With one final thrust, Harrison sent her over the edge. Pleasure exploded within her, her limbs trembling as powerful aftershocks coursed through her veins.
The moment overwhelmed her. Her love for her husband, for the life they shared, for the future she wanted them to have together, it all coalesced in a mass of emotion that refused to be contained.
Harrison kissed the tears that trailed down her cheeks.
“Please stop crying,” he whispered.
“I can’t,” Willow choked out in a hoarse voice. “I miss this. I miss us.”
“I know, baby,” he said. “I know. I miss us too.” He smooth a tear from her cheek. “But we’re here. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t care what happens, Willow, I’m not letting you go without a fight.”
“You promise?” she asked.
He molded his palm to her cheek and held her prisoner with his intent, steady gaze. The fervent love in his eyes stole the breath from her lungs.
“I promise.”
Chapter Eight
As he looked upon his sleeping wife’s breathtaking face, Harrison had to talk himself out of saying to hell with the plans he’d made for today. At the moment, he couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do more than spend the next twenty four hours in bed reliving the night he and Willow had shared. He wanted to relive it over and over and over again.
But today was the day. It was the day he’d been looking forward to from the moment he began planning this trip. The surprise he had in store for his wife was one she would cherish for decades to come.
So, instead of snuggling against her warm, naked body, he’d gently snuck out from under the covers and forced himself to get dressed. Their impromptu drive down the coast had blown his plans way off course, so he let Willow sleep while he contacted the travel agent and made new arrangements. He’d spent the past twenty minutes just standing there, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of her slender back as she slept. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful. Gone was the stress and tension he’d noticed on her face for the past few months. This was the Willow he knew.
Harrison hated to disturb her, but if they didn’t get out of here soon they’d never make it to his surprise. He tickled the bottom of her foot. She quickly pulled it back under the covers.
“Wills,” he said in a hushed voice. “You need to wake up.”
She groaned and twisted around, hauling the pillow over her head. The thin bedsheet pulled taut over her breasts and Harrison had to remind himself that stripping out of his clothes and diving back in bed with her wasn’t a smart idea.
Tempting, but not smart. The smart thing to do would be to treat Willow to this mind-blowing day. They could have a repeat of what they did last night anytime.
God, please let us have a repeat tonight.
“Come on,” Harrison said. “We need to get going.”
She moved the pillow a few inches to the side and peeked at him. “Do we have to?”
“Yes. Our flight leaves at eight thirty and it’ll take us at least an hour to get to the airport in Naples.”
She flung the pillow off her face and sat up in the bed. “Flight? What flight?”
“The one I just booked,” he said. “Our spontaneous trip took us well south of where we were supposed to be today, so we won’t be able to take the train to our next destination. I had to buy a couple of last-minute airline tickets.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe I have to get on a plane again.”
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Harrison?” she said in that warning tone.
He remained silent.
“Give me a minute while I channel my stubborn ten-year-old son,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not moving from this bed until you tell me where we’re going.”
His brow arched in amusement. “Does that ever work for Athens?”
“No, but I’m not Athens,” she said. “Tell me.”
Harrison shook his head, chuckling at her cute, defiant pout. “Fine. I’ll give you a hint.” He leaned forward and braced his hands on either side of her hips. “We’re going to a place where the streets are a little wetter than usual.”
Confusion flashed in her eyes before they brightened with excitement. “Venice? We’re going to Venice!”
“Yes.” He kissed her on the nose. “And I refuse to change any of the plans for today, so get up and get dressed.”
She jumped out of bed and was dressed quicker than Harrison could remember in their seventeen years of marriage. They drove the thirty miles north to the airport in Naples where they were able to leave their rental car and hop on a plane to northern Italy.
The train ride from Rome would have taken just under four hours. By flying, they reached Venice two hours earlier than his original itinerary had them arriving. He’d pre-booked a private water taxi to take them into the city center based on the time they were supposed to arrive, but Harrison wasn’t willing to waste time milling about. Instead, he had the driver take them to the port.
Once there, they boarded a vaporetto—a water bus—to take them across the Venetian Lagoon. By the time they arrived at one of the docks of the Grand Canal, Harrison was sure the smile on Willow’s face would be permanently etched there.
“If I’d known you were this excited about seeing Venice, I would have planned for us to spend more than just a day,” he said.
“I thought it was too far from Rome to even consider coming up here. I just didn’t think we’d have the time.” She turned to him. “I cannot believe you were able to pull this off, Harrison. It truly is a trip of a lifetime.”
“And just think, we still have a couple of days remaining.”
“I know!” Her face beamed. “So, what do you have planned for today?”
“Everything,” he said. “Everything you could possibly want to do in Venice.”
“We’re taking a gondola ride, right?”
He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Do you really think I’d bring you to Venice and not get you alone in a gondola while some old Italian guy sings off-key in our ears? Come on, Wills. You know me better than that.”
