Lessons Learned

you.”
    His brow lifted. “No?”
    “No. It has to do with the line that separates our business and our personal lives.”
    “A line that’s difficult to draw. Perhaps impossible for me.” The truth came out again, though this time unplanned. “I wantto be with you, Juliet, every moment we have. I find myself resenting even the hour that you’re here and I’m there. A few hours at night isn’t enough for me. I want more, much more for us.”
    Saying it left him stunned. It hadn’t been one of his clever moves, one of his easy catch-phrases. That little jewel had come from somewhere inside where it had quietly hidden until it could take him by surprise.
    He rose, and to give himself a moment, stood by the window to watch a stream of Chicago traffic. It rushed, then came to fitful stops, wound and swung then sped on again. Life was like this, he realized. You could speed right along but you never knew when something was going to stop you dead in your tracks.
    Juliet was silent behind him, torn between what he’d said, what he’d meant and what she felt about it. From the very beginning, she’d kept Carlo’s definition of an affair in the front of her mind. Just one ride on the carousel. When the music stopped, you got off and knew you’d gotten your money’s worth. Now, with a few words he was changing the scope. She wondered if either of them was ready.
    “Carlo, since you say I am, I’ll be practical.” Drawing together her resources, she rose. “We have a week left on tour. During that time, we’ve got Chicago and four other cities to deal with. To be honest, I’d rather if our only business right now was with each other.”
    He turned, and though she thought the smile was a bit odd, at least he smiled. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in all these days and all these cities, Juliet.”
    She took a step toward him. It seemed foolish to think aboutrisks when they had such little time. “Being with you isn’t something I’ll ever forget, no matter how much I might want to in years to come.”
    “Juliet—”
    “No, wait. I want to be with you, and part of me hates the time we lose with other people, in separate rooms, in all the demands that brought us to each other in the first place. But another part of me knows that all of those things are completely necessary. Those things will still be around after we’re each back in our separate places.”
    No, don’t think about that now, she warned herself. If she did, her voice wouldn’t be steady.
    “No matter how much time I spend with you in your suite, I need a room of my own if for no other reason than to know it’s there. Maybe that’s the practical side of me, Carlo.”
    Or the vulnerable one, he mused. But hadn’t he just discovered he had a vulnerability of his own? Her name was Juliet. “So, it will be as you want in this.” And for the best perhaps. He might just need a bit of time to himself to think things through.
    “No arguing?”
    “Do we argue ever, cara? ”
    Her lips curved. “Never.” Giving in to herself as much as him, she stepped forward and linked her arms around his neck. “Did I ever tell you that when I first started setting up this tour I looked at your publicity shot and thought you were gorgeous?”
    “No.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Why don’t you tell me now?”
    “And sexy,” she murmured as she drew him closer to the bed. “Very, very sexy.”
    “Is that so?” He allowed himself to be persuaded onto the bed. “So you decided in your office in New York that we’d be lovers?”
    “I decided in my office in New York that we’d never be lovers.” Slowly, she began to unbutton his shirt. “I decided that the last thing I wanted was to be romanced and seduced by some gorgeous, sexy Italian chef who had a string of women longer than a trail of his own pasta, but—”
    “Yes.” He nuzzled at her neck. “I think I’ll prefer the ‘but.’”
    “But it seems to me that you can’t make definitive decisions without all the facts being in.”
    “Have I ever told you that your practicality arouses me to the point of madness?”
    She sighed as he slipped undone the knot in her robe. “Have I ever told you that I’m a sucker for a man who brings me flowers?”
    “Flowers.” He lifted his head then picked up the rosebud he’d dropped on the pillow beside them. “Darling, did you want one, too?”
    With a laugh, she pulled him back to her.
     
    Juliet decided she’d