UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

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6

Becca gazed back at Vienna from the top deck as the boat pulled away. She touched the soft scarf draped around her neck. She still couldn’t believe he’d bought it for her.

Today had turned out to be the best day ever. Nikolai had been the nicest, funniest guy she’d ever met. Suddenly all the pain she felt over Ethan dumping her for Kelly evaporated as if he’d never even mattered.

Unfortunately, the perfect guy had to be from some obscure European country. If she had been able to tell him their next stop, maybe he would have wanted to meet her there. Heck, she didn’t even know the name of the boat. She glanced across the deck and saw a decorative life ring with the ship name, Bolero, painted on it.

She should have asked for his email address or if he was on Facebook. But if he didn’t want to give his address, that would have been awkward. Maybe it was better this way. She leaned on the railing and watched the city grow distant. Either way, Nikolai had been so charming and nice, not to mention really good-looking. He was the best thing to happen in longer than she could remember.

“Oh no. Sulking over your European hottie?” Dylan joined her.

“Hardly. I just met the guy,” she said in a cheery voice, belying her real mood.

“Yeah, I saw how he looked at you.”

“How was that?” She hadn’t noticed him looking at her in any special way.

“The same way you were looking at him. Like he was a chocolate ice cream cone and you couldn’t wait to take a lick.”

“Dylan! Shut up!” She swatted him.

“I’m just saying, the guy was totally into you.”

Tingles fluttered in her stomach at Dylan’s comment. “I finally find a guy who’s interested and then I have to leave. What did I do to deserve such rotten luck?”

“Maybe it’s a sign that there are better guys out there, and you should stop settling for self-centered losers. Take me, for example. I am constantly testing the laws of attraction. The more you put yourself out there, the more awesome people you’ll cross paths with.”

Dylan might have a point, but the only person she wanted to cross paths with would be miles away by morning.

* * *

The next afternoon, surrounded by a mass of tourists who moved like zombies, Becca resigned herself to the fact that she’d have to tolerate having ancient history crammed down her throat for the rest of the trip. After that, she could go home to her familiar life of hanging with friends on State Street, boating on the lake, and getting ready for college. She couldn’t wait to escape the daily annoyance of spending time with her dad and Vicky. They were not a family unit and never would be.

Their tour group meandered through the quaint village of Melk, Austria, adorned with its shuttered windows, pastel-hued buildings, colored planters bursting with flowers, and the occasional sidewalk café. The sun glared brightly, so she pulled on a baseball cap along with her sunglasses. She wore a tank top and her hair up in a knot, in hopes of surviving the hot day. Small groups of tourists wandered in the opposite direction, having finished their tours of the abbey. Becca wished she belonged to the departing crowd.

The guide paused to point out an ancient fresco painted on the side of a building. As most of the group stared upward, mesmerized by the refurbished painting of a mythic God, Becca’s eyes wandered down the side street where a middle-aged man swept the cobblestones outside his shop. Across from the man she noticed a simple painted sign, Hostel.

That’s what Vicky had been talking about the other night, cheap lodging for students as they backpacked through Europe. At that moment, the door opened and a guy stepped out. His tall lean frame reminded Becca of Nikolai, even though he faced the opposite direction. Then he turned and glanced in her direction, and she noticed that his blue baseball cap was embroidered with the word Vienna. Nikolai!

But Nikolai looked away and began to walk in the other direction. Didn’t he see her? She could swear he looked right at her. She stepped away from her group. “Nikolai!”

He paused in his steps and turned. She removed her hat and sunglasses. Nikolai did a double take, and broke into his megawatt smile. Becca laughed and fought the urge to squeal her excitement. He shook his head in disbelief and headed toward her. The familiar gait of his step set her heart racing.

“I didn’t plan this. I swear it.” He grinned, looking as surprised as she.

“What are the odds?” She feasted upon his gorgeous face, broad shoulders, and the shorts that hugged his hips in an Abercrombie kind of way.

“A million to one. At least. Nice scarf,” he said.

