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I returned and presented it, then waited as Paul took his first bite. His pleasure was clear in his happy expression, but he still said, “They taste delicious. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I lifted a spoon from my bowl, and he licked it suggestively off my spoon. “Now, I’m jealous,” I joked.
“I’ll make it up to you later.”
We went into the living room, and Paul went to the piano. Soon, the room filled with Beethoven’s Pathétique. Something I hadn’t heard him play since we went out to a birthday party for a friend of his in Paris.
“Why did you choose to play Beethoven tonight?” I asked. As I recalled, it was hard for him to play because he played the song at his wedding to Aubrey.
“As you know, I’ve always loved this music. It’s part of my soul, my heart. But I’ve felt so…empty. And now, with you? I have life. Hope. Joy. So it feels right to bring it back into my life now. You are the muse for my joy.”
My heart soared at his romantic sentiment. He had a peacefulness about him that I had been seeing more of, and it warmed my insides. It was also one of the most romantic pieces I ever heard before, and I had a front-row seat to enjoy his brilliance.
I went to collect my sketchpad, and I sat on the floor next to him. The stars and night were ours, and we used every minute together, creating and loving each other.
A wet heat molded my body like rubber to glass in the sun. Steam rose in spurts, crackled like a snake’s hiss, and mingled with the soft classical music that rooted my brain to the present. The wooden bench beneath comforted and allowed me to stretch my long legs fully. I drifted at a timeless pace.
Zing. The timer went off after ten minutes in the sauna, and as if in slow motion, my legs swung from the bench to place my feet flat on the tile floor. I sat up. The steam had lessened and revealed a naked Paul Crane on the bench across from me. Gloriously naked. He propped himself up on his side and grinned. “Good afternoon.”
“Yes. Another late start,” I mused.
Perhaps it was the time difference, but we slept longer.I love that too.
We stood and moved to the walk-in shower. Paul turned on the spray, and a cool stream of water pumped out of the massaging jets. His hands wrapped around my waist. I closed my eyes and smiled. I loved his hands on me.
I turned and washed Paul’s back with a sponge and pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. “I don’t think I ever want to leave here.”
“So, you choose Italy and this house?” he asked.
“I’m still not sure.”
The Rose House had an intimacy to it. It felt like a getaway for two. However, this home felt like a place to share with family. I could already see my mom working in the garden. My dad cooking in the kitchen with me. Even Dani painting, and Alan maybe playing a sitar around the stone garden, had entered my vision. I’d swim with Lily, and Jonas would play chess in the sunroom with Paul. Darling could scuba dive. Even the children I hoped for could stay here. If I can get pregnant. Mom had a few miscarriages before her hysterectomy. Could my miscarriage be a sign of infertility? What about Celeste? She has twins. That’s promising.
After drying off, I put on a swimsuit and a thin jacket. Paul put on a T-shirt and linen pants. He stopped me to smooth on some sunscreen. “How do you feel?”
“Like I can go back to sleep.”
“Have you used a sauna before?”
“No. It was always too busy at the gym, you know? I never see you work out; how do you stay so fit?”
“I have a trainer that comes to the gym at my office a few times a week. Cardio, lifting.”
We padded outside to the beach chairs and stretched out under the umbrellas.
“I’d stay here forever.”
“You’d get bored just like me. You love to work and create. But if you choose this place, we can build studios.”
“You know, with everything going on, how do you have this time away?”
“I always schedule time away after a project is complete.”
“The documentary is done?”
“Mostly. We finished the location shoots, and anything left, I trust, will be covered by my head manager on site. Our work is now studio, editing, audio, music, which I can work on in Paris with you.”
I nodded. “Good, I hoped you’d say that. The internship in Paris wasn’t all work. Tomas encourages his staff to take time away from the office, so we stay current and don’t burn out.”
