“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 about risks 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.’”