Chapter Three

The flight was long, but it was totally worth it. Dean had booked us four days off. Two would be spent traveling, but that was fine—I still had two days, plus a little more, to explore Italy. I grinned as we dropped our bags in the hotel.

Looking around, I blew out a deep breath. He hadn’t gone with the cheapest option; that was for sure. There was a small gift basket on the desk that overlooked a river and a small forest area in the middle of a town. There was only one bed, and the sheets on it looked like they were silk.

I reached out and ran a finger along them, my eyes closing. Oh, my God, I was going to sleep under silk bedding tonight. It was going to be amazing. I never thought in a million years of ever sleeping under silk blankets.

Stepping away from the bed, I looked around. There was a huge TV, something I didn’t think we’d be making much use of, and a small fridge along with a counter that held a kettle and a coffeemaker.

“Wow …” I padded over to the window and looked down. You’d think it wouldn’t really look any different than Las Vegas, but honestly, it looked like it was another world, much less another country. “This is amazing.” I turned to Dean, who smiled widely at me.

“I’m glad you like it. Now, what do you say we go do a little sightseeing? I had a couple places in mind in case you didn’t know where you wanted to go.”

“What were you thinking?”

I closed the distance between us, but instead of reaching out and pulling him into a hug, which was what I wanted to do, I grabbed my purse and made sure there was everything I could need in there. Water, snacks, camera. Yes. I had an actual camera in there—what can I say? I’m old school.

I slung my purse over my shoulder and grinned.

“Are you ready to go?” He returned my grin.

“Sure thing. Where are we going?”

Dean made his way towards the door before he spoke. “I was thinking we could grab a little real pizza first. Do you want to go to a museum? How about an art gallery? Or would you rather save that for tomorrow? We can just go for a walk tonight and do a little shopping, how does that sound?”

Sounded perfect to me. “Let’s do that.” I grabbed his hand as we headed out of the room and towards the elevator. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long before one arrived.

The door opened, but I didn’t move. I just stood there frozen.

“Becky?”

He looked the same as last time I saw him. With short blond hair and blue eyes.

Dean grabbed me. I felt his hand touch the small of my back. “Rebecca,” he whispered.

“Hi,” I finally managed but didn’t want to. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and run away from him. “How are you, Brad?”

I felt Dean stiffen beside me. His hand dug into my skin gently as he pushed me forward so we could get onto the elevator. Because I really wanted to be stuck in an elevator with Brad right now. I swallowed dryly.

“I’ve been good… God, you look so good.” His eyes roamed over my body, and for a split second, I felt dirty. I reached out and took Dean’s hand in mine. He was quick to pull away and wrap his arm around my shoulder.

“Yea, well I’m a lot less of a high-stress job now.” And you know, I wasn’t with him, but I wasn’t going to say that.

“It’s been forever. How are you doing?” Brad stepped closer to me, reaching out as if he was about to touch me. My entire body stiffened.

“I’ve been great.” I forced a smile over my lips. “Are you here for business?”

“Yes. Are you?”

“No. My boyfriend thought it would be a nice treat for us to get away from work.” I paused, glancing towards Dean. “You’ve heard about the new casinos that just opened, right? The billionaire who owns them? Have you two ever met?” I looked between them, even though I already knew the answer. “Brad, this is Dean.”

I could tell it took everything he had to extend his hand and shake Brad’s, but Dean forced a smile over his lips, and the two men shook hands.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Brad said.

“Mhm.”

“So, are you guys going out to do some sightseeing?”

“We’re just going to grab some gelato; the sightseeing is all for tomorrow,” Dean spoke up. “A couple privet tours and then, of course, a walk up to the Greek ruins.”

My heart skipped a beat. Was he making that up just to impress Brad or was that actually the plan? Because that sounded amazing.

“Sounds fun!”

A breath of relief passed through my lips as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. I rushed out of there as fast as I could.

“Well, I hope I see you again! It was great to see you, Becky.” Brad waved as he headed towards a room with the door open.

“God, I hope I never see you again,” I muttered once I knew he was out of earshot.

“So … that’s your ex.”

“Yup.” I swallowed dryly. Why did this have to happen? Why did I ever have to see him again? I shook my body suddenly feeling dirty. “God, I don’t know what I saw in him.”

Dean’s hand moved from my shoulder to my hand, our fingers tangling together as he squeezed gently. “Let’s get outta here. I’m pretty sure I saw a gelato shop just down the street.”

“Were you making all that up? I mean, about our plans for tomorrow?”

Dean laughed softly, leading the way out of the hotel room. “Of course not!”

