That answered how he’d gotten in. She hadn’t bothered to ask. She’d been far too busy saying other things like please, more and gasping out his name. “I have no idea. My mom and Dre both have keys. I guess she could have gotten it from one of them.”

“Oh, let the puppy go, Cricket, honey. Sylvie has slept long enough. I did not raise her to stay in bed until noon. If she’s cranky, my pancakes will fix that very quickly.”

“Yep, my mom is here, too. And she’s apparently making breakfast.” She felt her face flush. “Do you think they know what we did last night?”

A grin crossed Rene’s face as he picked Lady up again, having dressed in slacks and his undershirt. “Oh, I think Dre will have explained that to everyone in town by now. He will tell the story of how his horny sister kicked him out in the middle of the night for years to come.”

She groaned and closed the door. “What should we do? If we tie the bedsheets together, we might be able to make it out the window.”

He moved in, crowding her in the best way. “Or we can go down and face our family because I think your momma is making one of her famous breakfasts, and that’s the only reason I married you.”

That brought a smile to her face. “Did you?”