“To you?”
“To everyone.” She couldn’t give him what he wanted. He was moving too fast on that front, but he wouldn’t push her.
He nodded, though she could see her answer had disappointed him. “So you’re going to ride in and save my whole family. You’re my knight in shining armor.”
He’d ridden in and saved her before. “I’m glad I can help.”
“You’re going to need more armor, though, if you want to survive my family.” Rene stood up. “Do you have time this week? We’ll get married at city hall tomorrow.”
“Do you already have a license?” She wasn’t sure how she felt about his being so certain she would say yes. There was a three-day waiting period between signing the license and being able to legally marry.
“I’m going to call the judge in a few minutes and he’ll waive the waiting period for us,” Rene explained. “It’s important that we do this quickly or my cousin could cause trouble. Sometime soon we’ll need to make a trip into New Orleans. I’ll call and have a personal shopper meet us.”
Sylvie shook her head. “I told you, I don’t need anything from you.”
“And everyone knows I’m particular about my clothes. Why wouldn’t I buy my wife new clothes? Besides, like I said, you’re going to need the armor around my family.”
“I have nice clothes.”
“You have beautiful clothes, and honestly, you would look stunning in a trash bag, but in my world they’ll judge you and they’ll judge me. You have to have the latest of everything. Clothes, shoes, handbags. I know it’s a terrible burden, but I must insist.”
“Rene,” she began.
He held out a hand. “Darling, no one will believe the ruse if you aren’t dressing the part, and tell me we won’t have fun buying out all those stores and drinking champagne and acting like we’re in some rom com. There has to be something good that comes out of all of this.”
She was in so much trouble. She put her hand in his. He had an agenda and she was on it. If she knew how to deal with his family, then he had a damn fine playbook on her. She stood and suddenly was in his space. She had to tilt her chin up to look at him. “All right. It will be fun. And I have to admit there are some Gucci pumps I’ve been saving for.”
“Consider them yours.” He was staring down at her. “Can I kiss you, Sylvie?”
“What?”
“If we’re awkward, no one’s going to believe us. We’re getting married in the morning. We should at least practice kissing.”
“Maybe we’re one of those private couples who don’t ever engage in PDA.”
“No. We’re affectionate. I’m going to model our fake marriage after your parents. Your parents were affectionate. I remember how your daddy used to chase your momma around the house.”
He was right. They would be expected to be comfortable with each other if their plan was going to work. And she would have to stay here for a while.
Danger. So much danger, and yet she couldn’t deny that she wanted to know. Maybe she’d made too much out of that night back in college. Maybe their chemistry had been an illusion, the hopes and dreams of a lonely girl with a crush on a boy she’d known forever. “Yes, you can kiss me, but it’s only for practice.”
Those generous lips of his kicked up in a devilish grin. “I haven’t kissed anyone in a couple of years. I might need a lot of practice.”
Years? That reminder of how hard life had been on Rene made it easier for her to go up on her toes and tilt her head back, offering her lips up to his. “It’s been years for me, too.”
His expression went soft and his hands went to her waist. “Then we’ll figure it all out again together.”
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.