“Did you want to put on clothes?”

“Ughh… you are impossible, you know that?” I began to stomp toward the bedroom in search of my clothes, pretending to be annoyed when I really wasn’t.

Jack grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him, holding me tightly to his chest.

“But you love me anyway.” He kissed me chastely on my lips and then released me back on my path to the bedroom, smacking my ass firmly as I was almost out of his reach.

I didn’t admit it, but he was right. I loved him anyway. Any way that I could have him, any way that he wanted me. Just any way.

***

As we drove back to Rome, I realized I was glad that I didn’t have to go right back to the tour bus. I needed time to slowly slip back into reality from the cocoon that Jack and I had built around us for two and a half days. We arrived at Jack’s hotel, parking the car in front of the main entrance. The bellman jumped to open my door, but Jack was already making his way around the car to offer his hand, dismissing the bellman with a flick of his wrist. There was something so incredibly sexy about how Jack always treated me like a lady, everywhere except the bedroom that is. It was like it was our little secret that he was the polar opposite of his polite mannerisms once the door to our private life swung shut.

Jack guided me to the front desk, his hand protectively on the small of my back as the manager smiled and spoke to him in Italian. Jack responded in what sounded to me like perfect Italian, although I really couldn’t be sure since I didn’t speak more than ten words. What I was sure of was that Jack sounded sexy as all hell as he spoke and I couldn’t help but stare at him as the words flowed from his mouth.

Jack caught my gaze and I watched as the corner of his mouth turned up, silently acknowledging that he was pleased with my ardor. Eventually the manager handed over a key to Jack and turned his attention to me. “Mrs. Cole, your friend, Ms. Sienna, she say she meet you at the lobby bar, yes?”

I was about to correct the manager, tell him that I wasn’t Mrs. Cole, but I saw the glimmer in Jack’s eye as I caught him watching me speak to the manager. Following Jack’s lead, I allowed a small grin to escape, silently acknowledging I was aware of his gaze as I responded to the manager. “Grazie, Mr. Benetio.”

Jack directed the bellman to deliver our luggage, then we began to make our way toward the lobby bar.

“I like the sound of that,” Jack whispered in my ear as he tightened his grip on my hip as we walked. I wasn’t sure if he meant my attempt at speaking Italian or the manager calling me Mrs. Cole, but something in the way he spoke made me think it had nothing to do with my Italian.

***

We met Sienna and Tyler for drinks in the lobby bar and Sienna told us all about the sightseeing they had already done. Tyler didn’t keep his hands permanently affixed on Sienna, as Jack did on me, but something about the way he touched her when he did told me they hadn’t been sleeping in separate rooms while we were gone.

“Syd, we went by Olympic Stadium and you are never going to believe what we saw.” Sienna’s face was as excited as a kid in a candy store.

Olympic Stadium was the venue we were scheduled to play in Rome the following evening. It was the first concert after our short break and before we moved on to eleven more cities in three weeks, starting in just two short days.

Obviously I didn’t respond to Sienna’s question fast enough, because she couldn’t wait any longer. “A huge billboard! There was a huge billboard on the front of Olympic Stadium!”

Sienna’s excitement was contagious and I found myself smiling, although I wasn’t even sure what I was excited about yet.

“Us, Syd. We are on the billboard with Double Strife!” Sienna clapped her hands together in excitement. “Remember those shots they took of us when we were recording?”

I nodded my head, vaguely remembering a few photos they’d taken of Sienna and I singing.

“Well, they look freakin’ awesome. They have full body shots of us up on the billboard and we look smokin’!” Sienna giggled at her own compliment. “I mean, I think they might have enhanced certain parts of you for the picture, but damn, Syd, you look ridiculously hot. Right, Tyler?”

Tyler looked to Jack and back to Sienna briefly before responding. “You both look hot. It’s pretty crazy to see you both about thirty feet tall above my head … especially when I have one hand holding Sienna’s little ass that fits in my palm so nicely.” Tyler laughed and Sienna elbowed him playfully.

