18. Florence
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
florence
A hand reaches out and adjusts the cucumber slice as it slips down my face. Rome and I haven’t spoken at all about our kiss. Not uttered a single word. If I didn’t have the exact shape of his lips imprinted on mine, I would think I had dreamed it. Which I have many, many times as a teenager. Only now, I know his taste too.
I don’t believe I’m exaggerating when I say today has been the weirdest day of my life.
“Why are you being weird?” Lottie asks. Shattering me from reliving the kiss I had with Rome for the third time today.
“Weird? Me? No,” I reply.
“Is this all because you saw Rome’s package this morning?” Lottie laughs.
“You mean giant package,” I rush to correct, but realize my mistake. Lottie stares at me with raised brows and a devious smirk on her lips.
Kendall leans closer to Livvy. “I know I’ve been in Paris and I’m missing out on a few things, but umm, when did this happen?”
Livvy’s wide-eyed stare matches Kendall’s as she sips her green smoothie. “No clue. But I definitely think I’m staying in the wrong room.”
Lottie slaps my leg. “So you did sneak a peek.”
“No, I didn’t, the sunlight was just shinning on that particular area. And if I did peek, it’s completely your fault.” I lean back in the chair and place the cucumbers back on my eyes. End of conversation.
“I’m totally staying in the wrong room,” Devin says.
“I’m going to need some receipts here,” Sof says.
“Flo, care to share how you came about this revelation?” Lottie knocks my shoulder.
Lifting the cucumber so I can stare at her through slitted eyelids, I say, “That would be a giant no.”
“Receipts.” Sof coughs. I just know Lottie is about to blurt out her version of what happened this morning, so I beat her to the punch.
“This morning Lottie dared me to open the connecting door in our room because Zander messaged her that he was staying in the room next door.”
“Trust.” Someone snorts.
“So, I leaned on the door, fully expecting it to be locked still, but when I tested the handle. It kind of burst open. Into Rome’s room.” I sigh heavily. “And he was only in his bathrobe.”
The room erupts into a fit of laughter. If I wasn’t suffering from severe mortification, I would totally find it funny too. In fact, I would be the same as Devin clutching her stomach from the ab workout this has given her.
“What if this turns out to be the meet cute you guys have needed?” Lottie my-not-so-best friend asks.
“I don’t need a meet cute.” I snort. I don’t even need a boyfriend.
“Please,” Sof replies, “everyone knows that Rome is literally made for you. He worships the ground you walk on.” I cover my eyes in the crook of my arm, completely messing up my face mask, and I suppress a groan. Not this again.
I sit up abruptly, the cucumber slices sliding off my face and landing on my chest. “What?” I can only ask the stupefied question. I’m certain I misheard her. There is no way what Sof is saying is true. Rome…worshipping the ground I walk on? Yeah, not likely. “He’s just nice to me because we literally grew up together.”
“I wish someone was nice like that to me.” Lottie laughs, but quickly sobers when she sees my bored expression. “But we all know you’re also the one who doesn’t want to find love, and that’s okay. Doesn’t mean it’s not nice to have a hot man stare at you like they want to spend the night exploring your body. I mean, you’ve sworn off love, not getting fucked properly by someone—or even by a Venuccio, who knows.” She shrugs her shoulders like she’s deciding which colored sandals to choose and not openly talking about my sex life and choice of partner.
I choke on the saliva in my throat, jeez, would it kill Lottie to use her filter a bit more? “I’m definitely not averse to some nice spicy time.” I level Lottie with a glare.
“That isn’t in the form of smutty books,” she inputs. My god, she’s really wanting to cross the T’ s and dot the I’ s here.
“That isn’t in the form of smutty books,” I repeat. I really don’t need her adding fuel to this particular fire. “I’m like the proverbial Venuccio scapegoat. Every time they have a clingy partner, they always use me as a fake girlfriend. If that isn’t proof, they don’t see me as like an adoptive cousin or sister. I don’t know what is.”
“LOL, I’m pretty sure women would beat you down to be that close to a Venuccio.” Livvy laughs. She’s not wrong. Most women hate the close relationship I have with the guys; they either try to be overly nice because they see me as a threat or they straight out tell the guys it’s them or me. So far, none of the women have won that particular ultimatum.
“Yeah,” I reply, convincing myself more than them. I settle back into my seat. The way this enzyme mask is hardening, I can hardly move my lips. “What did you say this mask was called? I can already feel it’s working wonders,” I mumble, effectively shutting down any more Rome or Venuccio brother conversation.
