At some point, we had entered a city, but I’d missed the sign, so we could be anywhere. We parked on a busy street where localsand tourists blended together. Was it the weekend? I wasn’t sure anymore. Time blurred together in this sunny country. Even those with jobs strolled lazily down the street, relaxed and without trouble on their minds. I found myself smiling, carried by their ease, feeling like one of them.
As we walked down the street, I caught Luke watching me. “What?”
“Nothing, just... you look happy,” he said.
“I’m always happy,” I replied, laughing.
“You always make others think that you’re happy. But right now, I think you actually are.” His words settled inside me, but before I could respond, he smirked. “But not as happy as you’ll be in 3...2...1...”
We turned a corner, and I froze, finally recognizing where we were. A tall white building stood before me, adorned with intricate flowers and angels carved into the stone. Above the large wooden doors, gold lettering shimmered in the soft afternoon sun.
“No,” I gasped, turning to Luke. “Livraria Lello. I’ve always wanted to come here!” A grin stretched across my face as I covered my mouth with my palm.
“Wow, look at that,” Norah added, captivated by the patterns etched into every surface.
“It’s one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world, and we haven’t even got inside of it. Ahh, the red stairs,” I practically shouted. Confusion flickered across their faces, but they’d understand soon.
“You know this is the place where J.K. Rowling had the inspiration to write Harry Potter?” I told the most well-known fact in the publishing world, although Norah seemed more interested in the hidden patterns of rooftop tiles. Typical Ravenclaw.
We stepped inside, and it stole my breath immediately. For the next hour, I got lost in the old wooden shelves, surrounded by the incredible smell of book pages that you only get when they’re endlessly flipped by hundreds of visitors. Finally, I had the chance to do the same.
I scanned every shelf, a few books catching my eye, but thoughts of my carry-ons and the dreaded airline weight limit kept me in check. Even if I ditched every piece of clothing, it still might not be enough. All I wanted was to take home at least one treasure from this beautiful place.
On the other hand, a hundred books couldn’t outweigh the heaviness in my heart about Luke and our misstep yesterday. I needed to talk to him. As summoned, he climbed the stunning red staircase and strode straight toward me.
“So, does the U.S. Federal Reserve print as many dollars as we’re spending here?” he quipped.
“You dummy, they use euros here,” I shot back.
Luke’s gaze skimmed the shelves in front of him. We were standing in the middle of the Romance section, filled with kissing couples on the covers, each only differing in pose and background color.
“Who reads these? They’re basically all the same,” Luke said, picking upThe Notebook. On the cover, Ryan Gosling was holding Rachel McAdams in his arms, sharing a passionate kiss in the rain.
“Don’t you dare hate on my man Nicholas.” I turned my attention to the book. “Don’t listen to him, you two are perfect. Haters gonna hate.” Luke snorted a laugh.
“I just find it hard to believe. It’s too easy a story.” I snatched the book out of his hands because he clearly didn’t deserve Noah and Allie.
“It’s an incredible story of two opposite people falling madly in love and choosing each other despite their differences, evenafter all those years. It’s the total opposite of easy. Besides,” I added, putting the book back on the shelf and looking at it from afar, “who doesn’t like to be kissed in the rain?” As the words left my mouth, heat rushed to my cheeks. I knew he felt the shift as much as I did.
“Good to know,” he said, a smile on his lips. I didn’t have to see it to know he had one.
That’s enough. I was flirting with him, and that had to stop.
“Listen, Luke,” I said, checking if others weren’t listening. “About yesterday.” I pushed out a breath, dreading this conversation since the moment I woke up this morning. “I shouldn’t have done that to you. With you. I mean, kiss you. Of course, you kissed me too, I guess, but...” I was rambling, but Luke looked unaffected. “I was a part of it and I didn’t stop it, even though I should have, because we shouldn’t be doing this.”
“You didn’t like the kiss?”
“That’s not what I said.” I shook my head, trying to get back on track, but it was hard with those tanned muscles flexing on purpose and calling me by my full government name.
“Is there a particular reason why you’re reading the end of a book?” he asked, completely derailing the conversation.
“What?” I blurted a little bit too loudly, and a lady behind us turned her head and shushed us.
“When I walked up, you were reading the last page. Why?”
“Did you hear what I just said?” I asked, frustrated.
“Just answer the question.”
