The Adventurous Bookworm (Paige Turner #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

S eptember 1 st

Bookworm dreams do come true. My New Year’s Resolution to lose my virginity by following the paths walked by my favorite heroines from the romance books I love so much has led to me flying first class on my way to a big, important book convention in Italy. I’m sitting next to a handsome vineyard owner, and I keep imagining it’s the setting of the many books I’ve read of Italian vacation romance. They usually involved one of two things: wine or gelato. Here I am, not even to Rome, and have already begun to live it. And this won’t be one of those TV movies where no one kisses until the very end of her time in Rome. Oh no, if I am going to live out this romance book in real life, I want to enjoy it to the fullest.

I should have slept on the plane, but Dario, my seat neighbor on the plane to Rome, was dreamy enough. He told me about his vineyard and growing up in Italy. Since I have some built-in free time ahead of the publishing conference, Dario is going to take me to his vineyard where I’ll spend the day, and hopefully the night, with him to determine if Italians really are the perfect lovers. Wish me luck!

Paige was enchanted. Dario drove them to his vineyard north of Rome in the sexiest red convertible she could have imagined. They had talked about Rome, the history, what to see, and which restaurants to eat at. The time passed quickly, especially after they got out of Rome. Dario looked over with his deep brown eyes and smiled at Paige before reaching out and placing his hand on her thigh. A thrill shot through her and made jetlag a distant memory.

Paige looked around the Italian countryside as they drove by it. How had her resolution ended up here? It was just a little resolution with her book club to live life more like their favorite romance heroes and heroines. Yet, by doing so, she’d gone from the anonymity of the office editorial pool at Griffin Publishing to the new editorial director of romance. She might not have lost her virginity yet, but she’d gained so much in terms of experience, meeting new people, confidence, and self-discovery. And, yes, a healthy dose of embarrassment here and there along the way. But being here in Italy was showing her it was all worth it.

Too soon, yet not soon enough, they were turning into Dario’s vineyard. The long gravel drive of the vineyard was lined with perfectly sculpted trees and beyond the trees were rolling hills of grape vines.

“My vineyard has been in my family for generations. We export wine all over the world,” Dario explained. “I was in New York meeting with a celebrity chef about featuring our wine on his next show. Ah, here’s my mama.”

Paige brushed her red hair back from her face and her attention pivoted from Dario to the woman walking out of the biggest mansion Paige had ever seen. “Your mama?”

“ Si . My whole family lives here. My three sisters, their husbands and families, my two brothers, my parents, and my grandmother.”

Paige tried not to panic. She was mentally prepared to wheel and deal with Italian publishers, not to meet the very large family of a man she wanted to see naked. She instantly looked down at her wrinkled and travel-worn clothes and cringed. She also hadn’t brushed her teeth since leaving New York. This was not going to be putting her best foot forward by a long shot. What would the heroines in her books do? Paige took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and put on a big smile. She could do this.

His mother shouted something in Italian and then chaos ensued as Dario parked. Kids came running from every direction. Adults were shouting in Italian and gesturing with their hands. Then a stately gentleman, who had to be Dario’s father, came out with the tiniest old lady Paige had ever seen on his arm. She was clad in funereal black from her feet right up to her severely dressed white hair. The two-inch-thick soles of her orthopedic shoes might have brought her height up to five feet and she couldn’t have weighed more than ninety pounds.

Kids surrounded the car, jumping and screaming, and Paige felt slightly trapped. Her confident smile dissolved into a nervous one. Dario spoke in rapid Italian as he got out of the car, lifting kids up and tossing them around playfully. It was kind of cute if they didn’t remind her of piranha and the adults swarming like sharks preparing to strike.

Dario kissed his grandmother’s paper-thin cheek and then his mother’s before coming around the car to open the door. Suddenly all eyes turned to her as if just noticing she was there. Except for grandma’s eyes. Grandma hadn’t taken her eyes off Paige since she walked out of the house.

“Mama, this is Paige Turner from New York. We met on the plane.”

Paige stood up and smiled nervously. Meeting the family was not on her bingo card, but she was going to show them that even New Yorkers could have impeccable manners. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you all. Thank you so much for allowing me to visit your beautiful home.”

His mother looked her over and then turned to Dario. “ Prostituta? ”

Paige didn’t need Google Translate for that one. She gasped. “I’m not a prostitute. I’m a book editor.”

All eyes went back to her as if trying to decide if she had told the truth. Paige looked down at herself. She was a wrinkled mess, and oh shoot, her blouse’s top buttons had come undone over the trip and the lace of her bra was peeking out. Still . . . not screaming prostitute.

“ Eh ,” Mama said as if she were now not even worthy of being a prostitute before she began screaming at Dario in rapid-fire Italian again.

Grandma teetered forward and spat twice at the ground in front of Paige, squinted her eyes at her, muttered something, and then crossed herself as if Paige were Satan’s mistress.

