The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession Book 4) by Lucy Leroux

another relative.
    The next day, they headed to Naples to view more treasures excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum at the archeological museum. While there, a friend of Gio’s led them through a display of mummies and showed them a few treasures hidden in the storage rooms. They also explored some of the Roman water deposits and a few churches off the beaten path.
    Completely spent from the non-stop sightseeing, she let Gio convince her to spend a few days lounging on the beaches of Ischia—a gem of an island an hour’s boat ride from Napoli. He didn’t even blink when she wore a concealing swim tank and boy shorts covered by a gauzy shirt. He simply smiled as if he could see through it and ordered her a cocktail from a beachside bar. They drank them on shaded lounge chairs, enjoying the sun and view of the crystalline water.
    Eventually Gio suggested going back to Rome to hit a few ruins and museums she missed the first time, and she went along, content to follow his lead.
    By the time they arrived back at the capital, Sophia admitted to herself that she was falling under Gio’s spell. He was charming and intelligent while being warm and spontaneous. Every day with him was an adventure, one she was sorry to end each night.
    The fact he was a performance artist was his only detraction—one she actively had to chastise herself for looking down on. Gio didn’t fit any of her pre-conceived ideas about what he should be or how he should behave. He was at home everywhere they went. The man was connected, and no one else seemed to think less of him for his occupation. Quite the opposite in fact.
    Gio was a new experience for her. The fact he didn’t try to hide his attraction to her was intoxicating, so much so that she was actually starting to think about having an affair with him.
    It was what Kelly had urged her to do after her breakup with Richard. Her best friend had been on her case about finding a man for some therapeutic rebound sex, but Sophia hadn’t been able to stomach the idea. She’d never had sex without a commitment before. There had only been one man prior to Richard, in college. Both times she had been in love and believed she was loved in return. In fact, she’d been convinced that Richard was going to propose when everything fell apart.
    A vacation fling was totally out of character for someone as conservative as she was, but Gio was proving to be a potent temptation. Though he was an accomplished flirt, he was also romantically old-fashioned. He opened doors for her, pulled out chairs, and always walked on the outer edge of sidewalks, shielding her from traffic. The combination of hot modern man with old-world charm was devastating.
    It was driving her a little crazy that he hadn’t made a pass. She kept expecting the obvious come-on or physical overture, but it never happened. Which meant Gio might be waiting for her to make the first move. Someone as handsome as he was surely had women throwing themselves at him all the time—street performer or not.
    For the first time in her life, she was considering seducing a man. Her experience with the opposite sex was limited. Her college boyfriend had been a virgin, too, and her later courtship with Richard had been polite and formal, mainly because they were being setup by her father.
    She had less than a week left of her vacation. There was the sense of an opportunity passing her by. However, making the first move seemed to be beyond her. The idea of letting him see her naked was too much of a stumbling block. So one day slipped into the next without anything happening.
    Now that they were back in Rome, she expected Gio to go back to performing, but he made it clear that he had no intention of abandoning her to her own devices. Other than a few hours each morning, he devoted every day to her enjoyment. Together they toured the ancient ruins of the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. He even arranged for an exclusive night tour of the Colosseum, a