“Come on, I want to show you. It’s less than a mile, we can walk over there now. I can’t wait to see your face when you see the cl**vage you’re rockin’ in that pink baby-doll tank you love so much!”

I saw Jack’s jaw clench out of the corner of my eye and knew his protective streak was kicking in at the mention of any of my cl**vage on display. I was sure Sienna was exaggerating, and thought that maybe it would put Jack’s mind at ease when he saw the picture, so I agreed to go. Plus, I was curious to see for myself.

I turned to Jack. “Do you mind taking a walk?”

Jack swallowed and stood. “Let’s go check it out.”

***

I had assumed that Sienna was exaggerating about the size and sexiness of the poster, but if anything she was downplaying it. The billboard was tremendous, spanning the height of the stadium and prominently displayed just to the left of the main entrance. I was wearing a simple, pretty pale pink top with jeans and high heel wedges. Sienna was dressed in all black with a red scarf hanging loosely around her neck. I was leaning over laughing and Sienna’s head was thrown back as she smiled.

It wasn’t the outfit or the size of the billboard that made it sexy, it was the angle from which the photo was taken. As I leaned over, my cl**vage was on display, almost spilling out of my top. And considering the size of the billboard, the cl**vage appeared substantial, making me wonder if Sienna’s initial comment about photo enhancement might really have been true. Sienna was leaning back and her shirt had ridden up, leaving a hint of her pale skin glowing between the black of her clothes. The playfulness and innocence of our laughter appeared almost voyeuristic, as it was captured by the lens that had taken it.

I was speechless as I took in the enormity of the billboard. At first, I hadn’t even noticed the same size billboard hanging on the other side of the main entrance prominently displaying Justin and Kyle.

Sienna screeched with excitement. “What did I tell you, Syd? Hot, right?!”

I smiled at her confidence and then looked to Jack, who was still staring at the billboard, his face unreadable.

“It’s big, that’s for sure.” I nervously laughed as I studied Jack, waiting for any indication of his thoughts.

Lucky for me, Sienna didn’t have my patience. “What do you think, Jack? Your girl looks smokin’ hot up there, doesn’t she?”

Jack unglued his eyes from the billboard and stared at me as he spoke to Sienna. “She looks sexy as hell. Not sure how I feel about every other man in the vicinity of Rome noticing it too though.”

Sienna rolled her eyes and took my hand, handing her iPhone to Jack. “I want a picture of us standing under the billboard.” She began to run toward the billboard, dragging me in tow.

When we were positioned close enough to the billboard, but still far enough so that the photo could take in the breadth of the billboard, Jack lifted the iPhone to snap the photo.

“Wait! We both need to stand sideways, so that you can see that my boobs are bigger than Syd’s, because that picture makes it look like the other way around.” Sienna positioned herself standing sideways so that the silhouette of her figure would allow for a good view. Then she grabbed underneath her br**sts from over her shirt and pushed them up, emphasizing the fullness of her cleavage.

I playfully rolled my eyes and giggled at the vulgarity of the gesture that was totally Sienna. “Okay, take the picture now!” Sienna yelled to Jack, who shook his head in mock ridicule before taking the photo.

***

The rest of the evening Jack was quieter than usual, but not so much that Sienna would have noticed anything was wrong. Although, to be honest, when Sienna was excited, she was a one woman show, and most people didn’t stand a chance at sharing the attention anyway.

The four of us made plans to have breakfast together in the morning before spending our last full day in Rome taking in some of the required tourist attractions. We had agreed to spend the day touring the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. I wasn’t an incredibly religious person, but the Sistine Chapel had always been a place I wanted to go for some reason.

By the time Jack and I finally returned to our suite, I was exhausted and couldn’t believe it was still the same day that had begun with us together in Tuscany. We were both quiet as we shared the bathroom doing our nightly routines at the double sinks side by side. I wasn’t sure if Jack’s somber mood was from the long day or if the billboard had bothered him more than he had said.

