Italian Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story(15)

"Just leave that stuff for now," Liam said. "There's something else I think you'll like."

For a second, I thought he meant he was already prepared for round two. "Let's hold off for a few minutes, can we?"

He frowned for only a moment before catching my drift. "No, not that. Not yet, anyway... Just come here."

Then he scooped me up in his arms and carried me through the suite, careful to step over the ceramic shards in the hallway.

He took me past the bedroom, with its huge bed and panoply of pillows, and past the kitchen and its ill-fated frittata.

We reached the bathroom and he set me down on the tile. I bit my lip, expecting it to be cold, But it wasn't. It was warm against the bare soles of my feet.

Liam chucked. "Heated floors. Incredible, isn't it?"

"Yeah, cool," I replied.

"I know just what you need," Liam continued, a grin spreading out on his lips.

"And what might that be?"

He nodded and I followed the gesture to the enormous jetted bathtub in the corner. It had an elegant, swan-necked spout and even the knobs were marble accented.

It looked like a little slice of heaven. The ache in my back intensified, the weakness in my legs spreading so that I almost crumpled into a heap on that lovely heated floor.

"You really are psychic," I said.

He went over and started drawing the bath, twisting first one knob and then the other while testing the water with his other hand to get the temperature just right.

Then he upended a bottle of vanilla-scented bath foam and squeezed out a generous amount, the liquid immediately exploding into white, soapy suds beneath the pressure of the faucet.

The tub was big enough that it looked like it belonged in a spa. And it had one step leading up to it. I stood on that step, and Liam held my hand when I stepped into the tub.

The heat of the water tingled against my skin, and immediately I felt the velvety smoothness of the foam.

I hissed and groaned as I settled down into the water, which sloshed against the smooth porcelain bulkheads of the tub.

Just the heat alone felt incredible on my overtaxed muscles, and soon I settled down into the reclined position the slope of the tub offered.

The heat and the smell relaxed me so much that I'd nearly fallen asleep when I felt Liam sit on the edge. He had a tall flute of white wine in one hand, which he placed on a small, flat table beside the tub apparently made for just such a service. "Are you ready?"

"There's more?" I said.

He thumbed a marble-accented button between the hot and cold knobs. A motor buried somewhere in the room hummed to life.

Then the jets started. There was one pointed at the small of my back. The sudden pressure made me groan again.

"Careful, sexy sounds like that will make me want you again," Liam said.

I replied with a moan. The jets whipped the suds into an even creamier, fine, and opaque foam. All I could smell was a light and refreshing vanilla scent.

"I've died and gone to heaven," I said, "That's the only explanation."

"The only explanation for what?" He dipped his hands into the water, swirling his fingers in the warmth. The man could have asked me anything at that moment and I'd have told him. He could have for anything at that moment and I'd have been unable to say anything but yes.

"For you. For this bath. For today."

"Well, the Vatican and the Pope are here in Rome. I suppose that's as close to heaven a person can actually get to here on Earth."

"I've always loved Rome," I said, sinking deeper into the water. It enveloped my shoulders with its warm embrace while the jets wrung every ounce of soreness from my muscles.

"It really is an amazing place. Tell me, Emma, if you could do anything, what would it be?"

In my relaxed state, the question easily slipped past all my guards. I smiled at a sudden recollection. "I'd open a little cafe near one of the museums and call it the Roamin' Roman."

Liam groaned at the awful pun, shaking his head. "That sounds like a nice place."

I couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. "Yeah, I know. My dad always laughed at that one, too."

The words had slipped out before I could stop them. All of a sudden, that levy I'd been doing my best to hold up burst, flooding my mind with all the memories from the last year.

They quickly sank down into my chest and stomach, squeezing around my heart and twisting my innards.

I wasn't ready for them. Not yet.

Just like that, I wanted to leave Rome again. Once more, I hated the place I used to love and dream about visiting.

I sat up fast and hard enough that water and suds sloshed up over the lip of the tub. Pressure pushed at the back of my eyes.

