He might need to hire someone to come in and audit his systems for suspicious activity. He didn’t want to do it, but he might have to call home and let them know he was in for a bunch of late nights. More proof for Sylvie that he wasn’t a good bet.

There was a knock on his door.

Hopefully it was his assistant with some information. “Come in.”

The door opened and pure sunshine walked in. Sylvie had changed out of the business suit she’d worn this morning and into jeans and a yellow T-shirt, hiking boots on her feet, and her hair up in a pretty scarf. She held a picnic basket in her hands. “Hey, I’m sorry to barge in but no one was at reception. I took the afternoon off and was wondering if you wanted to have lunch. I thought we could go out to the island.”

“Yes.” He couldn’t stand up fast enough.

Louis’s lips had curved up in a grin. “Nothing is more important?”

He’d said that about finding the spy, and now he realized what a lie that had been. The most important thing in the world had just walked through the door. “You can handle it, right?”

Nothing was more important than her.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.” She bit her bottom lip in a way that nearly had him panting. “It was a silly idea. I didn’t think about the fact that you probably couldn’t get away. Maybe we could go to the cafeteria.”

He was already pulling his tie off. “No. I can absolutely get away. I could use an afternoon off. I’ve got some more casual clothes up here for when I need to go to job sites. I’ll change and we can go grab my boat.”

A brilliant smile crossed her face. “Okay. I haven’t been out on the bayou since I came home, and I was thinking about it this morning at yoga.”

“I would love to take you,” he replied, a sense of satisfaction running through him. She’d come to him. She’d taken time off and wanted to spend it with him, and that meant she was willing to give this thing a try.

“I’ll wait out here for you to get changed.” She turned and walked back out.

“And you say you’re not passionate.” Louis sighed. “You’re crazy about her. Stop worrying about the words you use. Love is different for everyone. There’s no one be-all, end-all definition. You want to learn how to be a good husband? Ask her to show you. I’ll handle everything and give you a report in the morning. But be careful. I heard there was a storm brewing.”

Rene glanced at his window. The day was bright and shiny. The weather report was often wrong.