Chapter 15
Under the stars
Cecily
When I feel his hand on my cheek, my eyes don’t leave his until he kisses my forehead. I close them, leaning into the comfort of his lips on my skin... letting the reality of it sink in, reminding me that he is here. Really here.
A car horn blares loudly. We both glance at the vehicle rushing past, and when I look back at Alexander, we laugh under our breath.
He lets me go, only to reach for my hand a second later. “Come,” he murmurs. “Let’s go see this bookstore you’ve been talking about for days.”
We walk the short distance side by side. But the moment we step inside, the last thing I notice is the shelves lined with books.
“I still can’t believe you’re here,” I whisper. Alexander turns to me, a smile on his lips.
“I was nearby,” he says easily. “I thought I’d stop in... and maybe offer you a ride to Pisa in a couple of days.”
I narrow my eyes. “Weren’t you in Istanbul the last time we talked? Yesterday?”
I’d been talking to Alexander almost every day since this trip began.
When I finally told him I’d decided to go on the tour, he hadn’t hesitated, not for a second. He encouraged me, and made it clear that if I ever needed anything, at any time, he’d be there.
It had taken me a while to tell him. I wanted everything set first. I wanted to be sure before I said it out loud.
Since he left New York, we’d slipped back into our own easy rhythm, talking every day. And even though I’d been afraid something might change... It hadn’t.
We were still us.
Endless conversations. Long silences where one of us would stop speaking just to listen to the other breathe. Tiny moments from our days exchanged like small treasures, pulling us into each other’s lives, one word at a time, across an ocean.
The moment I told him I was coming to Europe in September, all our conversations circled around when we would be in the same time zone again.
And with every day that drew closer to my departure, it felt as if some invisible thread was tightening, pulling us nearer, inch by inch.
“Mm-hmm,” he finally replies, distracted by the antique edition in his hands. “Pretty close. Just a five-hour flight.”
I can’t help but laugh. I start doing the same as him, wandering down the narrow aisles, letting my fingers skim along spines until something holds my attention. “I need to put Istanbul on my list next time I’m in Europe,” I say.
I feel his heat at my back before I even hear his voice, deep and close to my ear.
“I can show you Istanbul anytime,” he murmurs. “I have a house in Bebek.”
A shiver rushes through me, and I pull a book from the shelf, pretending to be far more interested in it than I actually am.
Alexander chuckles, clearly catching on, and moves ahead, leaving me to roam the shelves on my own. The entire time, my pulse keeps beating frantically at every innocent touch and whispered word.
I take my first bite of the chicken bánh mì, a small sound slipping from my throat before I can stop it.
“So...” Alexander says, his voice rough. “That good?”
I nod, and then notice he hasn’t touched his pork belly one. “Try yours.”
He takes a generous bite and nods in approval. “It really is.” Then he looks at me and lifts it slightly. “Want to try?”
I lean in and take a bite of his sandwich, meeting his eyes as I swallow. “Yours is even better. That’s what I’m ordering next time.”
“You’ve got a little sauce right here,” Alexander murmurs.
Before I can reach for a napkin, his thumb brushes the corner of my mouth... Then he brings it to his lips.
What should’ve been an innocent gesture turns into something my body reacts to long before my mind can catch up. He meets my gaze, expression unreadable... except for the glint of amusement in his eyes.
“If you want, we can trade,” he offers.
“No.” I straighten up, taking a breath. “I definitely want to come back here before we leave Edinburgh.”
We ended up spending almost an hour inside Armchair Books, and I walked out with five new additions tucked under my arm.
Alexander insisted on paying, and before I could protest, his card was already in the cashier’s hand, who had been smiling at us the entire time before muttering something in a language neither of us understood.
Just a few steps from the bookstore, we spotted an older man walking past with what might have been the most tempting sandwich in the world... and we couldn’t resist.
We grabbed sandwiches and two bottles of water and, not far from the shop, found a bench along the street.
Watching Alexander sit sideways beside me, eating his sandwich without a care about the mess or the lack of a table, shows me how much more there is to learn about him. He didn’t flinch for a second or try to push for a restaurant when I suggested making this our lunch.
I’d never imagined him like this. And that’s exactly what makes it all the better.
“Excited to see Pisa?” Alexander asks as soon as he finishes his sandwich, wiping his hands with a few napkins before tossing them into the bin beside us.
