CHAPTER 11 #2
Aurelio waits for me in the hotel lobby.
The moment I step off the elevator, I can feel his gaze on me.
His gorgeous dark eyes kiss off my shoulders, my wrists, my cheekbones.
My kitten heels that I wore to the WTA dinner click loudly with each step I take across the marbled floor.
I drink him in, the light gray sweater he’s wearing, his navy slacks, his freckles scattered across his cheeks like constellations.
I feel a little breathless when I stop at his side. My heartbeat is too loud in my ears. “Aurelio.” I can smell him this close, a mix of soap and something vaguely herbal. I gaze up at his face, a little closer than normal with my heels. “You look nice.” It’s weak, but I don’t know what to say.
He leans down, achingly slow, and presses a kiss to my cheek. He draws back to make eye contact with me again, and I’m sure I look stunned. My cheek practically burns. “Amy. You look just as I dreamed you.”
“Dreamed me?”
“Yes,” he says simply. “Sometimes, this feels like a dream.”
My lips tremble a little with want. Why would a man as kind as Aurelio want anything to do with Amy Bowman, the least likeable woman in tennis?
I clutch my purse tighter between my fingers, using it to gesture to the hotel doors. “Are you ready? I called us a car.”
“Si.” He nods, casually prying my right hand off the purse and weaving his fingers with mine. He gently tugs me towards the door. “And it must be a surprise? Our plans for the evening?”
I try to shake off the nerves I’ve been feeling since I walked off the elevator. “Don’t you like surprises?” I ask wryly. “Why else would you be dating me?”
Aurelio flashes me a grin as he opens the car door.
I slide as smoothly as I can into the backseat.
While Aurelio ducks inside, I show the driver the address on my phone.
It seems more elegant than embarrassing myself with the broken French I know.
I do at least follow it up with a sincere “merci” and a fistful of Euros.
I try to hide my surprise when Aurelio resumes holding my hand in the darkness of the backseat. “It’s about a 15-minute ride,” I tell him. I can just make out the strong slope of his nose in the relative darkness.
“To our mystery destination?” he teases me. “You won’t even give me a hint?”
I shake my head. “Absolutely not.”
It takes everything within me not to fidget.
On any other date, I would ignore the driver up front and use the shadows to hide my date’s hand up my skirt.
Our only destination would be a hotel room, and it certainly wouldn’t be a mystery.
Instead, I’m heading to a date I planned.
A date that I pulled serious strings to make happen.
I wouldn’t be doing this for a fling, for some guy I intend to date a few weeks and then throw away.
Aurelio feels different. With Aurelio, I have a million questions I want to ask and no real way to ask them.
I want to know everything about him. I want to meet his family.
I want to sit in his box during matches, and I want him to sit in mine.
I want to learn Italian. I want to kiss every freckle on his body.
I want him in every sense of the word.
Sitting in the back of the car, Aurelio’s hand in mine, I suddenly feel short of breath. How did this happen? How could I have let this happen?
Aurelio watches me carefully. “Are you okay, Amy?”
I let out a shaky laugh. “Just went too hard during training today. Beck made me run as punishment for losing to Genesis. My legs are still trembling.” Hopefully, he buys the excuse. My whole body feels like it’s vibrating.
“I like running,” he reminds me.
Now, I laugh genuinely. “Yes, I can tell. You drive your opponents crazy running all over the court.”
He shrugs. “Why play tennis if you aren’t willing to run for the balls just out of your reach? Those are the most important balls.”
I raise a brow. “Why is that?”
I can see the ghost of his smile in the darkness. “Because it’s hard to lose a match when you keep surprising your opponent.”
I grin in victory, my nose crinkling. “Aha! So, you did want me to surprise you. Just you wait, buddy. It’s coming.”
He leans closer to me, our noses almost touching. “Ah, but Amy, in the end, are you surprising me? Or has this whole thing been a surprise to you?”
My eyes widen. An unwelcome lump starts in my throat.
I raise my free hand to his face, willing it to stop trembling.
When my fingertips graze his cheek, his eyes flutter closed.
His long lashes look even longer in the shadows.
I manage to whisper some of the truth without his gaze on me.
“I never dreamt about you, Aurelio. But I think that’s about to change. ”
His eyes startle open, immediately tracing my face as though to see whether I mean it.
He’d be surprised how much more I want to confess.