We turned left and headed down the street. The air was colder than I was used to, but that didn’t matter to me. It was gorgeous. I couldn’t stop looking around as we made our way down the street. Hell, there was just something about the way the people looked even. The women were gorgeous; even the old ladies were stunning. The men all looked like they should be on a cover of a magazine.

Dean pulled me close to him and placed a kiss on the top of my head. “So, you’re on a second trip out of country, I’d say you have good taste.” He grinned as we made our way to a small shop with the word Gelato hanging on a sign above the door. I reached for the door and pulled it open.

“It’s all thanks to you.” And it was; I’d never be able to afford this.

“Just … make sure you let me treat you, okay?”

I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could say anything, he made his way over to the counter and cleared his throat. “One chocolate and one mint, please.”

A woman behind the counter nodded. I could see her eyes roaming over his body and jealousy tugged at me. Trying to push the feeling out of my body, I looked around the store. There were so many colors and so many flavors. My mouth watered just looking at them all.

Dean cleared his throat as he came to a stop beside me and handed me the green one. “Mint, right?”

“Yup.”

“How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing.” His eyes sparkled. “I want to treat you. That’s why I wanted to take you on this trip. Please, just let me cover it?”

“You already paid for the flight!” I protested as we strolled to the door and he pulled it open for me. I stepped outside and took a spoonful of the treat I held in my hand.

I’d always been told it was kinda like ice cream, but this wasn’t like ice cream I’d had before. This was thicker, almost heavier. And the texture was so much creamer. I let out a noise of approval as I swallowed it down.

“Mind if I have a bite?”

“Not at all.” I also noticed he was trying to avoid the topic we’d just been discussing. Reaching for the chocolate with my spoon, I a bite of it. The chocolate was so much richer than any chocolate ice cream I’d had before. It wasn’t quite as cold as ice cream normally tastes; actually, it was quite a bit warmer and seemed much more dense. Another murmur of pleasure passed through my lips as my eyes locked on Dean’s. He took a bite of my mint gelato and swallowed it down.

“I wish I could make you moan like that.” His eyes sparkled as a perfect smile spread across his lips. I laughed.

“Maybe you’ll make me scream tonight.”

His grin widened as we made our way down the street. I spent a few seconds just taking everything in and looking around as I ate. “You know, we never finished that conversation.”

“Please Becca, I just want to spoil you. I have too much money and don’t want to die with too much money. I want to spend it on things that make a difference.”

“And you think paying for me to hang out in Italy makes a difference.”

“It does for you, doesn’t it?”

I paused. He had me there, and I knew that—so did he. I took a deep breath.

“I just don’t want to be in debt to you.”

“Well, how about you give me a blowjob, and we call it even?”

I raised an eyebrow and stared at him. “Really? That’s going to even the score?”

“Your blowjobs are really good?” He gave me a soft smile and I laughed, rolling my eyes. Nice try, but I wasn’t buying it. I studied Dean carefully.

“I just … I don’t want you to feel like I’m only with you for one reason.”

“You are.”

My heart caught in my throat. “Excuse me?”

“Well, I am pretty amazing.” His eyes sparkled. “That sums everything up into one thing, doesn’t it?”

I shook my head, moving closer to him as he pulled me into his arms. We made our way towards a pedestrian bridge, and I stared down at the water.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I … I love you too.”

Taking another bite of the rich treat in my mouth, I thought about his words. He wanted to do something special for me, and I honestly loved the idea of letting him take care of me but didn’t want him to feel like I was taking advantage of him. I wanted him to feel like I was with him because of loving him, not because of his money.

“I like spending money on you,” he said as if he’d been able to read my mind. I swallowed dryly.

“And I like you for more than just your money.” He encouraged me, understood me, and actually wanted to spend time with me. I hadn’t dated anyone since Brad, and when I was put in a situation a couple weeks ago when Dean kissed me, as much as I’d loved kissing him, all I’d been able to think about was what had happened between Brad and me. That had scared the shit out of me—but unlike the last boss I dated, Dean wasn’t trying to hold anything over my head. I rested my head against Dean’s chest as we stopped to watch the water go under the bridge.

In true Italy fashion, I watched a couple make their way along the river in a boat. They looked young, younger than Dean or me, but they giggled together as he rowed the boat. She fed him a slice of bread.

I looked up at Dean, a grin spreading over my face. “So, are you going to take me for a boat ride?”

“Honestly? I hadn’t planned on it. Although I did tell you I was going to make you feel like you were in a romance novel, didn’t I?”

“I’ll take erotica too; I’m not picky.”

The grin that crossed his face made my heart skip a beat, and he kissed me softly. “Well, normally I’d suggest we go back to the hotel room, but first, let’s look around a little.”