Already, a look of surprised concern fixed itself on Liam's face. No, he can't see me like this. Not like this, I thought. I tried to stand, tried to push him aside so that he couldn't see me when I cried.

"Emma, what is it?" he said.

I tried to get out, but started falling back. This time, he caught me. He pulled me closed, wrapping his arms around me, not caring about how I soaked him or how the bath foam dripped down off me onto his khakis.

At first I just wanted to get free and run away, but he wouldn't let go. Then I clutched him, pushing my cheek against his chest when the sobs threatened to wrack my body.

Despite his confusion, he stroked the back of my head, whispering to me that everything was okay.

I didn't know how long I held onto him like that. Long enough for my toes to go all wrinkly from the water, anyway. Long enough for most of the foam to dissolve into a few tiny, floating islands.

Finally, I slumped back down into the water, telling him it was okay.

He must think I'm crazy, I knew. What else could he think? One second I was making a joke and laughing, the next and been on the verge of bawling my eyes right out of their sockets.

That was how I knew this wasn't heaven. Things wouldn't hurt like this if I'd died and gone to heaven.

"I'm sorry..." I said, feeling self conscious. I gathered what was left of the foam around me so that I wasn't totally naked anymore.

"Don't be. Tell me what it was. What did I say?"

I glanced at him and saw the concern naked on his face. And that just cut me deeper. He thinks it's something he said! He thinks it's his fault!

"It's not anything you said. It's me. It's my fault, not yours... God, I must sound so crazy right now."

He reached out and wiped a fleck of bath foam off my cheek. "No, you don't. I know that something is wrong. Something's been wrong for a long time now, hasn't it? Something inside, eating away at you?"

I sat back against that nice slope in the tub, leaning my head back against the lip and covering my eyes with my forearm. The inky black darkness of my eyelids kept me from having to look at Liam.

The cynic in me told he was just being nice until he could get me out of this tub and then out of his life. I ignored that impulse, telling myself that he really was concerned.

Again, I felt the urge to spill everything to him. Everything about how I'd ended up unhappy in Rome. But once again it met that block in my throat before I could actually say the words.

The block seemed to consist mostly of fear. Fear that he might call me stupid or crazy or otherwise invalidate my feelings. There was also that lingering knowledge that despite how well I felt I knew Liam, I really didn't.

Could I trust someone enough who in all practical terms was pretty much a stranger to reveal that part of myself?

All my concerns must have been written across my face. Liam came to a decision.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I said.

"Getting in."

And so he did. Pants and all. He climbed in, the water and remaining suds sloshing against the sides. Some of the waves managed to crest the lip, where they splattered noisily on the step and the floor. Liam ignored it.

Instead he shifted in beside me, wrapping his arm over my shoulder and pulling me close. "Just tell me. You'll feel better."

"You promise?" I said, trying to regain some sense of humor.

"I thought that part was implied," he said through a smile. It was a warm smile, though. Not a hungry, wolfish grin. And the eyes, they don't lie. Right then, his eyes told me that he wasn't lying.

So I swallowed and took a deep breath. Despite the warmth in the water, a chill shivered up and down my spine. When Liam felt that, he held me closer. "It's safe here. You know that, right? It will always be safe with me."

He gave me all the time I needed to gather myself, my hands and feet going pruny. The water never got colder, though. It had to be a heated tub, too.

Even though I didn't feel ready, I launched into a story I'd never told anyone before. I launched into it then because I knew that I'd never feel ready.

"Last November, right after Thanksgiving, my dad got diagnosed with lung cancer. He'd been a roofer all his life, and the doctor said it was probably from handling asbestos. I remember that..."

I remembered everything about that day, actually. I remembered how the maple in our front yard had lost only half its leaves, leaving the top half of the tree covered in rusty shades of orange. I remember how the mail had come late that day, and thinking that was why dad had been upset. He always had little parcels coming from here or there and didn't like it when they ran late.

I remember that my mom had squeezed my hand so hard while we sat on the couch, my dad in the recliner across from us, leaning forward with his hands gripping his knees so that his knuckles were pasty and white.