Unmasking Juliet (24 page)

And in the final moment before Juliet came apart, all she could do was whisper in return, “Yours.”

21

Leo opened his eye a crack and then closed it again. If that was the morning light he saw peeking through Juliet’s balcony window, he didn’t want to know. Not yet.

He wanted another minute. Another hour. Another night. Sometimes he even thought he might want forever. Which was problematic, to say the least.

Whatever the future might hold, they’d at least had one perfect night. After their tryst on the balcony, he’d slowly and methodically helped Juliet back into her dress. Then they’d returned to the Spanish Steps with a bottle of red and two plastic cups from the hotel bathroom. It had been well past midnight, and they’d found the usually bustling piazza beautifully barren. Under a starless sky, they’d strolled hand in hand all the way to the top of the steps. There they’d sat and sipped wine while taking in the sweeping view of Rome under the inky blanket of night. They’d listened to the cry of seagulls, the peal of church bells from every direction, and they’d made out like teenagers.

It had been near dawn when they returned to her room—by way of the elevator this time—and Leo had wasted no time getting her out of that dress again. The things he’d done to her...the things she’d done to him...

The memory of it lingered in his waking consciousness, so that falling back asleep was impossible. He played with a lock of Juliet’s hair, twisted it around his finger, and watched as she stirred to life.

“Mmm.” She stretched against him, her body as supple and lithe as a cat’s, until her eyelashes fluttered open. “Tell me it’s not morning yet. Tell me that light I see coming in the window is starlight. A spectacular meteor shower setting the night on fire.”

He was growing hard again. How was that even possible? He would have thought he’d reached the end of himself by now.

“It’s not morning yet,” he lied, shifting and snuggling against her backside. Two perfect spoons.

He’d tell her whatever it was she wanted to hear if it meant he could stay in this room, in this bed, just a little while longer.

He’d say the light coming through the window wasn’t morning at all. He’d say it was the reflection of the low-hanging moon, shining just for them.

Juliet turned in his arms, and he kissed her, finding her lips warm from sleep. She sighed into his mouth, and for a lingering, drowsy moment, everything was exactly as it should have been.

“Oh, my God! It is morning.” She sat halfway up in bed, the sheet dropping to expose her bare breasts.

Leo’s lips strayed lower, moving down her neck, across her collar bone, to where his hands captured those beautiful breasts.

She melted into him for a moment, that purr he loved so much escaping from her lips, and then she tensed. “Leo, you can’t be here. It’s getting lighter and lighter outside.”

“More light,” he murmured against her sweet-tasting skin. “More pain for us.”

How long would they be destined to live in the dark?

“Seriously, do you have any idea what time it is? My family is scheduled to land at Fiumicino at nine o’clock.”

He had no idea what time it was, as time seemed to have been suspended for a while now. But it couldn’t be anywhere near nine o’clock already. Could it?

The click of a door being opened told him that, yes, actually, it could.

“Oh, geez. You’ve got to be kidding me.” The always cheerful Alegra walked in the room and dropped her small suitcase on the ground with a thud, causing Juliet to bounce to the other side of the bed. Alegra expelled a loud sigh and shielded her eyes. “You guys are having sex, aren’t you? I think my retinas have been permanently scarred.”

Juliet’s cheeks turned as pink as the climbing roses outside. “We’re not having sex.”

Alegra snorted. “At the moment, maybe.”

Leo sighed and positioned himself in front of Juliet on the bed so she could have a modicum of privacy, which seemed a little irrelevant at this point. “Hello, Alegra.”

“Hey there, Sparkle.” Her gaze flitted to his naked torso for a second. “Nice biceps. I mean, I’m not sure why they’re wrapped around my cousin.
In Rome.
But nice, nonetheless.”

He wasn’t at all sure how to respond to that sort of backhanded compliment, so he settled on a muttered, “Thanks.”

Juliet dashed from the bed, pulled an oversize T-shirt from a drawer and slipped it over her head. Leo did his best not to fixate on the exposed length of lithe, sun-kissed legs stretching out from beneath the hem.

Juliet jammed her hands on her hips. She was flustered, clearly. The most gorgeous flustered woman Leo had ever laid eyes on. “Alegra, what are you doing here?”

