The street was even narrower than the one we’d come from. We walked side by side. Luckily, the street wasn’t too crowded, though I knew that would change the closer we got to the fountain.
“You know that without looking at the map?”
“I have a good sense of direction.”
“You impress me more with every second, doc.”
“Good to know.”
“Now I get why my sisters love Rome,” he murmured.
“When were they here?”
“Years ago. They were so psyched when they found out I was coming. Now I’m second-guessing the souvenirs I bought them.”
Who was this guy? He looked like someone who never second-guessed himself about anything. His body language was one hundred percent self-confident (and two hundred percent sexy).
“There are a ton of kiosks with souvenirs and street vendors literally everywhere. You’ll find something else if you want to.”
My body was so wired up from his proximity that I didn’t know how to loosen up. And when my heel caught in a cobblestone and he steadied me with a strong hand on my back? Heat gathered in my belly, then spread through my limbs with lighting speed.
We arrived at the fountain ten minutes later. It was even more crowded than I’d predicted. Hundreds of people were gathered around it, taking pictures with selfie sticks and throwing coins in the water. There was also an excellent gelato shop right across from it, in a building painted in a lovely shade of terra-cotta, but I was determined not to look at it for too long.
I groaned as we made our way closer to the fountain through the crowd. “It’s best if you can come super early tomorrow to see it. It’s literally empty at seven o’clock.”
Cole’s eyes bulged. “No way am I waking up that early. I guess this is it. It’s fantastic.”
“I know, right?”
“Which god is that in the chariot?” He pointed to the statue on top of the fountain.
“Neptune. The god of the sea. Those are horses pulling the carriage—one calm and one angry.”
“Why angry?”
“Well, the sea is moody, and I think the horses are supposed to represent that. Oh, and those below are tritons. That building behind is the Palazzo Poli.”
“In baroque style,” he said.
“Oh, you’ve read about it?”
“No, but since I work in real estate, I notice architecture styles. Materials too—like the travertine stone the fountain is made of. By the way, there’s an ice-cream shop back there. Want some?” he asked.
My jaw dropped. “Why would you point that out?”
“I saw you looking at it out of the corner of your eye. Like you were trying to resist it.”
“And you’d thought you’d give me a push straight down Temptation Road?”
He dropped his gaze to my mouth before looking over my shoulder, smiling as if he’d just thought of a joke. Why was he willing to indulge me in everything like this?
“If you want to put it that way. Besides, they have seats. We can watch the fountain from there.”
Five minutes later, I was happily eating my pistachio ice cream with the tiny spoon. It was a stroke of incredible luck that these seats had been empty. You couldn’t really see the fountain because of the crowd, but this was good enough. The smell of sugar was thick in the air.
“Tonight was a food festival,” I muttered. I was so very full, but also perfectly happy. “It’s really late. I need to get going to my place. Rolling, most likely. You know how to get to your hotel?”
When Cole didn’t answer, I turned to look at him and was startled by the intensity in his eyes.