He was happy to comply.In fact, all he could ever think about was kissing her again.Now that her mouth was once again his to plunder, his brain had shut down completely.
His senses were immersed in the joy of kissing her.The sweet scent of her hair, the soft warmth of her curves, the welcoming heat of her mouth.She was the engineer of his self-control’s utter downfall.He hoped it would never end.
“I’ll take that as complimentary,” she said when they came up for air.“Stand back.This may shock and amaze you.”
Christopher wasn’t certain he could handle much more shock and amazement.
She flipped the switch.
The miniature planets that had so recently looped about each other mirroring the same trajectories as their namesake celestial bodies… had now lost their minds.
The sun rotated around Jupiter.Saturn had become a satellite of the Earth.Mercury shared its orbit with Mars.
“What did you do?”he choked, aghast.
“Do you like it?”She patted the edge of the orrery.Venus gave a drunken wobble in response.“I like to imagine this is what it looks like when the planets have a holiday.”
He sagged against the wall.“Have you ever met a fact you couldn’t turn upside-down?”
“Not once,” she said cheerfully.“Did you check on the pudding?”
“The pudding is fine,” he said.“I should be checking on the state of the entire known universe.”
“Rules are meant to be broken,” she assured him.
“That is the opposite of what rules are meant to do.”He held out his arms toward the miniature planets.“You turned your beautiful orrery into an abomination.”
She gave him a peck on the cheek and whispered, “It’s a model.Models need holidays, too.”
He hooked his fingers through hers and tugged her into the parlor.“Step right up.Let me introduce you to the nice books on your bookshelves.Right here we have…”
Delight flooded him to spy the explorer he idolized among the names on the spines.Not only had Christopher purchased every travel journal the man had published, he’d read each one again and again until the pages came apart in his hands.
In fact, that man was the reason Christopher’s upcoming trip had become the culmination of decades of dreams.After years of correspondence, the venerable explorer had offered to accompany Christopher on a once-in-a-lifetime personal tour.Every detail was in place.Soon, he would have the sort of adventure he had previously only experienced in books.
But he had not dragged Gloria to the parlor to brag about an upcoming trip.The most important resource he intended to force her to acknowledge were the books dedicated to astronomy.She did not need to memorize entire shelves, but it wouldn’t hurt for her to know actual information about the stars.She might even consider adding occasional facts to her sky-walk lectures.
Christopher selected a familiar tome on astronomy and settled on the sofa to begin.This one had clear text and plenty of illustrations.It would be an excellent introduction to the real constellations.
He patted the seat beside him.“Sit with me.”
“Boring,” she said when she saw the title in his hand.She spun to kneel before the bookshelf.Moments later, three slim volumes filled her arms.Only then did she join him on the sofa.“Let’s start with these.”
He rifled through her choices.“These aren’t books on astronomy.These are travel journals about the Kingdom of Italy.”
She nodded and tucked her head against his chest.Her hair smelled of sweet lilac.“Tell me something that’s not in them.”
He wasn’t certain where to begin.“What sorts of things do you already know?”
“Fifty years ago, the Trevi Fountain was built in Rome.Eight years ago, Napoleon declared himself King of Italy.”She paused to think.“Antonio Vivaldi wrote hundreds of concertos, many for the violin.The architecture has been termed ‘baroque.’There’s a great deal of… food?”
“None of that explains how it feels to be there.”He set the books on the floor and wrapped his arms about her to cradle her to him.
She fit so perfectly against him, as if their bodies had been created for each other.He never wanted to leave this sofa.
He tried his best to concentrate on Italy.“All the people and places are so different.Do you want to start with food?”
She nodded.