More rapid-fire Italian was shouted between all the adults. A teen girl with her dark hair in a ponytail and wearing a more expensive outfit than Paige separated herself from the pack. “You do know this is just a fling, right? He’ll never marry you. He’s promised to someone else who will bring money to the company. He brings a new one home every week and they all think they hit the jackpot.”

Paige struggled to stay main character, but it didn’t last as she gasped in horror, “Marriage? Good lord, I just met Dario. What is wrong with you?”

She cocked her head and then looked Paige over from head to toe. “So, are you like the girl they send when the other prostitutes are busy?”

“Look kid, if anyone is the prostitute, it appears it’s your Uncle Dario.” Paige was already pulling up the car service app to catch a ride back to Rome and the safety of her hotel. Great, the nearest car was an hour away. She booked it. She could hike to the edge of the vineyard and find a nice tree to sit under and wait. She had a book. It was no problem to read under the Italian sun for an hour.

The teen snorted. “Okay, I like you better than the last one he brought home. Just don’t fall for the grape stomping. That’s his go-to move to get you into bed.”

“There’s grape stomping?” Paige had always wanted to do that.

The teen rolled her eyes. “You just lost what little respect I had for you. Good luck. Make sure he uses a condom. No bastards will get part of the vineyard. It’s still in my grandmother’s name.”

“Seriously, at this point I only want to stomp some grapes and catch a ride back to my hotel. Your grandma could even drive me.” Paige was deadly serious. The amount of screaming and hand gestures was enough to give her a headache and send her social anxiety into overdrive.

Suddenly, Dario’s hand shot out and grabbed hers. “Come on, Paige. Let me show you around.”

Paige was pulled away from his still arguing family. She glanced over her shoulder to see the teenager making a very clear hand gesture as to what she thought was going to happen on this tour. “You have a very large family. I take it you’re very close?”

“Yes. Large and always in my business. Now, over here is where we stomp grapes. Would you like to try it?” Dario smirked. Ten minutes ago, she’d have fallen for it, but now she got the ick from it. However, she really, really wanted to stomp some grapes.

“I’d love to!” Paige couldn’t hide her excitement as they came upon a giant barrel. “Do you still stomp all the grapes?”

“We did way back, but now it’s all mechanically done and bottled. However, we use this for tours. It’s still a lot of fun to do.” Dario picked up some wood bins of grapes and filled the barrel. “Take off your shoes and socks and climb in using these steps.”

Paige hurried and stepped into the large wine barrel that had been cut in half. It came up to her knees when Paige was inside of it. Dario moved to join her and she stopped him. “Here,” Paige said, shoving her phone at him. “Could you take a video for me?”

Paige laughed and stomped and made her own fun. Dario might not have worked out sexually, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t have fun until her ride arrived.

“Thank you so much,” she said, climbing out.

Dario handed her phone back and turned on the hose. “Here. Let me help clean you up. Then I can show you the tasting room before we head to the house.”

Dario ran his hand over her legs, and sure, it felt great, but Paige realized that while she wanted to get rid of her virginity, she didn’t want to feel icky about it and that whole “promised to someone” thing kind of sounded like he was engaged, even if it was a business deal. Dario was clearly a suave man used to a new woman every night. She wasn’t that. She didn’t want to be that for anyone. However, the vineyard experience was still special.

Dario took her around the vineyard on a personal tour. It was fascinating and she enjoyed learning about it. Dario was nice and charismatic, but a little too shallow for her. Instead of using his intelligence, he relied on his sex appeal.

“Let me show you my private wing.” Dario gave her a smile that was just too practiced as they approached the mansion. Before she could kindly turn him down, the women in his family stalked down the front steps and started ranting again. Grandma looked at her, narrowed her eyes, pointed her finger at her, and said something quietly that sounded like a chant.

Everyone froze.

The teenager snickered.

“What just happened?” Paige asked in a hushed whisper.

“Grandma just put a curse on your sex life,” the teen said, nearly doubling over with laughter as a car appeared next to her suitcases.

“Ha!” Paige said, surprising them all as she reached for the door of her ride-share. “I’m a virgin. I have no sex life for her to curse.”

The looks on everyone’s faces were priceless. Grandma suddenly crossed herself and put her hands in prayer. Dario looked elated in a totally creepy way. “See, Mama, I bring you a good girl.”

Ew. She didn’t like being Dario’s good girl . Now, when Mr. Paris had said it, it was hot and she really liked being his good girl.

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Paige muttered to herself as she grabbed the door to the car she’d ordered and got in as Dario was pleading with her to stay.

The car pulled away and grandma started smacking Dario as he yelled at his mother. The teen girl made an L out of her fingers and Paige’s last image of her romantic vineyard trope was being called a loser by a teenager.