Her Roman Holiday (12 page)

“I really really would,” Calia replied with a grin.

Larissa shook her head, returning Calia’s smile.
 
“I swear, you are so different from Gio’s usual women.”

So much for Larissa minding her own business.
 
But the comment amused Calia.
 

“I’m relieved to hear it.”
 
She held out the book, open to the map of Rome.
 
“So, where should I be going?
 
Oh, and here’s the address.”
 
She indicated the scrap of paper on which she had jotted down the information before tucking it into the “Rome” section of the book.

Larissa glanced down at the page, then shook her head.
 
“No, no.
 
That is not enough detail.
 
Is too small, too little part of the city.”
 
She bustled off, and returned with a fold out map.
 
Using that, she showed the route Calia would have to take from the nearest subway stop.
 
She also handed Calia a small book of coupons.
 
“These are the metro tickets,” she said, indicating the book, before launching into an explanation of the intricacies of how to validate and use the tickets.
 
“So, I will have my husband take you to the nearest metro stop.”

“He doesn’t have to…” Calia began, but Larissa waved the protest away.

“You will not argue about this.
 
I insist.”
 
She spoke so firmly that Calia knew it would be no use trying to dissuade the other woman.
 
So instead, while Larissa bustled off to cook the sumptuous breakfast she insisted on preparing, Calia made a few calls
—
first to the credit card company, and then to Gio’s office.
 

Fortunately, Gio’s secretary spoke reasonable English, and so Calia was able to make herself understood with little difficulty
—
though she did find herself wondering if the other woman’s husky voice and earthy accent translated into a correspondingly sexy persona.
 

What sort of secretary would someone like Gio hire to work as his personal assistant?

With an impatient frown, Calia shoved the thought aside and instead concentrated on consulting the map and guidebook, so that she could plan her sightseeing for the day.

Between the lineup and the paperwork, the process of getting her travellers’ cheques replaced stretched into the early afternoon.
 
But, she eventually emerged triumphant, having also cashed them in so that she could buy her own book of metro tickets and pay the hefty admission fees to the sites.
 

She spent the rest of the afternoon in the Vatican City, first stopping to survey the vast grandeur of St. Peter’s, before heading over to the Vatican Museum and all its treasures.
 
In the Sistine Chapel, she dug through her bag until she found a compact mirror, so that she could spend more time surveying Michelangelo’s masterwork without getting a painful crick in her neck.

Before she boarded the metro, Calia dutifully put a call through to Larissa to let her know what station she was at, and that she was on her way home.
 
Larissa had been most insistent that Calia call before she leave, so that Cosimo could calculate the travel time it would take for her to get back.
 
That way, he would be waiting for her upon her return.

Except that it was Gio who was waiting at the station when Calia arrived.
 
He hadn’t yet seen her when she first spotted him, as he lounged against his car, his eyes hidden by sunglasses.
 
Damn, but he’s some hot tamale.
 

Somehow, she had managed to forget how sexy he looked in a suit, its impeccable cut emphasizing the dynamic magnetism of the muscled physique beneath.
 
With a heavy dose of chagrin, she acknowledged that she had been fooling herself, when she had pretended that she hadn’t wasted a second thought on Gio all day.
 
In reality, she admitted reluctantly, memories of him had invaded her mind and assailed her senses, intruding with frustrating regularity upon her morning errands and her afternoon sightseeing.
 

As she watched him shift his posture, Calia’s breath caught at the recollection of how much she had enjoyed that body the night before.

Just then, he glanced over at her and straightened.
 
The sunglasses made it impossible to read his expression, but it didn’t soften into a smile as he watched her approach.

“Why did you not wait for me to get back?
 
I could have taken you into the city,” was his greeting, when they were close enough to converse.
 
His tone was neutral
—
no note of accusation, but nonetheless, Calia felt her irritation rising.

“I saw no reason to cut your meeting short.
 
I’m perfectly capable of finding my way around, and it seemed silly to waste most of a day waiting around, when I could have been sightseeing.
 
This way, I’m making the most of my stay in Rome, and you needn’t feel obliged to squire me about town.”

“What if I’ve decided I want to squire you about town?”

It wasn’t the response Calia had expected.
 
She gave him a startled look.
 
“Why would you?”

He opened her door for her.
 
“You interest me.”
 
He walked around to the driver’s side of the car, leaving Calia to digest that particular bit of information.

She couldn’t suppress the fugitive thrill of pleasure at the discovery that he wanted to spend time with her.
 
It hardly even bothered her that they were too incompatible for it to lead anywhere
—
except, perhaps, to a repetition of the previous night.
 
****

He slid into the seat beside her.
 
Too close for comfort, Calia realised, as his proximity elicited an unwelcome jolt of sexual awareness.
 
Her breasts hardened with the memory of how he had caressed them last night, and she was swamped by a surge of hot wetness between her thighs.
 
She glanced down at her body in alarm, only to breathe a sigh of relief as she noted that only the tiniest nubs of her nipples were visible through the layers of bra and loose-fitting tank top.

But the realization that just sitting beside him pushed Calia to the verge of climax did not rest well with her.
 
What had happened to the wonderful notion that she would be able to get him out of her system by sleeping with him?
 
Self-deception, obviously
—
because now, instead of being abolished, her desire for him thronged in her blood.
 
