Lily looked momentarily flustered and then shot an accusing glance at Travis. “You did have your secretary book two rooms, didn’t you?”
Travis leaned against the counter. He couldn’t have hidden his smug grin if he’d wanted to. He scratched his chin, as if giving it some deep thought. “You know,” he said finally, “I very well might have forgotten to mention that one small detail.”
Giving him a look that spoke volumes about how much she despised him, Lily turned back to the Italian.
“I’ll take any room you’ve got. No,” she said with increased venom, “I’ll take the most expensive room in the hotel. I’m sure my business associate would be happy to pay for it.”
Travis crossed his fingers and smiled as the man said the very words he hoped to hear. “I’m sorry, signora, but we are completely full. There are no available rooms.”
“No available rooms?” she repeated in a hollow voice.
The man bowed his head. “I’m sorry, but there is only the one room for Signor Carson.”
“With two double beds?” she asked, a final shred of hope lingering in her tone.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not, signora. One large bed, perfect for two lovers.”
Travis watched Lily clench and unclench her hands. He wouldn’t have been surprised if steam started coming out of her ears at any minute. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but admire her poise in the face of adversity. Who would have thought that Lily Ellis had an ounce of poise to her name?
“Fine,” she said as she snapped, looking like a glorious goddess in her anger. She grabbed her suitcase and dragged it behind her. “I’ll go stay somewhere else.”
“Signora,” the man called out after her, “you will not find another room for miles. The Festivale di Matrimonü) will be this weekend.”
Travis did a quick translation and felt the sucker punch in his gut again. The festival of weddings? This whole thing with Lily had turned into some kind of sick joke.
First, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. Then she wouldn’t sleep with him again. And now, they were going to be surrounded by dozens of happy couples who were pledging their undying love to each other.
Travis was certain that the man upstairs was having a good laugh right about then.
Making a clear effort to keep hold of her good manners, Lily turned back around, and calmly said,
“Excuse me, the town is hosting the festival of what?”
The man smiled placatingly, but Travis didn’t miss the wicked gleam in his eyes as he glanced at Lily, then Travis. “In your language, signora, it is the festival of weddings.”
Lily looked ill. “The festival of weddings?” She glared at Travis, who shrugged. Turning on the innocent man behind the counter, her poise clearly in shreds, she repeated in a hollow voice, “The festival of weddings. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No, signora, it is for real. The festival of weddings takes place in Saturnia once every twenty-five years.
It is the most wonderful of all nights.” He placed one hand over his heart. “Love is everywhere during the festival. No one can resist it.”
Travis shifted uncomfortably, sensing something ominous and murky in his future, but Lily simply gave a quick sidelong glance in Travis’s direction and snorted.
“I can sure as hell resist it,” she muttered none too quietly.
“We have been preparing for the festival for many months, and now it is nearly upon us.”
Glad that the ball was firmly back in his own court, Travis said, “Looks like we’re going to be sharing a room after all,” not bothering to keep the sound of victory hidden from his voice.
Lily grabbed the key off the counter and spun around to face Travis. “Fine,” she said, “but if you think this changes one single thing about the strictly professional terms of our trip, you are dead wrong.” Poking a finger into his chest, she repeated, “Dead wrong.”
With that she grabbed the key off the counter and stalked up the granite stairs toward their room.
Travis smiled. “Women always get so cranky after long flights. Send up a bottle of your best champagne.”
The man looked at Travis with a mixture of commiseration and envy before switching back to a professionally bland manner. “You are in Room 305, signor. Top of the stairs to the right. I will send the champagne right up.”
Lily fumed all the way up the stairs. So much for her long hot shower. So much for her perfect nap. So much for making it through the trip in one piece. She wouldn’t be able to get away from Travis for one minute, not even to hide out in her room.
Because it was his room, the stinking pig! She sincerely doubted that he would have made the “mistake”
of booking only one room if she were a middle-aged g*y male interior decorator. She laughed at the image of Travis being chased around a hotel room by another man who couldn’t wait to have his way with him.
But her smile quickly fell away as she wondered why she was even the least bit surprised by Travis’s dastardly behavior. One room with one bed “made for lovers” for both of them for five whole days.
Travis was the most infuriating man she had ever known, she thought, as she fought with the ancient key in the old wood door. “Stupid door,” she said, but when it finally swung open the only thing Lily could do was gape in wonderment.
She and Travis were going to be sharing the most romantic hotel room in the entire world. Not to mention the biggest. The suite had to be twice the size of her Noe Valley apartment. She was standing in an enormous sitting room, the bathroom and bedroom a long way off. White marble gleamed as late afternoon sun came pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sofas were covered in beautiful muted blue-and-green fabric so plush she wanted to take off all her clothes and rub herself against them like a kitten. A balcony outside the windows beckoned her as views of rolling hills captured her imagination.
Forgetting all about her anger, she moved toward the balcony as if in a dream. The vista before her was more beautiful than any picture could be.
She tried to describe it in her head, tried to put words to the view before her so that she could call Janica and explain the wonder of Tuscany, but undulating hills covered in vineyards, old cobblestone streets, a sky so blue it seemed to have invented the color, none of that even scratched at the surface.
A sound from inside the room startled her, and suddenly she remembered: She was in Tuscany with Travis, and she was going to have to share a king-size bed with him while holding firm to her no-sex rule for five days. Scratch that. Since she was utterly certain that Travis wouldn’t agree to sleep on the couch, Lily decided that she would have to be the one to suffer, even though she was desperate for a real bed.
