In fact, I needed a little distance right now. “I’m going to go unpack. Which room should I take?”
“Any of them.”
“All right. I’ll bring your suitcase up and leave it in the hall.”
“Thank you.”
There were two rooms on the second floor that overlooked the yard. Both had French doors with balconies. I chose the smaller of the two and unpacked my stuff. After, I lay down on the bed and attempted to unwind from the stress of the day—Vince showing up, traveling for fifteen hours…being alone with Juliette in a place that looked like it was the setting of a romance movie.
But I couldn’t seem to relax. I’d noticed a few bottles of wine in the kitchen, so eventually I went back downstairs. The back doors were still open, and now Juliette was swimming in the pool. I scrubbed my hands over my face and grumbled to myself, “Why? Why does it have to have a fucking pool?”
Grabbing one of the bottles of wine, I went to the door. I was relieved that the only thing I could see was Juliette’s head. “Is it all right if I open this?”
“Sure.” She treaded water. “I’ll have some when I’m done swimming, too.”
Back inside, I swallowed the first glass like it was a shot. The second, I decided to take back to my room,just to avoid being around when Juliette came out with a wet bathing suit clinging to her body. But after only a few minutes upstairs, I wandered over to the French doors and glanced out at her in the pool. Like a good little pervert, I stayed back far enough so she couldn’t see me. Ten minutes went by. My second glass of wine was gone, but my eyes remained glued to the woman in the pool. Juliette swam to the ladder and climbed out, water streaming down her gorgeous body. Her red bikini was smoking hot, and her body was even better than I’d pictured at night when I went to bed. Maybe it was my imagination, but she seemed to move in slow motion, every shift of her body exaggerated and deliberate. She leaned her head back, shook water from her hair, and slowly strolled to the edge of the pool before turning her back to me.
Great. A thong, too.
I knew I should move, get the hell away from the door before I got caught. But I just couldn’t. My gaze stayed solely on the curve of her ass. I was too fixated to notice what her hands were doing until she’d tugged the tie at her neck loose and tossed her top on the ground. Then her bottoms slid down, pooling at her feet. For a moment, I thought I had to be hallucinating, that this couldn’t really be happening—until Juliette’s voice cut through the haze and snapped me out of it.
“If you’re going to stare,” she yelled without turning around. “You might as well have something worth staring at.”
Then she dove back into the pool naked.
Jesus freaking Christ.I was screwed. Doing the twenty years in prison might’ve been easier than keeping my promise to Vince.
CHAPTER 9
Juliette
“There are worse things than being stuck here, that’s for sure.” I sipped my cappuccino.
Wes stretched his legs out. “I’d have to agree with you on that.”
We’d just parked ourselves at a table in front of a café in Fanusa, a neighboring village, after picking up a bathing suit for Wes. He’d been oddly resistant, but we got the task done.
We’d spent the morning on a bike ride exploring the area and were on our way back to Ortigia. The bikes had been in storage at my grandmother’s property, and it seemed a shame not to put them to use. I’d nearly forgotten how beautiful it was here: the sun-bleached limestone streets, turquoise water, and open-air markets.
I turned to him. “I don’t think I realized how damn stressful it’s been living in the States lately until I got here. It’s exhausting feeling like I have to watch my back every second.”
He nodded. “I do understand what it’s like to watch your back every second. That’s my job.”
“My literal backside you mean?” I winked. “I don’t thinkthatwas part of the job.”
It was bad enough that I’d given Wes that poolside burlesque show yesterday after we arrived. Did I need to pour salt in the wound by bringing it up? It was just too much fun to mess with him.
“Keep your literal backside and your literal front side to yourself from now on, please. Maybe get a swimsuit that actually covers your ass, while you’re at it. For someone who was hung up on my shirtless chest for so long, you sure as hell changed your tune.”
“It’s Italy.” I shrugged. “I feel like a new woman here.”
“Yeah, well, tell her to cover up, whoever she is.” He scoffed.
I chuckled and looked around. “Have you ever seen such beautiful architecture in your life?”
Wes licked foam from the corner of his mouth. “An earthquake decimated this place back in the late 1600s. Everything had to be rebuilt. All of the intricate ironwork and beautiful designs you see today come from that.”
I raised my brow. “Someone’s been studying the history of Ortigia?”
