Chapter 21

I sat across from Simon the next morning with an ear-to-ear smile. He looked up from his tablet, his green eyes sparkling in the morning light. It was overcast in Paris today; I hoped it would rain to alleviate some of the neverending heat.

"Good morning, Lucinda," he greeted me, turning to brush his hand against the arm of one of the servers as they passed. " Un café et un croissant pour la jolie dame, s'il vous pla?t ."

"Good morning," I said after they trodded off.

"How was your evening with your sister?" he asked.

"It was great. I'm meeting her this afternoon for a tour of Paris," I told him matter-of-factly.

"Good. Do you have an answer for me?"

It had taken me all night, but I'd come up with three things I loved that had nothing to do with my job.

I inclined my chin proudly. "I love board games and am excellent at Mancala."

A dazzling smile spread across Simon's lips as he watched me, nodding in encouragement.

"Rubber ducks are the coolest thing since sliced bread," I added. "I have a collection of them on my TV stand at home. My favorite one looks like a strawberry."

The server appeared a moment later and set a coffee and croissant in front of me. I raised an eyebrow in surprise, then realized that was what he asked them for in French. I glanced at Simon, thanking him softly. He lifted his tablet again, scribbling on the screen.

"I have one more," I said.

He lowered his tablet immediately, something flashing in his eyes. I watched him for a moment, sucking in a breath. "I love astronomy. I think, if I wasn't a nurse, I would have become an astronomer."

He didn't answer for a moment. Then, he sucked in a breath. "Finish your breakfast and we can go."

I mentally cheered in excitement but kept myself controlled as I bit into the croissant. Simon returned to whatever he was doing on his tablet while I ate and finished my coffee. As soon as I was done, he tucked his tablet in his messenger bag and stood, holding out his hand.

"Oh, I should pay for this," I said, reaching for my bag.

Simon stopped me, his hand finding mine and pulling me out of my seat. "Don't worry about it."

"But-"

"Lucinda," he interrupted, his voice sharp. "I said don't worry about it." He dropped a couple bills on the table.

I stared at him in shock for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you."

He led the way away from the café, and we made it three blocks before I realized he hadn't let go of my hand.

My whole body trembled in excitement as I stared at the enormous building with the white dome on top, standing as close as I could against the wrought iron gates keeping out visitors. I didn't care that the Paris Observatory wasn't open to the public, I felt blessed just to lay my eyes on it.

It was the world's oldest operating observatory, as well as one of the largest, and while the light pollution in Paris made actual observation impossible from this location, it was still used for research and teaching.

For a moment, I wondered what it would be like to study and work at a place like this—a place that had been making discoveries for centuries and was larger than life. I'd fallen in love with astronomy in middle school, and for years, it was all I ever cared about. I spent hours on the internet researching and learning all I could. I went to every science museum in Arizona, and I cried the first time my parents took me to Lowell Observatory. There were stars and crescent moons tattooed down my spine.

The busier I got with school, the less time I had to attend space weekends at the science museums, or drive into the middle of nowhere to find constellations. What was once my whole world faded into a photo a day… and a dream I never realized I lost.

Simon appeared at my side. I hadn't noticed he'd been gone.

"Come with me," he murmured, gripping my arm.

"What? Where are we going?" I asked. I wasn't ready to leave. I hadn't even had a chance to brag about knowing the statue out front was Urbain Le Verrier, a French astronomer who predicted the existence and position of Neptune.

To my shock, Simon led me through a small side gate held open by one of the gate guards. I gaped at him, stumbling in the dirt as we walked toward the observatory.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

Simon flashed a smile, and I watched black veins and fangs decorate his face. "Vampirism has a few perks."

I laughed and let him lead the way inside. He followed quietly as I walked through the building, my heart soaring at the thought of all the astronomical observations and contributions that had been made here. I traced my fingers along the brass medallions marking the north-south meridian line in the Cassini room.

As I babbled about the history, Simon merely listened and watched without a hint of boredom or annoyance. When I asked him to take my picture in front of the Arago telescope, he did not hesitate.

When I looked at that photo, I still wasn't entirely happy with the expression on my face, but it was a significant improvement from the one in front of Notre Dame. My smile seemed more natural, and there wasn't as much sadness in my eyes.

I showed it to Simon. "What do you think?"

He peered at it, then up at me with a soft smile. "I believe we're starting to see the real Lucinda."

I couldn't help the blush that grew over my cheeks.