It thickened the air around her, making it difficult to breathe normally, because with every inhalation, she was reminded of the maleness of Gio
—
the spicy hot, masculine smell that was his alone, and which had assailed her senses so vividly last night.

“It feels a little stuffy in here
—
I’m just going to open the window to let some air in,” she said, making good on her intention as he started the car.

Her face towards the open window, she drew in a deep breath, then released it with an equal measure of slow deliberation.
 
And again.
 
Good.
 
Or, at least, better than before.

“I can turn on the air conditioning if you like.
 
It will probably be cooler than the air outside.”

Which was true enough.
 
It was a hot, muggy day, and the outside air was not particularly refreshing.
 
But still
—
“Oh that’s all right.
 
Once we start moving, I’m sure it will be quite delicious, with the fresh air circulating through the car.”

He gave her a wry look as he shifted into first gear.
 
“The air in Rome has been called many things, but ‘fresh’ is not usually one of them.”

“Air conditioning sometimes gives me a headache, especially if I’ve been out in the heat all day.
 
I think it’s the abrupt change from hot to cold.”
 
Which could be true.
 
Calia knew several people who had that problem, so why not her?
 
After all, just because it had never happened before, didn’t mean it wasn’t worth taking precautions against
—
or so she assured herself, as they turned out of the metro station and onto the main road.

“So, what did you do today?”

His question cut into her thoughts, and she leapt at the distraction, launching into a description of her day’s activities.
 
When she had finished, he frowned.

“I regret that you did not wait for me to accompany you to the museum.”

“Why?”

“Your reactions interest me.
 
You do not seem to hold back.”

“And now I won’t feel at all self-conscious if we do end up going somewhere together.”
 
But nonetheless, she grinned, the heated flush of pleasure rising to her face at his compliment.
 

“Once I have finished with my meetings tomorrow, I will come by the villa to pick you up.
 
We will go for lunch at a place I know, near the Spanish steps.
 
I will also take you to the Trevi Fountain, the Forum and the Colosseum.”

“Why don’t I just come with you into town in the morning?
 
I’ll wander around a bit, then meet you back at your office at whatever time you like
—
that way, you won’t have to go all the way back to the villa to get me.
 
And I’ll be able to make the most of my stay in Rome.”

A brief pause, in which Calia wondered if he was about to object.
 
Then, he nodded.
 
“Excellent.
 
That will work out perfectly.
 
My office is not far from some of the best shops in the city.
 
And one or two spas in the district also come highly recommended.
 
You may get the names of them from my secretary in the morning.”

“You think I was planning on spending my morning at the spa?”

He glanced at her.
 
“That is not what you would enjoy?”

A smile tugged at her mouth.
 
“Spas have their appeal, I’ll admit, but frankly, they weren’t at the top of my list of things to do during my short stay in Rome.
 
I’d far rather be seeing the city than lounging around.
 
I’ll spend the morning at a museum or something
—
and believe me, you won’t be missing anything.
 
Most of my friends refuse to go to museums or galleries with me because they think I spend way too much time at each exhibit.
 
You’d probably be bored to tears.”

He acknowledged her comments with a shrug.
 
“Afterwards, you will meet me at my office at one o’clock.
 
We will go for lunch from there,” he concluded, making the final turn up the long drive to the villa.

After parking, they headed inside.
 
Gio closed the front door behind him, before glancing at her.
 
“I expect you will want to freshen up and change for dinner,” he said, before taking his leave.

Calia let out a slow breath as she watched his retreating back, taking in the predatory grace of his movements.
 
Then, she headed to her room, frowning.
 
They had managed to avoid talking about what had happened the night before, she noticed, with some relief.
 
Given that she had done her best to avoid even thinking about it today, Calia was none too eager to bring up the subject.
 

But, despite her best efforts, her mind had continued to slip back to memories of their explosive coupling.
 
It did not please her in the least that her best attempts to put their encounter behind her had been spectacularly unsuccessful.
 
Her self-directed annoyance was further abetted by the sexual frustration of watching him walk away from her when her body was yearning for him to do just the opposite.

She had just wanted to have a bit of fun with him
—
but even after a day alone, her desire was anything but muted.
 
Calia recoiled from the kind of dependence that implied.
 

On the other hand, she mused as she went through the motions of showering and changing for dinner, the chances of sidelining the urgency of her desire for Gio were considerably reduced when she kept having to spend time with the man.

With a sigh, Calia slipped into a simple, dark green sundress that she had been told brought out turquoise highlights in her eyes.
 
Then, she loosened the hair she had tucked into a bun before her shower.
 

She didn’t even know whether, in the clear light of the morning after, he was still interested in further intimacies with her.
 
But as she brushed out her hair, Calia had a sudden, flash recollection of how he had watched her last night, his eyes hot with desire.
 
She knew with something close to certainty that even if he had decided never to lay another finger on her again, she would be able to change his mind.
 

A glance in the mirror revealed the hectic flush in her cheeks.
 
The memory of how he had pleasured her last night, his tongue tracing a heated, meandering trail over the expanse of her bared flesh, shortened her breath, as she once more experienced the shattering urgency of his desire.
 

The amber in her eyes was all but obscured by the darkness of her pupils, and even as she dazedly watched her reflection, she could see her nipples tightening into hard buds.
 
A slow, voluptuous throbbing had begun between her legs.