“Very,” I admit, taking another bite right after, mostly to buy myself a few extra seconds.
When I finally swallow, I realize Alexander hasn’t looked away.
“Are you sure it won’t be a problem staying at your family’s villa?” I ask, hesitating. “I can stay somewhere nearby if I need to. I just... I don’t want to impose.”
“Che sciocchezze.”
I know that one. It isn’t the first time he’s used it with me.
Nonsense.
“Nobody’s going to welcome you like my family will,” he adds. “They’re all excited to meet you. Nonna is already planning this huge family lunch.”
He says it as if my being there was a done deal and highly anticipated. And yet... my stomach fills with butterflies.
“What did you tell them?” I ask.
“About you?”
I nod, finishing the last bite of my sandwich.
“The truth,” he says simply, giving me no time to wonder. “That you’re a very special friend. That it’ll be your first time in Italy. You’ll stay with us... and I’ll show you as much of my world as I can over the next two weeks.”
I look at him, a real smile curving onto my lips. “Thank you.”
Alexander lifts my left hand and presses a kiss to my wrist, his eyes never leaving mine as goosebumps travel up my arms.
My heart races as I look back at him, trying to understand a gesture that feels like so much more than he’s letting on.
We spent the rest of yesterday and all of today wandering through every corner of Edinburgh I had marked as unmissable. And having Alexander with me brought a whole new feeling to the trip... and to the city itself.
He kept pointing out things he was sure I’d love, and almost every time, he was right. The way his hand found mine so easily after hours of walking... or rested at the small of my back, as if it had always belonged there.
It made me wish I’d had him beside me in every city before this one, too.
Having him this close again, the way we were during that month in New York, is doing things to me. It’s as if whatever almost happened in his office... and later in his sister’s studio... flipped a hidden switch inside me.
And now I can’t seem to turn it off.
I’m finishing getting ready now. Tonight, we’re having dinner at The Sheep Heid Inn. Alexander found out about the place from the front desk at the inn where he’s staying, which is only a few minutes from mine.
After that, we’re going to see Edinburgh at night from a place I visited on my first day here. It’s a spot I already loved in the daylight, but everyone insists it becomes something else entirely after dark.
I slide my phone into my purse, smiling at the lock screen. It’s a photo of the three of us at Ethan’s graduation.
Earlier today, I had a video call with them, just like we’ve done every day since I left.
Seeing their faces on my screen and hearing them fill me in on all the little details of their day puts my mind at ease.
They’re okay. Ethan is loving college, and Alicia isn’t struggling with the new routine at her father’s house.
Knowing that brings a peace only a mother could ever understand.
I’ve never been away from my children for this long. It’s only natural to miss them, but as the days go by, I’m getting more and more sure that this trip is good for all of us—each in our own way.
I take one last look at my reflection before stepping out.
The black, long-sleeved dress falls right to my knees.
My hair is loose in long waves down my back, paired with red lipstick and small diamond studs.
I pull on my heeled boots, adjust the strap of my purse, and finally take a deep breath before closing the door behind me.
Halfway down the staircase, I spot Alexander at the front desk, deep in conversation with Douglas Kerr, the owner of the inn. Along with his wife, Fiona, he’s been running the place for over two decades, ever since Fiona’s father passed away and left the inn to her in their early twenties.
I couldn’t have chosen a better place than Oidhche Nest. The inn carries that Old Town charm.
A dark stone facade, tall windows, the smell of hot tea in the air, and narrow corridors bathed in a yellow glow.
My room is small and cozy in the best way, with a plaid blanket folded at the end of the bed and a window that looks out over the ancient rooftops of the Old Town.
It’s simple. And exactly the kind of place that makes me feel at home.
Alexander turns before I reach the bottom of the stairs. Douglas says something that makes him laugh. They shake hands, and Alexander comes toward me.
When he leans in to kiss my cheek, I feel the subtle intake of his breath, the way he breathes me in.
‘Your scent makes me stop thinking when you’re this close.’ The remembered words tighten my throat, and I swallow hard.
“Sei... bellissima,” he says before pulling back.
I smile and thank him. We say goodbye to Douglas, and Alexander leads me outside, his hand resting at the small of my back as he guides me to the car.