She pitched her head back and laughed, the sound sweeter than honey to his ears. He’d missed his wife’s laugh so damn much.
Once they arrived on the island, they set out to explore, walking through San Marcos Square and the ornate basilica that stood as its focal point. Strolling along the square’s perimeter, they watched as mimes performed and small school children fed the birds swooping down from the red clay rooftops above. They meandered through the narrow alleyways and across the various bridges connecting the city’s many islands, dipping into shops that sold colorful Murano glass and intricate, handmade jewelry.
A stray rain shower sent them scurrying into a tiny pizza shop where he and Willow spent a full two hours dining on the best pizza he’d ever eaten. Harrison feared the rain would put a damper on his plans, but it seemed as if God was in his corner today. Just as they were finishing off the bottle of wine they’d ordered with lunch, the rain clouds dissipated and the warm sun began to stretch its fingers through the restaurant’s slender windows.
“Just in time,” Harrison said as he paid for their meal and left an inordinate tip for occupying the table for the past two hours.
“Just in time for what?” Willow asked.
He stood and held a hand out to her. “I do believe I promised you a ride in a gondola.”
Their private gondola was waiting for them by the time they arrived at the dock, just to the left of the Bridge of Sighs. They boarded the long, flat-bottomed boat, and were handed two glasses of champagne.
“I’m not sure if I should have any more to drink,” Harrison said. “Those two glasses of wine with lunch was more alcohol than I usually drink in a month.”
“But you’re in Venice,” Willow said with a wistful sigh. “When will you ever get another chance to drink champagne while cruising these beautiful ca
nals?”
He held his glass up. “Point taken.” Willow clanked her glass against his and took a sip of champagne before settling against his chest. Satisfaction thrummed through his veins as their surprisingly talented gondolier softly serenaded them.
Nearly a year ago, when he’d first decided to book this trip, this is the scene that immediately popped into his head. He’d pictured this moment, imagining how it would feel to have his wife snuggled against him as they gently listed from side to side. The picture became murky as things started to sour between them over the past year, to the point where Harrison wasn’t sure they’d even make it into this gondola. But they were here now. And it was more magical than anything he’d dreamt up.
He’d never been good at shutting out the rest of the world, but he forced himself to push thoughts of all the things that had been causing him stress to the side so that he could just exist in this moment with his wife. He wanted to relish this. They deserved this time together.
His vibrating phone pulled him out of his relaxing lull.
Shit.
He would not answer this phone. He’d caught Willow’s resigned, disappointed look yesterday when those text messages came through. He’d promised her he wouldn’t work while they were here. He couldn’t renege on that promise, especially while enjoying this romantic moment he’d been looking forward to for so long.
But this was a call, not a text. What in the hell could have happened for LaKeshia to call him? What if it wasn’t LaKeshia? What if it was Jonathan? Or Luca Delmonico himself? He couldn’t just leave his client hanging. Some other client, maybe, but not this one.
Didn’t matter. He wouldn’t answer. Even though it raked across his skin like a bad rash to think about something going wrong that he wouldn’t be there to handle, Harrison refused to give in. Being here with his wife, doing all he could do to save their marriage. This is what was important.
The phone stopped vibrating, but started again just a few seconds later.
“Answer it,” Willow said.
“What?”
“Someone’s calling you.”
“How can you tell? My phone’s on silent.” And there was no way she could feel it vibrating from where she sat.
“You tense up whenever it rings.” She lifted off of his chest. “Just answer it, Harrison. If you don’t you’ll spend this entire time wondering what’s going on back at the office. Find out so you can truly put it out of your mind.”
He gave her another look, asking if she was sure.
She answered with a nod.
Harrison tried not to seem too eager as he pulled the phone out, but he needed to know what the heck was going on. He had three missed calls from Michael Delmonico.
What the hell?
“Hello,” Harrison answered, not bothering to lessen the harshness in his voice. If it had been Luca, sure, but the man’s son was a pain in the ass.
He impatiently listened while the younger Delmonico rattled on about a surprise counter Phillip MacMahon had offered them today. Harrison cursed underneath his breath. Knowing Phillip, he’d probably been waiting for the chance to spring this on Michael because he knew he could easily manipulate the twenty-something year old.
“No.” Harrison’s firm replied halted Michael’s rambling. “No more emails between you and their lawyers for the rest of the day. Don’t reply earlier than eleven a.m. tomorrow morning. Any earlier and you give MacMahon the upper hand. This way he’ll think you had more important issues to handle before getting back to him. And when you do get back to him, tell him the answer is no and all other communication will be handled through your attorney.
“Now, please, don’t call again, Michael. I’m on vacation. If anyone from Bossier, Guidry & Associates, or Bayou Landing Dredging contacts you, direct them to Jonathan Campbell at Campbell & Holmes.”
Harrison ended the call before Michael Delmonico could take up any more of his time.
“I’m sorry, Willow,” he said. “That’s the last time I’ll let that happen. And, just to make sure, I’m cutting the thing off completely. If Dad or Indina needs to get in touch with us about the kids they’ll call your phone anyway.”