Simon handed my phone back to me and I tucked it in my pocket before skipping along to inspect more of the building. I thought, perhaps, I could have spent forever in the observatory. Apart from the excitement of being in such an important place, I realized I wasn't sure the last time I'd been so…unashamedly myself. And I really, really loved that version of me.

"Forgive me for saying this," Simon said as we left the grounds. "But you never should have been a nurse."

I tilted my head. "What makes you say that?"

"Does it bring you even a fraction of the joy that telescope did?" Simon motioned toward the observatory behind us.

I opened my mouth to tell him yes. The words caught in my throat as I realized they would have been a lie.

So, instead of facing that reality, I asked, "What's next?"

I was sure there were plenty of typical tourist sites in Paris that I'd yet to see on this trip—the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe. Simon didn't take me to any of those places.

He took me to the Paris Science Museum.

I let out an audible squeal when we approached the building. I knocked Simon's card out of his hand when he tried to pay for our entrance, instead handing over my own. His eyes darkened, but he allowed me to pay for this one.

"That won't happen again," he grumbled as we walked inside.

"Try me," I challenged.

Simon's gloomy disposition faded when we walked inside. I tried to act nonchalant when his hand slipped into mine. I enjoyed his touch; it made me feel brave.

First, we wandered through an exhibit on space exploration, where I rambled about robots and the inevitability of future discoveries—after all, there was so much we didn't know about our galaxy, let alone the billions of others out there. While Simon seemed less interested in the Orion replica than I was, I noticed how his eyes twinkled as he followed my every movement.

Because that wasn't enough, I dragged him through the history of the universe exhibit too, barely able to contain my excitement.

"It's fascinating how excited you get over rocks," Simon teased.

"Meteors." I stuck my tongue out at him.

We took a break for lunch at the museum café, and I all but shoved the entire sandwich in my mouth, eager to keep exploring in the time we had left together today. It was only eleven in the morning, and I wasn't supposed to meet Addie until three. I hadn't expected the time crunch to bother me, but it did.

I enjoyed talking to Simon and treasured how his eyes lingered on me when he thought I wasn't paying attention.

The real highlight of the day was the planetarium. We sat in the back row of a dark room, the projection staring above our heads. I tilted my head back to stare at the stars, planets, and eventually, the entire galaxy. The sight brought tears to my eyes.

The presentation was in French, so I barely understood it, except when Simon leaned over to whisper the translation in my ear. Even then, I was too distracted by the whisper of his breath on my throat to listen to anything he said.

I hardly knew Simon.

But I was addicted to the way he made me feel. Happy. Free. Curious. He made me feel some other things too, things I was trying so hard not to admit to myself for fear of him not feeling the same way.

In the dark of the planetarium, Simon did not move away from me when he was done speaking. He remained with his lips close to my neck, and I swore they brushed my skin—the sensation lighter than a feather. He placed his hand on my thigh, a little higher than what was appropriate for two people who barely knew each other.

That didn't stop me from wanting him to move it higher.

I tried my best to focus on the shooting stars above us, but my heart beat so loud that I couldn't hear anything else.

"Can you hear that?" I whispered to Simon.

"The beat of your heart?" He hummed. There it was again, the ghost of a kiss on my neck. "Yes, Lucinda, I can hear how nervous I make you."

I let out a shaky breath.

"Would you like me to stop?"

"No." Never .

Simon chuckled.

"Did you know that Saturn would float?" I gasped out, trying to regain some semblance of control over this situation.

"Would it?" Was that his tongue? God, I hoped it was.

I nodded breathlessly. "Even though it's the second largest planet, it's also very light and less dense than water. So, hypothetically, if you placed Saturn in a giant pool, it would float."

"Fascinating." That was definitely a kiss.

I barely managed to swallow the whimper that threatened to betray me.

"What other facts do you have for me?" Simon murmured, his mouth moving lower.

God, was this really happening? Was I being touched by a vampire in the dark? My whole body trembled with anticipation; it took every ounce of my concentration to keep watching the presentation.

"At any given time," I rasped. "There are more than 2,500 stars visible to the naked eye. Probably not in a city like this, but you know."

"That's a lot of stars," Simon said.

"Yeah."

The lights flicked on. The show was over.

It felt like I'd been doused in cold water, jolting upright and gripping the armrests of my chair. I looked over at Simon in time to watch the black veins disappear from his face.

He stood and held out his hand with a bright smile like he hadn't just been kissing my throat. "I have one more stop for us today."

I took his hand.