Travis leaned against the counter. He couldn’t have hidden his smug grin if he’d wanted to. He scratched his chin, as if giving it some deep thought. “You know,” he said finally, “I very well might have forgotten to mention that one small detail.”
Giving him a look that spoke volumes about how much she despised him, Lily turned back to the Italian.
“I’ll take any room you’ve got. No,” she said with increased venom, “I’ll take the most expensive room in the hotel. I’m sure my business associate would be happy to pay for it.”
Travis crossed his fingers and smiled as the man said the very words he hoped to hear. “I’m sorry, signora, but we are completely full. There are no available rooms.”
“No available rooms?” she repeated in a hollow voice.
The man bowed his head. “I’m sorry, but there is only the one room for Signor Carson.”
“With two double beds?” she asked, a final shred of hope lingering in her tone.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not, signora. One large bed, perfect for two lovers.”
Travis watched Lily clench and unclench her hands. He wouldn’t have been surprised if steam started coming out of her ears at any minute. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but admire her poise in the face of adversity. Who would have thought that Lily Ellis had an ounce of poise to her name?
“Fine,” she said as she snapped, looking like a glorious goddess in her anger. She grabbed her suitcase and dragged it behind her. “I’ll go stay somewhere else.”
“Signora,” the man called out after her, “you will not find another room for miles. The Festivale di Matrimonü) will be this weekend.”
Travis did a quick translation and felt the sucker punch in his gut again. The festival of weddings? This whole thing with Lily had turned into some kind of sick joke.
First, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. Then she wouldn’t sleep with him again. And now, they were going to be surrounded by dozens of happy couples who were pledging their undying love to each other.
Travis was certain that the man upstairs was having a good laugh right about then.
Making a clear effort to keep hold of her good manners, Lily turned back around, and calmly said,
“Excuse me, the town is hosting the festival of what?”
The man smiled placatingly, but Travis didn’t miss the wicked gleam in his eyes as he glanced at Lily, then Travis. “In your language, signora, it is the festival of weddings.”
Lily looked ill. “The festival of weddings?” She glared at Travis, who shrugged. Turning on the innocent man behind the counter, her poise clearly in shreds, she repeated in a hollow voice, “The festival of weddings. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No, signora, it is for real. The festival of weddings takes place in Saturnia once every twenty-five years.
It is the most wonderful of all nights.” He placed one hand over his heart. “Love is everywhere during the festival. No one can resist it.”
Travis shifted uncomfortably, sensing something ominous and murky in his future, but Lily simply gave a quick sidelong glance in Travis’s direction and snorted.
“I can sure as hell resist it,” she muttered none too quietly.
“We have been preparing for the festival for many months, and now it is nearly upon us.”
Glad that the ball was firmly back in his own court, Travis said, “Looks like we’re going to be sharing a room after all,” not bothering to keep the sound of victory hidden from his voice.
Lily grabbed the key off the counter and spun around to face Travis. “Fine,” she said, “but if you think this changes one single thing about the strictly professional terms of our trip, you are dead wrong.” Poking a finger into his chest, she repeated, “Dead wrong.”
With that she grabbed the key off the counter and stalked up the granite stairs toward their room.
Travis smiled. “Women always get so cranky after long flights. Send up a bottle of your best champagne.”
The man looked at Travis with a mixture of commiseration and envy before switching back to a professionally bland manner. “You are in Room 305, signor. Top of the stairs to the right. I will send the champagne right up.”
Lily fumed all the way up the stairs. So much for her long hot shower. So much for her perfect nap. So much for making it through the trip in one piece. She wouldn’t be able to get away from Travis for one minute, not even to hide out in her room.
Because it was his room, the stinking pig! She sincerely doubted that he would have made the “mistake”
of booking only one room if she were a middle-aged g*y male interior decorator. She laughed at the image of Travis being chased around a hotel room by another man who couldn’t wait to have his way with him.
But her smile quickly fell away as she wondered why she was even the least bit surprised by Travis’s dastardly behavior. One room with one bed “made for lovers” for both of them for five whole days.
Travis was the most infuriating man she had ever known, she thought, as she fought with the ancient key in the old wood door. “Stupid door,” she said, but when it finally swung open the only thing Lily could do was gape in wonderment.
She and Travis were going to be sharing the most romantic hotel room in the entire world. Not to mention the biggest. The suite had to be twice the size of her Noe Valley apartment. She was standing in an enormous sitting room, the bathroom and bedroom a long way off. White marble gleamed as late afternoon sun came pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sofas were covered in beautiful muted blue-and-green fabric so plush she wanted to take off all her clothes and rub herself against them like a kitten. A balcony outside the windows beckoned her as views of rolling hills captured her imagination.
Forgetting all about her anger, she moved toward the balcony as if in a dream. The vista before her was more beautiful than any picture could be.
She tried to describe it in her head, tried to put words to the view before her so that she could call Janica and explain the wonder of Tuscany, but undulating hills covered in vineyards, old cobblestone streets, a sky so blue it seemed to have invented the color, none of that even scratched at the surface.
A sound from inside the room startled her, and suddenly she remembered: She was in Tuscany with Travis, and she was going to have to share a king-size bed with him while holding firm to her no-sex rule for five days. Scratch that. Since she was utterly certain that Travis wouldn’t agree to sleep on the couch, Lily decided that she would have to be the one to suffer, even though she was desperate for a real bed.
