Page 67 of Tour Wars
He followed her in silence, his mind drifting as he imagined their next rendezvous. He’d already found a small hotel in Naples that would suit them perfectly. It was affordable, well reviewed, and had an available room with a queen bed and a balcony overlooking the city. They’d have a few drinks, go out to dinner, and spend the rest of the night making good use of that bed. He gave a little chuckle as he imagined how he’d tease her during foreplay.
“Stop that,” she muttered. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“I was thinking about Bronze Age metallurgy.”
“Bullshit. You were already daydreaming about our next getaway. Cut it out.”
How had she read him so well? She wasn’t evenlookingat him. He scurried to catch up with her. “Haven’t you been imagining it?”
“Of course I have. But I’m keeping it to myself.”
As gruff as she sounded, she was smiling. Even if she was reverting to her old self, there was a light in her he’d never seen before. An inner glow. He’d like to think it was because of him, but it wasn’t just that. During the tour, she’d let down her walls enough to allow people in, and she’d enjoyed it. They both had. The ten-day tour had brought out their strengths and allowed them to lean on each other in moments of weakness.
TJ had always taken pride in charting his own course and relying only on himself, but he’d come to realize how incredible it was to work with a partner. With someone who could help him, prop him up, and make him an even better person.
When they reached the hostel, it was practically empty—no surprise for a warm Sunday afternoon. They split up to unpack and get organized. Back in his dorm-style room, TJ surveyed the scene with revulsion. As always, it was a mess since the other archaeologists who shared the room were total slobs. Next to one bed was a pile of dirty laundry and a couple of empty liquor bottles. The overstuffed garbage can was topped with a crushed pizza box stained with grease. The whole room smelled like feet and beer.
Ugh. After two weeks of staying in nice hotel rooms, dorm-style living was a harsh return to reality. If he and Emilia were invited to stay at Pompeii until June, they could try to snag one of the two-person rooms in the hostel. Though it might be a little pricier, he’d gladly pay more to have some privacy.
After dinner, he and Emilia ended up on the rooftop, drinking beer to commemorate the end of their journey. She was sitting on a bench across from him, giving no sign they’d ever been lovers, when the rest of the cohort returned. She held up her beer bottle in a salute as Paulo and his friends came to join them, followed by Marie, Chloe, and the rest of the Swiss contingent.
Paulo pulled up a bench and sat beside them. “Welcome back. How was the tour?”
“Not bad,” Emilia said. “A lot of work, but we got to stay in some classy hotels. Much nicer than this dump.”
Marie settled on the bench next to Paulo. “It was so hard coming back after our trip to Greece. That hotel in Mykonos was so romantic, wasn’t it Paulo?” She ruffled her fingers through his hair and gave TJ a pointed look, as if to say, “See what you missed?”
TJ held back his laughter and sensed Emilia was doing the same thing. “So…you two are together now?”
“We are,” Marie said. “It’s been absolute bliss.”
Paulo turned to Emilia with a sorrowful expression. “Sorry, but Greece is a very romantic location, and I needed someone to share my bed. I hope you aren’t too upset.”
Emilia shrugged. “I’ll get over it. I’m glad you two had fun.”
“Same here,” TJ added. This whole scenario meant neither he nor Emilia had to feel guilty about ditching their prospective partners.
“What about the two of you?” Paulo asked. “Any ‘Trojan horse’ moments where you snuck off to have sex? I seem to recall there are a lot of hidden tunnels beneath the gladiator’s floor at the Colosseum. A perfect place for a rendezvous.”
“Don’t be silly, Paulo,” Marie said. “They had to follow the rules. Remember the list Emilia showed us?”
“Ah, but rules are meant to be broken, are they not?” He raised his eyebrows as though challenging them to deny it.
Emilia wrinkled her nose. “Not this time. There werenosteamy moments. We’re lucky we didn’t kill each other.”
TJ forced himself to glare at her. “Yeah, and I had to be extra cheerful to compensate for Em’s grumpiness. It was a giant pain.”
“Hey, I wasn’t that grumpy,” she snapped. “At least I didn’t dominate every stop on the tour with scads of useless information. You never shut up.”
“Peoplelovedmy information. I was a total rock star.” He almost laughed at how easy it was to fall back into their old patterns, except this time, their words weren’t intended to hurt. If anything, they could use these barbs to fuel their foreplay when they got together in Naples.
“Enough fighting,” Paulo said. “I hope you two weren’t this bad around the guests.”
“We were very well-behaved,” Emilia said. “Right, TJ?”
“Right. We kept our true feelings under wraps, but I don’t think we’llevervolunteer for anything like this again. Not as a team.” He caught Emilia’s eye but had to look away for fear of revealing the truth.
Keeping a secret this big wouldn’t be easy, but it would make for a passionate reunion.