He started to power his phone off, but Willow caught his wrist.
“Don’t do that. You have the navigation app. Here, give it to me.” She took the phone from his hand. “I’ll turn off the vibrate. Now the only way you’ll see an incoming call is if you’re looking at the phone. Don’t look at the phone.”
She handed it to him and Harrison slipped it back into his pocket. When he returned his attention to her, there was an impish smile turning up the corners of her mouth.
“What?” he asked.
“I forgot how sexy you are when you’re being a badass, hotshot lawyer.”
He huffed out a laugh. “The acquisition of a dredging machine company. Not the sexiest subject matter.”
“It is when you talk about it,” she said. She leaned against his chest again. “But thank you for turning the phone off. You need this vacation just as much as I do. More than I do.” She looked up at him. “I know your job is important, but there’s more to life than just work.”
“I know that, Wills.”
“Do you?” The earnest sincerity in her eyes surprised him. “I worry about the stress of it all, Harrison. High stress jobs can lead to bad things happening.”
Harrison knew she was thinking of her own mother. A few years ago, Rachel had been rushed to a hospital in Houston with what her colleagues thought was a stroke. It turned out to be symptoms of stress that only presented as a stroke. Even though his mother-in-law had fully recovered and was back to kicking ass and taking names, the incident had been a wake-up call.
“I’d never allow the stress of the job to get to the point where it causes harm, Willow.”
She snorted. “I’m sure that’s what everyone in a high-stress job says.” She flattened her palm against his chest. “I don’t want you to think for a second that I don’t appreciate how hard you work for me and the kids, Harrison. You put in all those hours at the office and still make time to be there when Athens and Lily need you, but it doesn’t leave much time for you,” she said, pressing a finger to the center of his chest. “The sacrifices you make are noble, but I don’t want you to look back in another twenty years and realize you’ve sacrificed your entire life. I’d be willing to give up some of the comforts you provide if it means you don’t have to work so hard.”
He cupped her jaw in his palm and smoothed his thumb back and forth across her silky skin.
“You don’t have to worry about me, baby.”
But even as the words left his mouth, Harrison was self-aware enough to acknowledge that her concern had merit.
His first panic attack happened back when he was in law school, sitting alone at a table at three in the morning in the twenty-four hour law library. The next one happened in the men’s restroom at the federal courthouse a few years after he’d started practicing law. Both times he thought he was having a heart attack.
He’d learned to spot the signs and calm himself down before things got out of control, but he had yet to master the art of taking it easy every once in a while. He didn’t know how not to work hard. And as he grew older, this all-consuming drive only seemed to intensify. His compulsion to prove to Jonathan that he’d made the right decision in hiring him—to prove to himself that he’d done the right thing by leaving Bossier and Guidry—drove him to work harder than he ever had before. He kept telling himself that it was only temporary, but temporary had gone on for well over a year now. How much longer could he really use that excuse?
“It won’t be as hectic in the future,” he told Willow. “Things are starting to settle down at the law office.”
Lies. More and more lies.
He and Jonathan were talking about expanding soon. If they made that move, there would be no settling down. Life at the firm would become even more chaotic, with him likely having to divide his time between
two locations.
But Willow didn’t have to know that yet. He would just make it a priority to do a better job at that work/home life balance thing they used to stress at Bossier, Guidry & Associates. Even though they knew no one paid any heed to it.
You can do this.
Hell yeah, he could do this. He could show his wife that she was the most important thing in his life while still proving he was the best damn lawyer Jonathan could have ever brought in as a partner.
As their gondola glided along the calm waters, Harrison pulled Willow in closer, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“You know, in twenty years’ worth of memories, this day may go down as one of my all-time favorites,” he whispered.
“Mmm,” Willow murmured. “That’s saying a lot, because there have been some pretty fine days during the last twenty years.”
“Yeah, there have been,” he said. Harrison felt her shoulders shaking as she chuckled. “What are you laughing about?”
“One of my favorite memories ever.” She looked up at him, amusement flickering in her light brown eyes. “Stripper Barbie.”
A sharp laugh shot from his mouth. “How did that get on your list of favorite memories?”
“Because it was funny as hell,” she said.
“For you, maybe. I’m still mortified.” Harrison shook his head as his wife continued to laugh at him.
The Stripper Barbie incident had become legendary. Liliana had fallen in love with Barney, the purple dinosaur, as a kid. One day, while Willow was sick with the flu, Harrison had stayed home to look after their daughter. He’d had no idea his poor wife’s day was consumed by hours of watching that big, clumsy ass singing dinosaur. By the end of the day, he’d been ready to throw out the TV.
Willow being Willow, she’d hired a singing telegram to surprise him at his job the next day. But instead of hearing Barney, the guy on the other end of the line heard Barbie. And the only Barbie the company employed was the one who usually got called out to bachelor parties.
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