“It’s an enzyme facial and it’s going to have our skin literally glowing tonight,” Devin sings.
A knot forms in my stomach at the thought of going out tonight. I just want to spend the night curled up in bed with my Kindle. I’ve done enough peopling for one day, and my social battery is running on low.
After the enzyme facial, I promised I’d meet the girls for an aperitif, I just needed to freshen up first. I haven’t seen Rome since our massage. For a relaxing girls’ weekend crashed by the guys, there isn’t as much relaxing as I would have liked, and now I’m looking over my shoulder for Nora and her dad. I blow out a breath, I need another relaxing weekend from the relaxing weekend. Thank God my phone battery is running low; it was the perfect excuse to escape to my room. I open my door as I hear, “No, Rome. I knew you weren’t telling the truth.” I freeze, my muscles bunching, priming themselves with the flight-or-flight instinct.
Slowly, I turn on my heel and plaster a smile on my face. “Nora. Twice in one day, it must be my lucky day.” I smooth a few stands of hair that have come loose from the braid behind my ear.
“Or maybe it’s mine.” She crosses her arms over her chest, jutting her hip out. I keep my smile in place. But Nora has her lie detector out and it seems to be beeping wildly on me.
“Babe.” I hear Rome’s voice and all the tension leaves my body. Saved by the Venuccio .
“Sorry, you were saying?” I watch Nora’s face morph from smug into annoyed as Rome wraps his arm around my waist and lays a kiss on the top of my head.
“Where’d you go? I told you to wait for me in the room.”
“Oh shit, sorry, I thought you meant to wait back at our room. I told you my phone needed to be recharged.” I hold up my dead phone as proof.
“I don’t think we have any treatments booked for a few hours, maybe we can schedule in some relaxing time.” Rome wiggles his eyebrows at me.
I make my voice extra husky, pretending like there is nothing I’d like more than for him to throw me down on the bed, and make me scream his name for a couple of hours. “I can’t wait.” I flick my gaze to Nora. “Sorry, were you wanting to ask Rome something. Is it to do with the meeting your dad was talking about?”
Nora just shakes her head and storms off. I wait until she is well and truly out of earshot and slump against Rome, my heart thumping in my chest. “Fuck, that was close.”
Rome scrubs a hand down his face. “You’re telling me.” Somehow we’re going to have to figure this whole fake dating thing out, and quick, because something tells me it’s going to need more than a few hand-holding photos.
I lean against the bathroom door, my arms firmly crossed around my stomach as I watch Lottie apply the second coat of light pink lip gloss.
Smacking her lips together to get the perfect seal, her eyes meet mine in the mirror. “Are you sure you’re not up to coming out with us?”
“Yeah, my stomach really hurts. Something I ate must not have agreed with me.”
Even though I am quickly becoming the party pooper of the group, I just couldn’t find the energy to go out tonight. Feigning a sore stomach, I told the girls to go without me.
Lottie pouts. “Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself? I could stay here with you if you like?” We spend so little time together with both our busy schedules that it is such a waste to miss out on a night out together.
I plaster a weak smile on my lips. “Yeah, I’m sure. You go have fun; I’ll be here when you get back.”
She finishes with a spritz of perfume, before turning to me. “If you start to feel better, you can always call an Uber and meet us there.” She cups my shoulders and dots my cheek with a kiss, before pulling back and giving me a final once-over.
I give her a weak smile. “Yeah, I’ll try.” I almost shrink under her fierce assessment, but I hold firm.
She finally nods, like I’ve received some sort of approval. “Love you,” she whispers. “Call or text me if you need me, promise?”
“Love you more.” I sidestep, giving her room to leave the bathroom. “And I promise.”
She grabs her clutch and opens the door to our room. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” she calls as the door closes behind her.
“Is that what you’re calling sunrise now?” I give her a salute and a smile, because I don’t expect her to come home before then. Lottie doesn’t get the chance to let her hair down, but when she does, she crams as much as she can into a small amount of time. Lottie flips me off over her shoulder and leaves.
I waste no time changing into my silk pajamas and diving straight under the fluffy covers. There is just something about hotel bedding being extra crisp and clean and starchy. I grab my Kindle and dim the lights, tucking the blanket all the way up to my chin.
“Now this seems like a damn shame.”
I gasp and turn to look at the interconnecting door. “Rome.” He’s so close I can almost feel his hot breath tickle the small hairs on the nape of my neck.
His voice is all husky and low. “Don’t stop reading on my account, from the way your cheeks were tinging pink, I think it was just about to get interesting.”