She placed the daiquiri in front of him. “Try it. I’d love to know what you think.”

“I think it’s going to be perfect because almost everything about you is perfect to me, chèrie.”

“Almost?”

Damn but his whole soul ached at how beautiful she was. “Well, I’m not crazy about the fact that you’re going to leave me.”

She went still and for a moment, he prayed she would argue with him. “I have a life to get back to. I have a family in Texas.”

And you lied to me. I can’t trust you. I can’t love you because I would always be waiting for you to betray me again. She didn’t have to say those words. He could hear them in his head.

He’d had everything he wanted in his hands and he’d lost it all. Maybe not all, but certainly the best part. He would go on, moving through his days working in a place he loved, but now he wondered how hollow it would be without her.

He took a sip of the daiquiri. Simple. Cool. Perfect. Like the woman herself. “Yes, I would hire you on the spot. You know what you’re doing.” He slid off the barstool. “I think I’ll head up to the office and get some paperwork done. You finish up here and get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning and we’ll talk about Chartier House then. I suppose at some point we do need someone there. I have no idea when or if Jean-Claude is coming back. We can’t leave it empty.”

“Remy?”

He turned and she was standing, facing him with her back toward the moon. This was how he would remember her. So beautiful and full of life. “Yes?”

“I don’t want to sleep alone. Even if you don’t want me sexually anymore, I don’t want a separate room. And you don’t have to avoid me. I won’t bug you. I feel better…happier when you’re in bed beside me.”

His heart damn near broke and he couldn’t stay away from her a minute longer. He couldn’t let her believe for a second that he didn’t want her. He crossed the space between them and caught her face in his hands. “There’s nothing I want more in life than to be by your side, ma crevette.”

He kissed her, devouring her mouth like a starving man. Days and days had gone by and he realized what had been missing. This. The way she relaxed when he touched her, how she softened and gave herself up to his kisses and touches. Having her close was wonderful, but he needed this to feel whole.