Lessons Learned

weeks.” She pushed his hands away. “It’s a long ride to the airport, Carlo. Let’s get going.”
    Amiable as ever, he pulled his door open. “You’re the boss.”
    A foolish woman might’ve thought she’d won a victory.

Chapter Seven
    J uliet was an expert on budgeting time. It was her business every bit as much as promotion. So, if she could budget time, she could just as easily overbudget it when the circumstances warranted. If she did her job well enough, hustled fast enough, she could create a schedule so tight that there could be no time for talk that didn’t directly deal with business. She counted on Houston to cooperate.
    Juliet had worked with Big Bill Bowers before. He was a brash, warmhearted braggart who handled special events for Books, Etc., one of the biggest chains in the country. Big Bill had Texas sewed up and wasn’t ashamed to say so. He was partial to long, exaggerated stories, ornate boots and cold beer.
    Juliet liked him because he was sharp and tough and invariably made her job easier. On this trip, she blessed him becausehe was also long-winded and gregarious. He wouldn’t give her or Carlo many private moments.
    From the minute they arrived at Houston International, the six-foot-five, two-hundred-and-sixty-pound Texan made it his business to entertain. There was a crowd of people waiting at the end of the breezeway, some already packed together and chatting, but there was no overlooking Big Bill. You only had to look for a Brahma bull in a Stetson.
    “Well now, there’s little Juliet. Pretty as ever.”
    Juliet found herself caught in a good-natured, rib-cracking bear hug. “Bill.” She tested her lungs gingerly as she drew away. “It’s always good to be back in Houston. You look great.”
    “Just clean living, honey.” He let out a boom of a laugh that turned heads. Juliet found her mood lifting automatically.
    “Carlo Franconi, Bill Bowers. Be nice to him,” she added with a grin. “He’s not only big, he’s the man who’ll promote your books for the largest chain in the state.”
    “Then I’ll be very nice.” Carlo offered his hand and met an enormous, meaty paw.
    “Glad you could make it.” The same meaty hand gave Carlo a friendly pat on the back that could have felled a good-sized sapling. Juliet gave Carlo points for not taking a nosedive.
    “It’s good to be here” was all he said.
    “Never been to Italy myself, but I’m partial to Eye-talian cooking. The wife makes a hell of a pot of spaghetti. Let me take that for you.” Before Carlo could object, Bill had hefted his big leather case. Juliet couldn’t prevent the smirk when Carlo glanced down at the case as though it were a small child boarding a school bus for the first time.
    “Car’s outside. We’ll just pick up your bags and get going. Airports and hospitals, can’t stand ’em.” Bill started toward the terminal in his big, yard-long strides. “Hotel’s all ready for you; I checked this morning.”
    Juliet managed to keep up though she still wore three-inch heels. “I knew I could depend on you, Bill. How’s Betty?”
    “Mean as ever,” he said proudly of his wife. “With the kids up and gone, she’s only got me to order around.”
    “But you’re still crazy about her.”
    “A man gets used to mean after a while.” He grinned, showing one prominent gold tooth. “No need to go by the hotel straight off. We’ll show Carlo here what Houston’s all about.” As he walked he swung Carlo’s case at his side.
    “I’d like that.” Diplomatically, Carlo moved closer to his side. “I could take that case…”
    “No need for that. What you got in here, boy? Weighs like a steer.”
    “Tools,” Juliet put in with an innocent smile. “Carlo’s very temperamental.”
    “Man can’t be too temperamental about his tools,” Bill said with a nod. He tipped his hat at a young woman with a short skirt and lots of leg. “I’ve still got the same hammer my old man gave me when I was eight.”
    “I’m just as sentimental about my spatulas,” Carlo murmured. But he hadn’t, Juliet noted, missed the legs, either.
    “You got a right.” A look passed between the two men that was essential male and pleased. Juliet decided it had more to do with long smooth thighs than tools. “Now, I figured you two must’ve had your fill of fancy restaurants and creamed chickenby now. Having a little barbecue over at my place. You can take off your shoes, let down your hair and eat real