Page 11 of Royally Roma
She plunked her backpack down on the tan leather seat of her Vespa. “On my scooter.”
He eyed the Vespa dubiously. “This thing?”
Oh, come on. It wasn’t that bad, was it?
“It runs perfectly fine.”Aside from the occasional overheating problem...and the way it tends to stall on steep uphill inclines.Her cheeks grew warm. “It’s just a tad on the old side.”
He glanced at the rusty spot on the front fender. Rather, the place where the rusty spot had been before she’d accidentally touched it. Now it was simply a hole. “You mean theancientside?”
She forced a smile. She didn’t want to be rude. He was a client, after all. But Mano Romano, or whoever the heck he really was, was beginning to work her last nerve. Handsome could only go so far.
“It’s a classic,” she said primly.
A smile crept to his lips once more, and despite every effort to the contrary, something unwound in Julia. A satin ribbon of longing. “It’s a dinosaur.”
“It’svintage. For your information, vintage is quite quirky and charming these days,” she corrected, hating the way that smile of his brought the butterflies back in swarms.
He shrugged. “In a Deinonychus sort of way perhaps.”
She blinked. Deinonychus. Impressive. She would have assumed he’d zero right in on the obvious—Tyrannosaurus rex.
But why was she thinking about dinosaurs when she was supposed to be taking Jason Bourne here on a tour of the Colosseum? “I can have the hotel fetch a taxi if you’d prefer.”
“No.” His posture stiffened again. “That’s not necessary. The Vespa will be fine.”
“Look on the bright side. We’ll get there much quicker this way.” She unlocked the scooter’s under-seat storage compartment and fetched her helmet. “Since you seem to be in such a hurry and all.”
He breathed out a frustrated sigh that left no question as to how he felt about suffering such an indignity. No doubt he’d expected her to summon a limousine. Or possibly a helicopter.
He held out his hand. “Very well. Just give me the keys and we’ll be off.”
Think again, Prince Charming.“Sorry. I can’t let you drive. You can ride shotgun.”
He looked abjectly horrified. “You can’t be serious. You expect me to ride on the back?”
“I have no choice. It’s a rule of the touring company. Something to do with insurance and the like.” Even if that weren’t the case, she would have insisted on driving. She wasn’t about to put her life in the hands of a man she’d known for a matter of minutes, even if he did possess a rather impressive knowledge of dinosaurs. Besides, he’d insulted her scooter. And she still harbored a vague suspicion that he was running from the law. Albeit running in a remarkably well-dressed, mouthwatering fashion.
“I’m not a man accustomed to following rules.” He glared at her, and everything about that glare told her that he was telling the truth...about this, at least. He was accustomed to making the rules, not following them.
She lifted her chin and feigned confidence as best she could. She would not let this charmer with his posh accent and chiseled good looks get her fired from her job. “You’re going to have to follow this one, unless you’d like me to fetch that taxi.”
“Miss Costa.” He took a step toward her.
Goodness, he was tall. He seemed even taller up close. So close she could see the fine weave of his perfectly knotted silk tie as he stared down at her with hostile eyes. “Julia...”
She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. Not with him bearing down on her like this. They were standing on a public street, opposite one of the busiest piazzas in Rome. She had no reason to be nervous, nothing to fear. Yet she had a feeling she was standing on a very dangerous precipice, and everything in her head was telling her to back away.
But her body seemed to have a will all its own. And that will was making itself heard. Screaming, with every pounding heartbeat, every delicious shiver.
Rules were made to be broken.
She was vaguely aware of something—a noise, voices maybe—occurring outside the riot taking place inside her body. Mano apparently heard it, too. He backed away, and she wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
Relieved. Obviously.
He looked around, his gaze lingering downhill. His brow furrowed, and Julia tried to locate what he’d found so worrisome. But all she could see was a group of preteen girls in private-school uniforms chattering excitedly and gathered at the bottom of the hill.
Mano frowned in their direction, aimed another piercing look at her and climbed on to the back of the Vespa. “Very well, you can drive. Let’s just leave. Immediately, please.”
