studies me harder, like she’s determined to excavate a better answer from me.
“As much as you can fall into a life of academia. I suppose it happens by default when you realize the only thing you’re really passionate about is reading.”
Something hardens in her gaze, but I can’t decipher it. She fidgets with her napkin. Here’s my opening to volley the subject back onto her, but something tells me that’s not the right course here. Quite a few somethings, as a matter of fact.
I exhale a deep breath. “When I was younger…after Jesse’s accident…I threw myself into books. They were safe.” I pause. “I couldn’t hurt anyone turning pages, you know?”
She nods. Not with pity but quiet understanding.
“I’d quit sports and needed something to kill the time. At least something to compete with all the shit going on in my head. So I spent a lot of time at the store.”
“Recto Verso?”
“Yeah. Reg and Sarah took me in when Mom was busy. They pretty much let me turn the place into my personal library. Good thing, since I devoured books like most kids consumed video games.”
“And?” Something glitters in her eyes, like she knows there’s more to it.
“And…I guess there was something about these old classic stories that pulled me in. Figuring out all the subtext. Riddling out all those little hidden gems that I try to stump you guys with in class.”
“There’s always a story under the story,” she adds.
“Exactly!” It feels so damn good to let it out with a full rasp of fervor. “And past that, no matter how messed up everything can get, the hero always finds a way to pull through. Every time.” I rein myself in with help from a contemplative gaze out to the horizon, taking in the fading colors before they melt away completely. When I finally look back, Kara’s attention is still fixed on me. “After everything that happened, I needed that. I needed to believe that I could pull through. And that…”
“What?” she prompts between my hesitant taps against the tabletop.
“That…Jesse would too.”
She takes a long sip of her wine. “So I take it you’re a fan of happily ever afters.”
I smirk. “Who wouldn’t be?”
“Hmm. Maybe a few very serious academic types.”
“I take the texts seriously. I’ve never been much of a literary snob, though.”
“Those blazers you wear with the elbow patches suggest otherwise.”
I laugh again, throwing my head back this time, and her answering smile is officially the best thing I’ve experienced all night. Suddenly I wish I could stop time and hold this moment a little longer. Taking in the soft blush on her cheeks. The way the wind flutters wisps of her hair across her face. This quiet escape—just us—away from all the prying eyes.
As if she can read my thoughts, her blush deepens, and she looks down. “Do you want to go inside?”
“Sure.”
We get up, leaving dinner behind. I beat her to the door into the Hall of the Sky, holding it open for her. Together we step inside and walk through to the rotunda and the colorful displays that lie beyond.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Her voice bounces around the smooth walls and tiled floors that surround us now.
The seductive taunt causes me to stop so hard that my athletic soles chirp on the marble. I take her hand and tug her back to me. When we’re chest to chest, I almost forget about her lingering question. I’m too dazed by the visual of her. The proud poise of her slender shoulders. The generous swell of her breasts, tapering to the sweet nip of her waist. And then—God help me—the flare that accommodates everything below. The parts I’ve refused to think about. The flesh I can’t help obsessing over…
Her expression seems to match mine. A little lost. Dark with longing.
“What is it?” I murmur. “All your secrets are safe with me.”
She pauses a moment, seeming to take in my promise—one I mean with all of me.
“I’ve never actually been in here before. Inside the observatory.”
My eyes widen. “Are you shitting—I mean kidding—me?”
She slants a stare of warning. “Safety zone for all the secrets, Mr. Kane. You promised.”
“And I’m still your lockbox,” I return. “But how have you grown up here and not experienced all this?”
That alone seems to prompt her next move. She tilts her head back, casting her gaze heavenward. “Oh, wow.”
I don’t have to follow her focus to know the cause of her exclamation. “The ceiling in here does that to a