Page 4 of Marry Me in Rome

“Piazza Venezia? Campidoglio atop Capitoline Hill? Altare dell Patria? The Baths of Caracalla? Campo de Fiori?”

“Every one.” She pulled her phone out and began scrolling.

As I returned to the scene around us to capture another angle, I caught a glimpse of Matteo’s frown.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and I still haven’t seen everything. It isn’t possible.” He seemed bothered by the thought, as if he saw Alexis’s boredom as its own challenge. “Let me think.”

Across the way, a woman wearing white posed for photos, the breeze tossing her hair behind her back. She held a simple bouquet of roses in one hand and gripped her gown with the other. A bride. The social media influencer in me wanted to squeal.

“How beautiful would it be, getting married in Rome?” I exclaimed. “Standing against all this gorgeous stone in a white dress. That would be so amazing.”

Matteo’s frown deepened. He turned to Alexis again. “I know something you haven’t seen. Let’s go there next. As soon asJillian has finished her rather extensive photography session, of course. I hope you’re charging the Roman Forum by the hour.”

“Funny,” I shot back. “Here’s the thing, though. All those places you mentioned? Alexis may have seen them, but I haven’t. I can’t leave without seeing every single one of those. I need photos ofeverything.”

Alexis grimaced. “She’s an influencer. Has a zillion followers on her Instagram account.”

Matteo’s eyebrow lifted. “Really.” His tone was flat.

That set me off. “Being an influencer isnota bad thing. It’s a perfectly respectable career with a lot of potential. In a year or two, I’ll be making more than either of my sisters. Probably both combined.” I paused, remembering the inheritance. Which we were definitelynotsupposed to talk about. “I mean, job-wise. Not other . . . wise.”

Matteo turned to Alexis. “Is she always like this?”

“Only when flustered,” Lexi said with a tiny smile.

I shoved my camera into my bag and swung it over my shoulder. “You guys stay and whine. I’m in Rome, and I have better things to do. I’m going to explore by myself.” I whirled to stalk away.

Matteo’s large hand caught my shoulder, stopping me. “I’m only teasing. A quick tip. You’re a photographer, right?”

“Right,” I managed, carefully shrugging his hand free.

He stepped back. “And you like to take unique photos.”

“Well, yes. But?—”

“Besides the whole fact that you’re seeing Rome through a piece of glass—which is the wrong way to experience it—there’s a bigger problem here. If you follow tourists around, you’ll get the exact same photos they do. Your followers want something new and different from you, not the same photos you can find plastered all over the internet and on every calendar of Italy inexistence. They want you to tell them a story, not check off a list you found on Instagram.”

I stiffened. Since when was wanting to see the popular parts of Rome checking off a list? Finding a list online wasn’t a bad thing either. Apparently this man was incapable of saying anything nice at all. “You said you’d make me never want to leave Rome, not stop me from seeing what I came to see.”

“And you said you wanted to experience what it’s really like to live here. You won’t get that by following the crowd.” He gestured over his shoulder to a group of high school students giggling and squealing behind him.

That one stung. I spent my childhood following well-worn desert trails, going to the most popular restaurants, liking the same boys as my friends, and watching the movies everyone else enjoyed. I went to the same schools as my sisters, had the same teachers, and even stayed in the same bedroom my parents chose for me as a child. Now I lived my life online, chasing trends and competing for popularity that eventually translated into cash—a life that had naturally fallen into my lap.

I did what I wanted, when I wanted, and that independence meant the ultimate freedom. Something he obviously didn’t understand and never would.

His voice softened. “It’s better to get one good shot than easy shots of a hundred places you saw for a few seconds. Wouldn’t you agree?”

No. I didn’t agree. I wanted to see the hundred places, but he wouldn’t understand that either.

Alexis watched the emotions play out on my face. She wore a strange expression, but before I had time to wonder why, it vanished. “Clearly it matters to Jillie how we spend our day, and it matters less to me. Let’s just go where she wants to go.”

Wow. Alexis never gave in. She was the most competitive person I knew. There had to be another motive for her change of heart.

At my skeptical look, her grin widened. “I’m serious. I want you to experience Rome the way I did, even if that means I have to see everything twice.”

She really meant it.Sometimes pigs do fly.

Suddenly I wanted to know more than anything what happened to Alexis in the years we spent apart, to explore this different and unfamiliar side of her. Maybe I should skip one or two places on my list so she could enjoy her day too.

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