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“And, although I recommend the lobby and lounge be draped in cool, modern whites and grays, I think the standard rooms through to the executive suites should offer a mix of contemporary elements with touches of farmhouse chic.” Harper flipped over the wide design sheet to reveal the mood board representing the hotel rooms. “Allowing for each room to be a space of comfort and welcome in the midst of the city. The charm of your hotels is their cozy nature. Their size says, ‘home’ rather than ‘cold-corporate’ and I believe this feeling should be pulled in through the design.”

Each of the half dozen Italian and American board members were stone-faced as they listened to her presentation. At each place, she had laid a design presentation complete with fabric and paint swatches. In her four-case pack, Harper brought samples of flooring for the lobby, small squares of marble options for the check-in desk and miniatures of furniture pieces she thought would be good for the guest rooms. When she packed the car that morning, she knew it was at the overkill stage, but she was so close to seeing her dream become a reality, she didn’t want to leave any stone, manufactured or natural, unturned.

“Do you have any questions for Ms. Jessup?” Marco slid to stand beside her. Although she had all but ignored him since they talked about the opportunity over breakfast, she was thankful for the familiar face in the room. And, if she had ever wondered if her feelings for Marco would come to life in this decade, the answer was no. Her initial butterflies had cocooned themselves with her feelings of first love. She didn’t feel anything but fondness for Marco. She wished she could say the same about one oversized doctor who had been avoiding her with the deftness of a starting safety.

“Signorina Jessup, your presentation is quite lovely,” Signor Aquino said. “I only have one question.”

She nodded, allowing the genuine smile to stretch across her lips. Her assumptions and fears over being reintroduced to Marco’s father were unfounded. He was as always, the consummate gentleman.

“In which hotel would you like to start?”

“Really?” Harper hid her wide mouth soundless scream behind her hands.

“Really. No other designer connected with the properties the way you have. We can talk budgets and teams after the holidays, but I believe this will be the beginning of a most prosperous partnership, Harper.”

The board nodded nearly in unison, before swiftly moving to the next phase of the meeting, subtly signaling her dismissal. Lifting the heavy boards in one arm, she reached for the box of samples, but Marco was quick to snatch them from her reach.

“Please let me help.”

She nodded and followed him, quietly exiting the board room.

“Magnifico!” Marco slid the box onto the low coffee table and turned to face Harper. “I knew you would charm them with your beauty.”

He snatched her into his embrace, forcing Harper to drop the wide boards between them. “Uh, thanks, Marco.” She gently pressed her hand against his chest. “This is a great opportunity.”

Marco stepped back, but raised a soft palm to her cheek, locking his gaze with hers. “Mia bella. I’m so thrilled we will once again be able to be side by side.”

“Marco, I do appreciate the opportunity.” She lifted her fingers to his wrist and gently pressed his hand away from her face. “But nothing has changed. I want to be colleagues. Nothing else.”

“Surely you jest?”

He stepped toward her, but Harper raised her hand between them. “No. I do not jest. Marco, we were a long, long time ago. I was a different person. You were a different person.”

“But do you not think our new persons can build on what our old persons had?”

“It’s a lovely thought, but I don’t have those feelings for you anymore. Any thought or concern I had about us was based on an echo from a decade ago. I will always love you, but I am not in love with you.”

“You could be, mia bella, if you but gave us a chance.”

“No. Not today. Not anymore.”

“You love the big doctor? He stands in our way of happiness, no?”

Heat rushed under Harper’s skin, burning her cheeks and pooling behind her eyes. Her body might be ready to shout her feelings about Ben with a blush, but her lips certainly wouldn’t betray her.

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what I feel or don’t feel for Ben. I know how I feel about you. And even though you could take this amazing opportunity away from me with a single word, I won’t lead you on with a promise I know I can never fulfill.”

Marco turned from her and padded silently to the wide expanse of windows twinkling with the lights of twilight. Silence fought with Harper and threatened the dream in her hands. What if Marco couldn’t see her as anything other than who she had once been?

She closed the distance between them and matched his gaze into the night sky. “If you aren’t able to think of me differently, if you can’t work with me as a colleague and a friend, I’ll walk right back in that boardroom and tell your dad I changed my mind.” Her stomach twisted with the thought of her dream slipping through her fingertips. Could God really be closing the door this firmly on her?

Marco twisted to face her, leaning against the windowpane. “No, mia bella, I would not ask that of you. But I also cannot ask this of me. I will step back from the project. Go back to Italy.”

“But Marco, this is your project. I couldn’t let you walk away.”

With a shrug, his lips tugged into a soft smile. “My father was right. You are by far the best designer we have seen. You are right for the project. I am not. My heart could not stand the closeness with no closeness. Even a man of my strength can only endure losing Harper Jessup once in his life.” He kissed her cheek. “Addio, mia bella.” He turned from her and disappeared down the long hall.

Harper swiped at an errant tear. Life was always a mix of blessings and sadness. Today was both a shut window and an open door. Her heart couldn’t help but mourn what she might have had with Marco. And yet, her mind sparkled with the fireworks of ideas flaming through her.

Sliding the sample box from the table to the portable dolly, she walked into the elevator, and allowed her mind to dream about her first project. As the floors ticked by, she flipped through the prospectus of each location. The chain had well over fifty boutique hotels across the country. Columbus would be the easiest place to start, but maybe she should try some place new?

She could go to Austin or Portland, either Oregon or Maine. Maybe she would time it so next winter could be spent in sunny Santa Barbara or Jupiter, Florida. No snow might be nice. Flipping the pages, she took in each site, the uniqueness of the community and the one-of-a-kind nature of each building. Flipping to the last page, she read the prospectus on the latest acquisition, The Merrymont one block off Music Row in Nashville.

Nashville? Bennett Langston lived in Nashville. Well, isn’t God the interesting One?

Harper pulled her phone from her bag and quickly hit the speed dial she had called more times than she could count in the last two months. “Hey, I need a favor.”