Page 16 of Tour Wars
“Thank you. I love working at Pompeii. Sharing my knowledge with all these visitors is always a pleasure.” Did she sound convincing? She hoped so since she was sure Luca would report his observations to his uncle Angelo.
“It was a delight to spend the morning in your presence. Would you like to join me for lunch? I’d love to hear more about your experiences here.”
Even if he was stunningly handsome, he made her uncomfortable, and not just from the way he’d touched her on the tour. It was the power imbalance, the sense that he’d be calling the shots. Thankfully, she had a legitimate excuse. “I’d love to, but I don’t have much time. I’m giving another tour at two. If I’m late, Giada will have my head.”
“Of course. Wouldn’t want to upset Giada. Angelo told me she has quite a temper. Another time, perhaps?”
“Um…sure. Thanks.” When her phone buzzed, she checked it. Sure enough, Giada had responded in her usual demanding manner.
DO NOT let TJ go off on a long tangent!! Bring them back here NOW.
“We’d better get going,” Emilia said.
She tucked her phone in her back pocket and went to stand next to TJ. After waiting for a break in the conversation, she addressed the group. “I’m sorry, but we need to bring the tour to an end. Your bus is leaving at two, and we don’t want any of you to miss lunch before that.”
As everyone got to their feet, she sidled closer to TJ. Usually when lunchtime rolled around, she ate by herself to get a break from peopling. Today, she didn’t want to be alone. “Want to grab lunch together?”
“Sure. Everything okay?”
She nodded, not wanting to reveal anything until after the tour was over. With her leading the way and TJ bringing up the rear, they escorted their group to the entrance, where they bid them farewell and collected their tips.
At the outdoor snack bar across from the site, TJ ordered sandwiches, and she grabbed them a couple of icy lemonades. They found a spot in the shade where they could eat quickly.
She hadn’t even thought to give TJ her order, but he’d gotten her favorite sandwich—a hero on a crusty white roll with mozzarella, tomato, basil, and prosciutto drizzled with olive oil. “Mmm. This is great. Thanks.”
He handed her a couple of napkins. “You sure everything’s okay? That Luca guy seemed kind of intense. I hate to say it, but he was checking you out. I caught him staring at your butt, and he didn’t even attempt to be discreet about it.”
Rather than snap at TJ for acting protective, she sighed in resignation. “Yeah, he was giving off creepy vibes. A few times on the tour, he deliberately brushed up against me, and I let it go because he’s Angelo’s nephew. Then he asked me to have lunch with him, which shouldn’t be a big deal. Maybe he just wanted to learn more about the tour company, but…”
“But then he could have asked both of us. Let’s face it, I’m a better guide than you are.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re the worst, you know that?”
“At least I’m not a lecherous dude trying to hit on you.” TJ sipped his lemonade. “If Luca comes on another of these tours, I can take him in my group. Okay?”
“Okay. But now that he’s done the Pompeii tour, I’m sure Angelo will want him to go on all the other jaunts Buon Viaggio offers. Maybe he’ll send him on one of those long-ass bus tours through southern Italy. By then, he’ll have forgotten all about me.”
In all likelihood, she was blowing things out of proportion. Luca was just being friendly in the same way Paulo was. An Italian male who enjoyed complimenting women and occasionally got handsy. And yet, his behavior had set off alarm bells in her head.
Because there’s a power imbalance. You know what a slippery slope that is.
She’d made that mistake before, only to get burned. But for now, she wasn’t going to worry about it.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Emilia dabbed at her forehead with a damp bandanna. She wasn’t the type to whine about the weather, but the extended heat wave had made her cranky. Ever since last weekend, the temperature had been in the nineties, with poor air quality due to the residual smoke from a series of wildfires in Sicily.
It didn’t help that she spent her mornings working outside. She and the other archaeologists had spent the past few months excavating the ruins of a recently discovered Roman house known as the House of Venus. Most days, they dug until one, took a lunch break, then spent the rest of the afternoon analyzing their finds in three makeshift labs near the excavation area. The lab work was meant to give them a break from the sun, but the stifling buildings lacked air-conditioning.
For the past few days, Emilia had been working up the nerve to ask Paulo about his plans for the weekend. Her hesitancy wasn’t because she was afraid he’d turn her down. He’d given off enough signals that she was certain he’d say yes to a steamy, no-strings hookup. But TJ had gotten into her head. Whether it was because of that stupid Trojan horse joke or because she’d opened up to him last weekend, he’d been on her mind a lot. Which was ridiculous. They weren’t even friends.
Still, that hadn’t stopped her from indulging in a few steamy fantasies about him that had left her overheated and frustrated. She needed to take care of these urges before she did something regrettable—like proposition him.
She drained her water bottle and set it on the lab table. Everyone else who worked in the archaeobotanical lab had left for the day, but she’d lingered behind with Paulo. He stood beside her, his brow furrowed in concentration as he peered into a microscope. At the moment, he was studying a cache of carbonized seeds they’d found while excavating the kitchen area of the house.
When he looked up, she cleared her throat. “So…Paulo? Any plans for the weekend? I followed your advice and decided to take a break from giving tours.”
“About time you cut loose. I wish I was free, but my cousin’s visiting from Pisa. I said I’d show him around the site on Saturday. We might hit up the Lumos Bar that night if you want to join us.”
