Page 35 of Some Saviors Can Break You

She had never been on a private jet before, and she was sure she’d made a fool of herself, with her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide, staring in shock at the gorgeous and luxurious interior.

Eli hadn't seemed to mind, just guided her to a leather seat, sat her down, and buckled her seatbelt for her because she was still staring in awe at the plane, and then took the seat beside her. The ten-hour flight had flown by, Eli had told her all about Italy and by the time the plane had landed, she’d been bursting with excitement.

And now they were here.

Standing in the Piazza Del Duomo Giovanni in front of the amazing Baptistery of St John and it all felt so surreal.

“Have you been inside?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off the interesting building. It was octagonal, the walls clad in marble, and Eli had already told her on the plane that it was almost a thousand years old.

“On one of my trips here I did.”

“The doors are amazing.” Made of bronze with panels depicting the life of Jesus Christ, she was pretty sure she could study them for hours and still miss some of the many intricate details.

“Yeah, they are. Not as amazing as you though,” he teased.

She threw a quick grin his way, then turned to take in the Florence Cathedral. It had taken around one hundred and fifty years to build the gothic church, the dome was huge, and the pink and green marble on the walls was stunning. “It’s so beautiful, I could stare at it forever.”

“I wish we had more time, when we come back I’ll book us a couple of weeks just in Florence,” Eli promised, and she didn't even bother this time to tell him it was mighty cocky of him to just assume that they would come back here together. They only had about ninety minutes to take in as much of Florence as theycould before they were off to the Villa Il Leccio for a special dinner, and then back to the airport to head home.

“Where are we going next?” she asked, knowing she sounded like a kid on Christmas morning and not even caring. Growing up the way she had, Florence had never expected to travel the world visiting cities that had been around for hundreds of years. Her trip to London had been fun, and she’d done a little sightseeing, but mostly it had been a work trip, and she’d spent the majority of time in various seminars.

“We’re going to walk through the Piazza Della Repubblica, and then down to the Piazza Signoria where the Palazzo Vecchio is. In the Piazza there’s the Neptune Fountain and a copy of the David statue, and since I can't take you to see the real thing, I thought that was the next best thing.”

Hand in hand they strolled through the quiet streets, it was late, and there weren't many people about, and yet she didn't feel unsafe in the least. The streets were old and mostly stone, and the buildings looked like something from another world. Everywhere she looked there was something that caught her attention, and she was sure that Eli must be getting tired of her constant squeals of excitement.

She was never like this, all giddy and smiley. She worked hard, and while she had fun with her friends, most of her time was spent on work. She’d had to fight to get to where she was in life, and since her childhood hadn't been one filled with fun moments, she wasn't accustomed to just letting her hair down and relaxing.

Casting a surreptitious glance Eli’s way, she saw him watching her with a bemused expression. Their lives had been so different. He’d grown up in various cities across the globe, traveled to the places on most people’s bucket lists, and had never known a time where he couldn’t have or do whatever he wanted.

Her life had been the opposite.

They’d had no money, lived in a trailer in the middle of a field, they had no electricity, no running water, she’d owned a total of about four outfits—something the other girls at school had teased her mercilessly about—and rarely had enough to eat. She’d been a scrawny little thing, pitied by the other adults in her home town of River’s End and mocked by the children, and even though she now had enough money for the necessities of life she was still short, with small breasts and no womanly curves. She definitely wasn't beautiful, although she supposed she wasn't ugly either, and she didn't think of herself as sexy or attractive.

Doubt crept into her mind.

She was so far out of Eli’s league they weren't even in the same universe. He could have anyone, why was he putting all this effort and interest into her? It seemed a bit extravagant if all he wanted was sex, and he claimed that he saw a future for them, but she wasn't sure. She liked him, yes, and they unquestionably had chemistry in spades, she found conversing with him to be easy, and he made her feel things no other man ever had. But …

“Stop thinking.” Eli stopped walking, hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her close so she was flush up against his body. “You’re worrying about nothing.” He touched a soft kiss to the tip of her nose and then moved to her lips, kissing her sensuously. “You’re beautiful, I'm not only glad to have you holding my hand walking the streets of Florence, I feel honored that someone so smart, and sexy, and tough is even giving me the time of day. I don’t care about our differences, Florence. I love seeing how excited you are, how enthusiastic about everything you're seeing, it’s endearing and sweet, and this is the most perfect Valentine’s Day I could have imagined. To be honest, I'm the one who should be worrying.”

“Why?”

“Because now I've got to find a way to top this every Valentine’s Day.” He gave her that cute lopsided grin of his. “Seriously, Florence, I see a future for us. Just relax and let it happen, stop fighting it.”

He was right.

She had to find a way to let go of her insecurities.

It was hard, having spent two-thirds of her life being put down and ignored, but if she wanted a future, she was going to have to find a way to work past it.

Standing on tiptoes, she whispered her lips across his. “Thank you. Not just for this amazing date, but for not giving up on me. It means more than you can know.”

“Anytime, princess, I’ll never give up on you.”

Reassured that she was making a mountain out of a molehill and creating problems that weren't there, just because they came from two different worlds didn't mean they couldn’t work as a couple. Eli didn't want her to be anything but herself, she just had to keep reminding herself of that.

When she finished gushing over the statues in the Piazza Signoria, they walked down and crossed over the Ponte Vecchio. Even though it was late and the shops were all closed, it was fascinating to cross over a bridge that had first been constructed before the year one thousand.

Eli continued to talk about the history of the sights they were walking past and by the time they walked up to the Palazzo Pitti, a renaissance palace built in the mid fourteen hundreds, and bought by the Medici family in the sixteenth century, it was time for their sightseeing to end.

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