We got into bed and I snuggled into the crook of Jack’s shoulder, my fingers spread wide on his broad chest, playing with the light smattering of hair dotting his breastbone. Jack trailed his fingers up and down my back lightly and the silence of the room suddenly beat loudly in my ears.

“Are you upset about the billboard?” My voice came out quiet, barely above a whisper.

Jack exhaled loudly, as if he was relieved to finally say the words. “Not at you, babe.” He squeezed my shoulder gently, pulling me even closer against his side.

“I understand.” I truly thought I did.

Jack shifted, easing my back onto the bed, and lifted his body over me, his forearms on either side of my head, absorbing the weight of his body. The room was dark, but my eyes had adjusted and I could see the light in his eyes above me. “Do you, Syd?” He pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear as he spoke tenderly.

“I think I do. You don’t want men looking at me. I get it. You don’t even notice the way that women look at you when you walk by. I get the urge to smack them when I see them taking more than a peek. So I can’t imagine that I would be happy if you were on a thirty foot display, perhaps with these sinful abs showing.” I rubbed my handed across his hard abdominal muscles.

Jack was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “It’s more than that, Syd. Yes, the thought of men looking at your beautiful face and body up there makes me want to stay outside the coliseum and hurt every man that takes more than a friendly look, but it’s not just that.”

Jack’s eyes searched mine, looking for something before he continued. “You’re mine Syd. And I don’t want to share. Not a picture, not a smile, not a touch. All of it is mine. Only mine. You were made for me. That sexy mouth belongs to only me. I wake up every morning craving that body that wiggles beneath me. That body that surrenders as soon as it’s filled with me. It’s mine and I need it so bad it physically hurts when I reach over on the bed and find your warm body isn’t there. So, yeah, I’m not happy about the picture. But it’s the rest of it that’s killing me.”

His words brought tears to my eyes. It was incredibly possessive, but also the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me, but I still didn’t get the connection to the billboard.

Jack’s thumb wiped the tear that escaped away tenderly. “I don’t want to lose you, Syd. I know I have to give you this space to live your dream, but I’m afraid your dream will take you away from me.” I could hear the strain in Jack’s voice and it physically hurt inside of my chest.

My beautiful, smart, dominating man was afraid. Afraid I would leave him. The fact that he chose to share his vulnerability with me made me fall for him even more, if that was even possible. “You aren’t getting off that easy, Mr. Cole. I’m coming home the minute this tour is over. And I’m going to leave my underwear on your bathroom floor and spread my makeup and hair products all over your neat bathroom countertops. I’m going to take over more than half your closet and litter your kitchen with the unfathomable … a coffee pot. And I plan on snoring while you go for your ten mile runs and decorating your sleek mantel with goofy pictures of us that you won’t like.”

Jack lowered his face closer to mine and whispered. “Ours.”

I furrowed my brow, confused at his sole word.

“Our bathroom floor, our bathroom countertop, our kitchen, our mantel.”

I had no idea how to respond, so I didn’t. Instead I kissed him with everything I had. A kiss to tell him I wasn’t going anywhere.

Chapter 13

Our day of being tourists in Italy was fun, until we hit Trevi Fountation. Everything had been perfect up to that point. Jack and I tossed coins into the fountain and made wishes. Sienna asked Tyler to take a picture of me and her in front of the fountain, while Jack grabbed me an iced coffee at the nearby café. The fountain was a popular tourist spot and it seemed to be crowded with a young, rowdy crowd. Some of the tables were filled with guys drinking and making a bit of a spectacle of themselves.

As Sienna and I stood in front of the fountain smiling for our photo, a tall muscular guy approached, seemingly oblivious to Tyler, who was about to take the picture.

“Hey, aren’t you two the babes from the billboard on the coliseum?” At first he seemed harmless, and our response was pleasant, if not friendly.

Sienna replied. “Yep, are you coming to see the show?” She winked and did her infamous fan flirtation.

“Hey guys, look at this.” The large guy motioned to his friends to come over and I watched as the table of guys who had been drinking began making their way over to us.

I saw Tyler move in closer, his face changed from smiling to apprehensive.