“Oh yes?”

“It was a sanctuary of sorts—a good place to collect my thoughts.”

“I can understand that. Would you like to go up?”

I smiled. “I’d love that.”

He led me up the left staircase, still holding my hand. We stepped into the large, round room and without saying anything, we both headed off in a different direction, me to the left and James to the right.

We circled the perimeter of the room slowly, connected only by our eyes.

The room smelled of leather and paper, of humanity, history, and contemplation. Snippets of whispers filled the air, but mostly there was the stillness. It felt familiar, like home. As I embarked on the bigger life I’d promised myself, I knew I would need to find somewhere like it in Sydney, somewhere I could just be.

I kept my eyes on James as we walked, first away from each other, then ever closer. We met on the opposite side of the room, oblivious to the other people in the space. When we were toe to toe, we shared a smile. “Hello,” he whispered.

“Hello,” I whispered back, a tingling sensation rushing through me.

He took my hand again and led me from the room. When we stepped outside, he stopped on the top of the staircase and kissed me fervently and quickly. It lasted just long enough to elicit an, “Ahem!” from someone nearby, but I didn’t care about propriety.

It had been a magical afternoon. Even going to a place I knew, somewhere I’d been dozens of times before, was a new experience with James. As he drove us through London, heading east towards Cat’s flat, I thought about that bigger life I wanted. That afternoon had been a great start.

And maybe I did like surprises, especially when they came in the package of a six-foot-something, blue-eyed silver fox. I hadn’t wanted to meet anyone in Greece, yet here was a man who was bright and exciting and sexy.

Quite simply, James was a wonderful surprise.

*

“You got a private tour of the British Museum?!” asked Cat, obviously impressed.

I was bustling around her kitchen making a frittata for our dinner. With toast being her biggest contribution to the culinary world, she was sitting at the breakfast bar, keeping out of my way. We were both sipping wine—not a stunning bottle from the Loire Valley, but a cheap and cheerful chardonnay she’d picked up at Sainsbury’s on the way home.

“Not the whole museum—that could take a week.”

“True.”

“But she did walk us through the Acropolis exhibit. Cat, she’s amazing. She’s brilliant for a start. She gave us the most incredible insight into—”

“Enough about the gorgeous Italian woman,” Cat waved her hand at me impatiently. “I want to hear more about your date with the silver fox.”

“But Valentina is an important part of my date.” She rolled her eyes, so I skipped ahead to the Reading Room and the kiss on the stairs. Cat’s mouth popped open.