He pulled away from me slightly, and we made our way down the street. I wasn’t quite sure how he’d picked the hotel, but it seemed perfect. Right along a street full of stores and cafés. As we walked, we finished our gelato. As soon as we were done, Dean pushed me towards a store. I froze as I stared at it.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Nope.”

“No, I can’t.”

There is no way I was going to let him buy me Italian lingerie. It was going to be expensive, wasn’t it?

“Oh, come on; my goal in life is to buy you lingerie from every country.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. He was 100% serious about this. My jaw dropped, but I let him pull me towards the store.

“You are unbelievable.”

“I aim to impress.” He sounded pleased as he pulled the door open, and we stepped inside.

If you think Victoria Secret is cute, you’ve never been to a lingerie store in Italy. I was gobsmacked. It was all so gorgeous. They had a few manikins displaying several items. There were so many black and whites and reds, but also yellows and greens.

I walked into the store looking around, a couple times reaching out and touching one of the items. I’d been to stores like Victoria Secret, but there was something about this silk that felt so much nicer. Maybe it was just the fact that I was in Italy and that everything seemed like a dream, or maybe it was actually nicer than the stuff I’d seen before—I wasn’t really sure, but I was sure that when thinking about the idea of me owning one of these items, my heart skipped a beat. I wanted to own this. I stared at a teal baby doll.

“Well, what one do you like?” he whispered beside me.

“Hi.” A girl approached us with a wide smile. “Can I help you with anything?” Her eyes locked on mine.

“Um, just looking around.” My voice stuttered a little. I guess I wasn’t quite as used to the fact of being in Italy as I’d thought.

“I think that one would look gorgeous on you,” she said smiling. “Would you like to try it on?”

“Yes,” Dean answered for me. “She’d love to.” He laughed softly. “Well, she probably wouldn’t love to, but it’s her first time out of the country, and I’m not quite sure she’s really processing things, and I think she’ll beat herself up if she doesn’t at least try something on before we get it.”

The girl smiled widely as she turned her attention back to me. “Your boyfriend’s got a point.” She reached for the teal baby doll in front of me. “I’ll grab this and get a room started for you; if it’s airtight, I’ve got something in mind that I think would look gorgeous on you. Could I put it in your room as well?”

“Um, sure.”

“Awesome.” The girl walked away, and I watched as she grabbed a black dress-like thing from another wall. I turned to Dean. He looked guilty and ready for whatever beating I was going to give him, but instead I just smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek.

The truth was, he was right about everything. It was smart to try something on before buying it. Without a word, I followed the girl into the change room and looked at the garment she’d pulled off the hanger.

“You um, looked like a small, so that’s what I grabbed. If you need another size, please let me know, and I will get one for you. My name’s Jordan; just give me a holler, and I’ll come get you.”

“Thank you.” I closed the door, reached for the teal baby doll, slipped into it quickly and looked myself over in the mirror. My jaw dropped. I’d never worn something that clung to my curves in such a perfect way. It even looked good with my boobs that I honestly felt weren’t big enough. The bottom of the baby doll had a small amount of white lace that tickled my two inches above my knees. I’d worn a lot of lingerie before but never felt this sexy. I almost didn’t want to take it off, but I really wanted to try the other one on, so I forced myself to take the baby doll off. Hanging it carefully on the door, I reached for the other one, slipping into it quickly and carefully. I turned to face myself in the mirror, and my heart skipped a beat.

The black sheer fabric fell down to my ankles but was split up one side. The bust was covered in lace almost thick enough to cover me, and a cross of lace went over my belly from my left breast to my right hip. I blew out a deep breath, my head tilting to the left. I’d always thought lingerie was there to make you feel sexy, but I felt beautiful in this—no. I felt gorgeous.

I sat in the change room for a couple of minutes just staring and wanting to memorize the image of myself in this before I glanced down at the price tag and almost fainted. $2599. Damn.

I slipped out of the dress feeling defeated, dressed quickly, grabbed the two amazing garments and wished I could get them both. I glanced down at the price of the teal one. $387. That almost wasn’t bad. That I could put up with Dean spending. I mean, really, if you went to Victoria Secret, it wouldn’t be much less to get a cute garment or two from there. If they were really expensive.

I forced myself to smile.

“Well, they were both really nice.” I held the teal one out to Dean, and he took it quickly.

“Awesome.” He reached for the black one as well and snatched it from my hands before turning on his heel.

“Oh no, I don’t want that one.” I rushed after him.

“Why?” He spun to face me.

“Did you look at the price on it?” I whispered.

“No.” He shrugged. My eyes widened. “Well, is it under $5000?”

My jaw dropped. Was that actually his lingerie cap? Five grand? Before I could answer him, Dean looked down at the price tag. “Oh, you had me worried!”

