Only Mine (Fool's Gold #4)(35)

They turned.

For a second, Aurelia wondered if they would be allowed to simply walk away. But nothing happened as they dashed up an escalator. As the stairs carried them to another floor, she was able to draw in a deep breath.

“You okay? I thought you were going to faint,” Stephen told her.

“I was terrified,” she admitted. “I can’t believe Geoff brought us all here without making arrangements with the hotel. It’s not a surprise they don’t want us filming. They don’t know what we’re going do with it. It could be a scam. Or a trick to cheat or something.”

She had more to say but suddenly couldn’t speak. Stephen was riding on the step behind her. Without warning, he rested one hand on her hip as he leaned toward her.

Aurelia did her best to act casual. Shrieking in surprise wasn’t very appropriate. Besides, she’d taken his hand in hers to pull him away from the security guy—although that had been different. She couldn’t explain why, but knew it was.

When they reached the top of the escalator, they stepped off. She planned to continue her analysis of what it all meant, only she couldn’t. Not when it seemed as if they’d entered another world.

Above them, the ceiling was painted sky blue with clouds that almost appeared to float by. They were in the hotel, but she felt like they really could be outside. There were stores and restaurants and…

“Look,” she breathed, pointing to the narrow boats floating on a man-made canal. “Gondolas.”

“Want to ride?” he asked, then urged her forward. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”

There wasn’t much of a line, so in a matter of minutes, she was carefully stepping into the gondola. It wobbled on the water, but she managed to sit down without falling. Stephen sat next to her.

There wasn’t a lot of room, so he was close. Close enough for her to feel the softness of his long-sleeved shirt against her hand and the pressure of his thigh against hers.

“Ever done anything like this before?” he asked as he looked around. “No.”

Never. Not even in her dreams.

They took the leisurely boat ride through a winding course. People walking by stopped to wave. Music echoed off the ceiling and reverberated all around them. She caught sight of stores whose names she’d only seen in magazines. Everything about the moment was perfect.

Then Stephen put his arm around her and it all got better.

When they rounded a corner, a man was waiting with a camera. He told them to smile, then snapped their picture. Once the ride was over, they went to check on the digital image displayed on a computer screen.

“You’re beautiful,” Stephen told her.

Aurelia knew he was being kind, but she was pleased with how the photo had turned out. They were both looking at the camera, with genuine smiles. She noticed they were leaning into each other and looked very much like a couple. If one ignored the age difference.

“We’ll take two,” he said, then paid for them.

“I should buy them.”

“Why?”

Because she made more than him. Because he was still in college and this wasn’t a date. But she didn’t want to say any of that, so instead she simply said, “Thank you,” when he handed her the thin bag containing the pictures in a paper frame.

“Hungry?” Stephen asked, pointing to one of the outdoor restaurants.

“Yes.”

“Good. Me, too.”

It was midafternoon, and there wasn’t much of a crowd. They were seated immediately at a small corner table next to a plant. Despite being in the open, the space felt private. Intimate.

The server gave them menus. Even though she was hungry, Aurelia couldn’t imagine eating. She chose a salad and iced tea. Stephen ordered a pizza and soda.

“You know why I decided to do the show,” she said. “Why did you?”

He picked up his fork and turned it over in his hands. “A lot of reasons. I wanted to get out of South Salmon and this was a good way.”

“A good way? You left college in your last semester. How is that smart?”

Stephan rolled his eyes but Aurelia persisted.

“Getting an education can’t hurt. What are you going to do when the show is over?”

Stephen put down the fork and leaned toward her. “I don’t want to fly.”

“I don’t understand. You want to drive back to Alaska?”

He laughed. “No. I mean I don’t want to be a pilot, like my brother. I don’t want to go into the family business.”

“Oh.” She knew all about family expectations. Despite the fact that she was nearly thirty, she had never once been able to please her mother. “Is that what Finn wants? He expects you to go into the family business?”

“It’s implied.”

“Have you told him how you feel?”

“No. He doesn’t care about that.”

Aurelia shook her head. “You’re talking about a man who flew a thousand miles to make sure you and your brother were okay. I think he cares a lot about you.”

“That’s different. He wants me home so he can control me. If I were to tell him that I wanted to be an engineer, he’d fly me up to ten thousand feet and kick me out of the airplane.”

“Now you’re talking like a kid.”