Before he can respond, the driver interrupts. “Ms. Bowman? We’re almost there.” He gestures to the windshield. “You can see it up ahead.”
The white dome of the grand building shines in the moonlight. It takes Aurelio a beat to focus on it, but when he does, his mouth falls open. “Amy,” he says in awe. His gaze snaps back to me. “I thought the Paris Observatory was closed to the public.”
I copy his casual shrug. “I called in some favors. They do private tours for the right price.” Paris’ 14th neighborhood slides past us, dark and ancient.
The Observatory, one of the first astronomy centers in Europe, stands out behind its metal gates.
It’s a tall building, constructed of sandy stone and tall columns.
Our driver rolls up to the gate, tells the security guard my name, and then pulls up to the front entrance.
It feels even more intimate to enter such a large building knowing it’s practically empty.
Beautiful trees and gardens surround the Observatory, shielding the doors from view.
Aurelio twists fully in his seat to look at me. “Thank you, Amy. It’s wonderful. Truly.”
I pretend I’m not pleased, but I’m sure he can see the smile twitching at my lips. As the driver walks around to open the door, I let out a long-suffering sigh. “Let’s go.” I knock his shoulder with mine. “Before I change my mind.”
Aurelio eagerly exits the car, his long legs eating up the cobblestones.
I struggle to keep up, even with his firm grip on my hand.
The man I spoke with on the phone, Mr. Monfils, stands outside the main entrance waiting for us.
“Bonjour, Madame Amy, Monsieur Aurelio.” He bows slightly, dressed impeccably in a suit.
He doesn’t look like an astronomer. His accent is strong, but understandable.
“Welcome to the Paris Observatory. The oldest observatory in France.” He gestures for us to follow him inside.
“My name is Monfils, and today I will be taking you on a tour of the Observatory.”
Aurelio’s hungry eyes take in the vaulted ceilings, the low light as we enter. It looks more like an ancient library than a modern research center. “What do you do here, sir?” Aurelio asks our host, unfailingly polite.
“I’m a researcher,” Monfils answers, glancing over his shoulder. “Just as nearly all employees are here. To be completely honest, most of us don’t even work in this building, but in a satellite campus outside the city.”
Aurelio grows worried. “I’m very sorry if we are inconveniencing you.”
Monfils smiles gently at him. “Madame Amy told me that you are a lover of the stars. I promise you, you are in the right place.”
Aurelio squeezes my hand. “And with the right woman.”
I blush a little at the compliment. Monfils’ gaze travels knowingly between us. “I cannot disagree, Monsieur.” He walks down the long hallway. “Come, let me show you our history.”
Aurelio listens with childlike wonder as Monfils walks us through a small section of the Observatory that functions almost as a museum.
There are telescopes that were used when the Observatory was first opened in the 17th century.
There is a letter from King Louis XIV sanctioning the funding needed to open the Observatory.
There is a section about the study of Time and a group called the International Time Bureau.
There are numerous maps of the stars, planets, and our solar system, each one more faded and fraying than the last. Aurelio and Monfils carry on most of the conversation, but Aurelio never lets go of my hand.
I spend most of the evening watching his face. I see the stars every day. How often will I see Aurelio so happy? And know, that somehow, it was me that made him feel that way?
Monfils eventually picks up on my disinterest. “My apologies, Madame Amy.” He frowns. “We have not been including you in our discussion.”
I try to reassure him. “I heard every word, I promise. I just didn’t understand a lot of it.”
His face lights up with an idea. “It is much easier to understand in the actual observatory. Come!”
He backs up, heading down the original hallway, towards the area that houses the white dome. Aurelio and I exchange confused glances. “I thought it was no longer in use?” I ask. “Wasn’t the telescope there retired due to all the light pollution?”
Monfils nods like I’m a student of his. “Oui. Very good. But now we use the space for something else.”
My breath catches when we walk into the observatory.
The domed ceiling is as huge and vaulted as expected.
I feel small and silent, as though I just stepped foot in a cathedral.
There’s a large, complex-looking telescope still in the room, but it’s not pointed at anything.
Monfils leads us closer to the telescope and the center of the circular space.
On one side, there is also a stand with a computer and some other tech equipment on it.
He walks over to it, turning on the computer and messing with some chords.
We make to follow, but Monfils holds up a hand. “Stay,” he orders. “Wait one moment.”