“It’s Tuesday morning. I’m supposed to be here, remember?” She aimed a pointed glance at Leo. “He, on the other hand, is not.”

A muscle in Leo’s jaw tightened.

Juliet’s cheeks turned a brighter shade of crimson. “Alegra, now is not the time.”

“Seriously. This is insane. What is he doing here?” Alegra crossed her arms and waited for an explanation.

Leo didn’t care for her tone, but he was wary of getting into an altercation with Alegra while he was still undressed. He could see her throwing every stitch of his clothing over the balcony railing in a heartbeat.

“The same thing I’m doing here. He’s here for the competition,” Juliet said calmly.

Leo’s jaw grew even tighter at the thought of standing in a kitchen with Juliet for two straight days, once again trying to trump one another. They’d spent an awful lot of time working in opposition lately. And they would continue doing so. Over and over. Again and again. It was their destiny.

Yet sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder what might happen if they were on the same team. Not that being on the same side as Juliet was likely to happen anytime soon. Or ever.

“Are you serious? You two are going to be competing against one another in three hours?” Alegra groaned.

Three hours?

Leo frowned. Just how late had they slept? “Alegra, could you give your cousin and me a minute alone? Please?”

She snorted. “You don’t have a minute, Sparkle. Juliet’s mom is on her way up.”

Perfect. Just perfect.

“What?”
Juliet paled. In the span of a heartbeat, she grew whiter than death.

“Both of your parents are here. You knew they were on the same flight as I was. They just headed to their room on the first floor. Your dad is unpacking, and your mom wanted to come right up to see you. Honestly, what were you two thinking?” Alegra shook her head. “Never mind. I’d probably rather not know.”

“Leo, you can’t be here. You just can’t.” Juliet started tossing clothes at him in a fit of panic.

He ducked and narrowly avoided a shoe to the head.

“Don’t worry, baby. She won’t find me here.” He pulled on his shirt. It would have been nice if Alegra had at least gone through the pretense of averting her gaze. Instead, she just stood there watching with an amused smirk on her face. But Leo supposed he had bigger problems at the moment.

“I’m worried. I’m
very
worried.” Juliet was on the verge of tears, which was so not how Leo wanted the morning to end. “What are we going to do?”

He stood up, crammed his feet into his shoes and went to cup her face in his hands. God, she was so nervous she was trembling. “You’re going to stay right here and have a nice visit with your mom, and I’m going to go out the same way I came in.”

A glimmer of a smile came to her lips. “The balcony? Again? Really?”

“Yes, really.”

There was a knock at the door. “Juliet!”

“I told you.” Alegra lifted a self-righteous eyebrow. “Shall I answer that?”

“No,” Leo and Juliet said in unison.

He looked into her eyes and tried desperately to ignore the knocking on the door. “Kiss me. One last time.”

One
more
time. He’d meant one
more
time. Not last.

She threw her arms around his neck and, with her heartbeat pounding frantically against his, kissed the life out of him.

“Now? Are you kidding me?” Alegra began to pace circles around them.

The pounding on the door grew louder. “Juliet, Alegra, are you two in there?”

“Okay.” Juliet pulled away from him, breaking their kiss. “Now, you really, really need to get out of here.”

And then the window that had so cruelly let in daylight became his escape.

* * *

By the time Juliet finally gave Alegra the go-ahead to open the door, her mother had clearly begun to suspect something.

She sashayed right past both Alegra and Juliet and entered the room, her gaze darting to and fro. “What’s going on in here?”

“Nothing,” Alegra said a little too quickly.

Juliet willed herself not to cringe while her mother stared at the unmade bed, with pillows askew and tangled sheets hanging halfway to the floor.

“Why did it take you so long to come to the door?” She frowned at the messy bed for what felt like an eternity. “For heaven’s sake, Juliet. Did you just wake up?”

Juliet faked a yawn. “Yes. I suppose I’ve got some lingering jet lag. I couldn’t seem to make myself get out of bed this morning.”

Alegra coughed. “Jet lag. I’m sure that’s the culprit.”

Juliet shot her cousin a warning glance and brushed past her to wrap her mother in a hug. Anything to divert attention away from the bed. “Mom, it’s great to see you. How was your trip?”

Her mom hugged her back briefly. “Long, but fine. Your dad and Nico are downstairs. Shouldn’t we be leaving soon for the competition? Goodness, you’re not even showered.”