He made his way over to the counter as I stood there staring at him. How was that a reasonable price for him to pay for lingerie? I shook my head trying to clear it and crossed to the counter. The girl was ringing up the total.

“It’s a good thing there aren’t any other girls in here.” Her eyes sparkled. “They’d be quite jealous. Their boyfriends would have a lot of work ahead of them.”

“Oh, I’m sure they would understand.” Dean smiled, touching the small of my back.

I turned to look at him and returned his smile, my heart racing. I was going to sleep in something that cost more than my rent each month. And as crazy as that sounded, it also made me feel really good. Once my new lingerie was bagged and the bag handed to us, we made our way out of the shop.

“I should be so mad at you for spending that much on me.” But I reached out and took his hand. I knew why he was doing it; I knew I wasn’t pressuring him into it, but I still felt bad.

“Are you?”

“No,” I admitted. “I think it’s actually kinda sweet. But not something that is going to happen often!”

“Alright, I can agree to those terms.” His smile widened as we came to a stop in front of another store. “You know, everyone says Italian leather is the best kind of leather out there.”

I stared at him blankly. “Didn’t I just say …?”

“Yes, yes, I heard you. You said it couldn’t happen all the time, so I’m going to take full advantage of it when I am allowed to spoil you. Now, come on; let’s get you a nice new purse or something.” And without another word, he dragged me into the store.

The scent of leather engulfed me as we made our way to the back of the store—towards the sale section. Well, at least, he’s going to let me buy something from the sales rack, I thought as I looked around. Not that it mattered much. They were still at least $300. Not that it was much more than what you would spend back home, but it still felt silly to let him do all this shopping and pay all this money on a purse and a couple pieces of clothing.

“Well, what one do you like?”

I reached hesitantly towards the one I’d been eyeing. A brown dome-shaped purse that looked just wide enough for me to slip my computer in at the bottom and tall enough for me to fit everything I needed to in there.

“That one looks nice.” He sounded a little unsure. “Um … yea, I know nothing about purses.”

I laughed softly. “It’s all personal preference.” With a shrug, I looked at the purse for a couple more seconds; it was really nice.

“So that’s the one you like, right?”

“Yea … I—”

I didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Dean took the purse from my hands and strode to the counter. I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out. Instead, I followed him to the counter and watched him pay.

As much as I hated admitting it, I kind of liked having this attention paid to me—having him provide me with lavish things and take me to Italy. I would never admit it to anyone but myself but totally wanted to keep living like this.

Except you can’t. No, I was right. I couldn’t take advantage of him. I have to be independent, no matter how much he says he wants to spoil me.

I’d always said I would never let a man take care of me. And now here I was more than happy with the idea of it. But then again, who didn’t like having everything taken care of for them?

I didn’t pay much attention as Dean paid and the girl handed me a bag with the purse in it. I bit my lip, wanting to be able to do this. I wanted to be able to walk into a store, pull out my debit card and spend however much I wanted on whatever stupid little thing I wanted. I guess I’d better get my ass in gear and get to college then. After college, I could work until I had enough saved to buy a place, and then I could open my hot chocolate business.

It sounded stupid and everyone laughed—well, everyone except Dean. He’d been interested in it and asked me about my plans. He’d also sorta promised that I’d have a job with him until I was ready to move on. But I was going to hold onto that—you never knew what could happen.

When I’d broken up with Brad, he’d made it his goal not only to fire but humiliate me. The other girls in the office had seemed to enjoy it just a little bit too much.

I mentally shook myself, trying not to let my past catch up with me now. I mean, I was in Italy with this amazing man. I shouldn’t be thinking about anything other than what we were going to do later tonight.

Dean held his arm out for me, and I took it as we headed to the door and back out onto the street.

“Crap,” he muttered, coming to a stop. It was right then that I heard his phone ringing. He pulled away from me and grabbed his phone from his pocket, unlocking the screen and lifting it to his ear.

“Hello?” There were a couple seconds of silence as he listened to the person on the other end. “Hang on.” He moved the phone away from his lips and looked at me. “Head back.” He fished the key out of his pocket and handed it to me. “I’ll be a little while—work. I’ll meet you back at the hotel.”

I nodded, taking the key from him. Placing a quick kiss on his cheeks, I headed back towards the hotel as I heard him start talking again. I didn’t pay much attention to it, being too busy looking around as I returned to the hotel, taking deep breaths as I passed cafés with their windows almost calling me inside. Maybe if I hadn’t been carrying my bags, I would be more tempted to go inside and grab something quickly, but as it was, I was just returning to the hotel.

My heart dropped as soon as I stepped into the building, suddenly wishing I had stopped to grab a coffee.