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?”

“I’m thirty-three and I feel like time’s running out on me.” He knew it was running out for his mother, and it was definitely running out for the business his father had worked hard to push into the future. “I want to be totally honest with you. I’m going to propose what is basically a business arrangement, but it goes beyond that. I’m lonely and I want to start a family.”

She was still for a moment. “So you picked me? Out of all the women you know?”

He didn’t know all that many. Not in a dating sense. She’d obviously listened to old gossip about him. “If it helps, I didn’t consider anyone else. We make sense.”

“You’re not in love with me.”

But he was attracted to her. He liked her. “Plenty of marriages have started that way.”

She moved around the big desk, leaning against it, her arms over her chest. “What is this really about? Because you didn’t wake up and decide to start a family. What’s happening?”

She was wrong about that. He’d thought about her for years, but it had been the accident he’d been in that had made him seriously consider his future. He had woken up in the hospital and realized how fragile life could be, how little time anyone truly had. But she was right about the reason he was pushing her. “There is a potential that I’m going to lose control of the company my father ran for fifty years if I don’t get married, and soon. Or at least have the prospect of marriage.”

Her eyes widened and then she frowned as though she’d figured something out. “It’s Charles, isn’t it? He’s always hated you.”

This was another reason Sylvie was the perfect solution to all of his problems. She understood his family in a way few others did. “Charles recently inherited his mother’s shares. That wouldn’t give him a real shot at going up against me for the CEO position, but he’s got a plan. He’s started a campaign against me.”

“You’ve been an excellent CEO.”