It was my favorite local luxury hotel because they’d worked so hard to blend in to the architectural history of the city. Low profile, high elegance, with a courtyard, just like the old Charleston houses. I nodded. “I know it.”

He felt in his inner breast pocket and pulled out a card and a silver fountain pen. He scribbled a number on the back. “It’s our suite number. Please come. Dauphine would like to say hello. She is desperate to see you.”

“She hasn’t called in a few days, I assumed it was because she was getting better at falling asleep.”

“She is. Thank you for that,” he added sincerely. “Your generosity with her,” he licked his lips, “well, thank you.”

“I did it for her. Not you.”

He gave a nod. “I know that. I am thankful all the same.”

“And I did it for me. I love her.”

“I know that too. And I’ll never forgive myself for accusing you of hurting her. I was panicked. Scared. And what I realized recently was I was not just reacting with fear for my daughter. The time we spent together, you and I … it was like an earthquake. I felt exposed. In danger. Because I was falling in love with you. I grabbed on to a reason to push you away, to not trust you. It was wrong. So very wrong. I know I’ve apologized before. But, Josephine, the pain I must have caused you …” He dragged in a deep breath through his nose and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as if to contain his emotion.

Shit, I was going to cry again.

“I feel that pain as if it was my own now. I cannot believe I inflicted it when all you did was love and heal us.”

“You’re not making it easy for me to be strong.”

He stepped toward me, his hand settling on my neck. Warm and rough. “Don’t be strong then. Be weak like me. Then we can be strong together.”

“I need to think.”

“I know. But je suis … I am afraid if you think too hard you won’t pick us. And I have so much more to say to you.” His eyes left mine to swing left and right, then narrowing briefly on the window of the yacht showroom. “Things I cannot say right now.”

“Sylvie is watching us, isn’t she?”

“Mais oui.” His gaze swung back to mine.

“She’s wondering how a god like you is begging a sweaty, dirty, heap of a girl like me to take a chance on him.”

“I love this sweaty girl.” He leaned in and ran his tongue up my neck under my ear, causing goosebumps to erupt across my skin and liquid heat to settle in my belly.

“Xavier!”