His lips descended on hers and she knew she’d been wrong in that moment. Her whole body went soft in his arms and she had to wrap herself around him to stay standing, because suddenly the only thing that mattered in the world was that kiss.

He moved cautiously, his hands tightening and his body slightly tense, but his lips were soft. He explored her mouth, lightly dragging his lips across hers. He was patient, giving her all the time she needed to relax into the kiss before she felt him gently pull at her bottom lip, the sensation going through her body like lightning.

It didn’t take much for the kiss to go from cautious to carnal. When she sighed and opened her mouth, he accepted her invitation without hesitation. All thought fled the minute she felt his tongue slide along hers, an invitation to dance.

Oh, she wanted to dance with him. So badly. It wasn’t that she hadn’t kissed anyone since him. She had, but there hadn’t been this wildfire passion that ran through her veins when she’d kissed her last boyfriend. There had been sweetness and familiarity, but not this sense of coming home.

Passion and comfort. That was what Rene Darois was for her. He was excitement and safety, all wrapped in a gorgeous man package that got her heart racing every time she saw him.

She was about to be his wife.

She took a step back. If she didn’t, she might fall into his bed tonight. She had to take a deep breath and worried he could actually hear her heart pounding. “Okay, I think we’ve got that down.”

“I don’t know. We might need more practice, but I agree it’s enough for tonight.” His breath was slightly shaky, proving he hadn’t been unmoved. “Sylvie . . . thank you.”

Her heart threatened to melt, because that reddish blond hair of his was always perfect, and now it was slightly messy, and she could see the young man he’d been in his green eyes, the one who’d happily slept on a sleeping bag in her grandfather’s ratty old cabin and got up in the early dawn hours to spend time with an old man.

“I’m happy to do this for you.” She frowned at her next thought. “But I have to tell my mom. I’m not sure how she’s going to handle it.”

“She’s going to put a love spell on me and threaten to whammy me if I hurt you.”

Rene did know her mom. Her mother would be thrilled by the idea of putting one over on Charles Darois. She would view it as a grand adventure and throw herself into the con. “The good news is she puts all her love spells in jasmine tea. It’s pretty tasty.”

A grin crossed his face. “Good to know.”