She shook her head and tsk-tsked which, being typical Mom behavior, came as a great relief. Until she moved to the French doors that led to the balcony.

“What you need in here is some daylight. That will get you moving.” She shoved the curtains aside and flung the doors open.

Alegra let out a little squeal and then clamped her hand over her mouth.

Juliet thought she might faint on the spot. She was sure Leo hadn’t made it all the way down the trellis yet. There simply hadn’t been time.

“Mom!” she shouted, loud enough to make Alegra jump again.

Her mother paused at the threshold of the balcony and turned around. Thank God.

She frowned. “Why are you yelling, dear? I’m right here in Italy, not back in Napa Valley.”

“Um.” What could she possibly say to get her off that balcony with its lovely view—Leo included—and back inside? “Um, I don’t think I can go to the competition, after all.”

That seemed to do the trick. Her mom did an immediate about-face.
“What?”

Even Alegra was thrown for a loop. “Huh?”

“I don’t feel well.” Juliet sank down on the bed.

The sheets were still warm and smelled faintly of red wine and Leo. She battled the ridiculous urge to bury her face in the pillow where he’d rested his head.

“What do you mean you don’t feel well?” Her mom’s hand was on her forehead in an instant. “Your temperature is normal.”

“It’s my stomach. I feel queasy. I’m sure that’s why I overslept.” Juliet clutched her midsection. This kind of faux sickness had never worked when she was a kid and had wanted to stay home from school, but surely it would buy enough time for Leo to climb down the wall.

Alegra rolled her eyes and muttered, “Of course. Because nausea oftentimes goes hand in hand with jet lag.”

Juliet’s mom frowned. “Alegra, stop mumbling and go get Juliet a cool washcloth for her head. And a cup of chipped ice.”

Alegra lifted a dubious brow. “For real?”

“Yes. And while you’re at it, maybe a Coke. You should be able to get one from the bar downstairs. See if they have saltines, too.”

Juliet mouthed
sorry
from behind her mom’s back, but that didn’t stop Alegra from breathing out a labored sigh.

She scowled. “I just got off a ten-hour flight, and now I get to be Juliet’s servant when she’s been doing nothing all day but rolling around in the sack...I mean lying around in bed. Awesome.”

If Juliet hadn’t been so fictionally ill, she would have strangled her cousin.

“Juliet, dear.” Her mother sat down on the bed beside her while Alegra busied herself in the bathroom with the faucet and the requested washcloth. “Are you really feeling sick or, as I suspect, is this something else entirely?”

Her mother then proceeded to give her what Nico always called the
look of doom.
And Juliet suddenly did feel genuinely ill.

She swallowed. “Something else?”

Something like Leo Mezzanotte. Here. In Rome. In this very bed.

“Yes.” Her mom gave a knowing, firm nod. “Nerves. This is a big contest. You’re far from your comfort zone in Napa Valley, and you’re worried about the competition. That’s what this is really about, isn’t it?”

Yes, it was. She was worried about her competition. Specifically, that her competition would get caught sneaking out of her bedroom. “There might be some truth to that.”

“You can do this, dear. I know you can.” Her mom smiled and, in a rare display of maternal affection, gave her shoulders a squeeze. Then she shocked the daylights out of Juliet by getting a little teary-eyed. It was almost enough to make Juliet feel bad about all the lying. But since telling the truth was not remotely an option, she could live with herself.

Her mom gave her a watery smile. “I’m so proud of you. We all are—me, your father, Nico and Alegra.”

She probably could have left Alegra off that list. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about. This contest is going to go off without a hitch.”

Alegra returned with a cold, dripping washcloth dangling from her fingertips, and flung it at Juliet. “Here you go, princess.”

She managed to catch it before it hit her in the face. “Thank you.”

Alegra crossed her arms, glanced at the balcony curtains rippling softly in the breeze and then back at Juliet and her mom. “What did I miss? Anything interesting happen while I was in the bathroom?”

“Juliet is nervous about the contest,” her mother said, obviously satisfied that she’d gotten to the bottom of things.

“Oh, is that what she’s nervous about?” The beginnings of a smirk danced on Alegra’s lips.

Juliet buried her face in the cool washcloth. Admittedly, it felt good.