“Thanks. It’s from an old friend.”

The tour started to move on without them. Becca desperately wished she could disappear with Nikolai, but what lame excuse could she give her dad for skipping the tour?

Nikolai gestured to the departing group. “Let’s go. We don’t want to be left behind.”

“You’re coming with?” she asked, still dumbfounded by his sudden appearance, and now thrilled he planned to stick around.

“Well, yeah. It’s a free country. I assume your tour is going to the Melk Abbey. I hear it’s the hottest ticket in town.”

“But you’re not part of our group,” she said, afraid he’d be discovered and land in trouble.

“Haven’t you heard? The abbey is open to anyone, not just American riverboat passengers who hate history.”

He winked and she thought she might self-combust right there. Thank you, fate, I don’t know how you pulled this off, but I’m glad you did!

They followed the crowd to the huge open courtyard of the Melk Abbey. The massive building was painted the shade of straw at harvest time and looked like a combination of a Spanish hacienda and a castle.

Becca couldn’t help but wonder how Nikolai had ended up here. Had he somehow followed their boat up the river all through the night? “So, what made you stop in Melk?”

“Apparently, you.” His blue eyes twinkled. “After you left yesterday, Vienna wasn’t much fun, so I decided to head out. I planned on riding a lot farther, but I kept seeing signs for Melk. When I was a kid, my parents brought me here for a—a tour. I took the turnoff and spotted a sign for the hostel. And look, you’re here, too!”

As everyone gathered in the courtyard, Becca wondered how she’d explain Nikolai to her dad and Vicky. There were groups from several boats, so it was easy to stay out of their sight, but then Dylan appeared. When he spotted Nikolai at her side, he raised an eyebrow, smiled, and disappeared back into the crowd.

“So you’re really planning on taking the tour?” she asked.

“Of course, isn’t that why we’re here? And you obviously need some serious education in European history. You Americans are too ignorant about the rest of the world,” he teased.

“And you’re going to teach me?” she challenged.

“Yes, ma’am, I am.”

“But what if the guides figure out you’re not with our group?”

“What are you afraid of? That they’ll call the police?” He grinned as if relishing the idea.

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Becca, I have spent most of my whole life doing the right thing. I think breaking a few rules is exactly what I need. And it sounds like you could use a little rule breaking yourself.” He bumped her shoulder with his. She had to agree, since all she’d been doing lately was whatever her dad or Vicky said. Breaking rules sounded pretty good right now.

Their tour guide, Luis, a self-confessed professor of history with shaggy brown hair, round-rimmed glasses, and a rumpled wool jacket led them into the Melk Abbey. He spoke into a small microphone that relayed his voice to the audio boxes that each cruise passenger wore.

“Here, want to share?” Becca held out one of the tiny speakers.

Nikolai looked at the small device. “Sure.”

Becca pulled the earbuds farther apart so that his could reach him. He accepted the earpiece. In order to stay connected, they walked close together, which Becca didn’t mind at all.

They listened through the earbud to Luis’s fluent English tinged with a thick German accent.

“The abbey was founded in 1089 when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria, gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey.”

Becca ignored Luis. She was only aware of Nikolai, who shuffled alongside her, his shoulder brushing hers as they tried to stay connected. She glanced over and found him listening intently. Was he really this into history?

Luis droned on. “Today’s impressive Baroque abbey was built between 1650 and 1700 to designs by Johann Prandtauer.”

Nikolai leaned down as they walked and whispered in her ear. “He’s wrong.”

“What?” she asked, noticing the bow shape of his mouth and his perfectly straight teeth.

“He’s wrong about the dates. They didn’t start building it until the early 1700s. And the designer wasn’t Johann; it was Jakob.”

Becca stopped short and the earbud pulled out of her ear. “How do you know that? Are you some sort of freak?”

Nikolai handed her earpiece back, grinning. “I wrote a term paper on the architectural design of Melk Abbey for school, and I have an excellent memory.”

“I’m impressed.” She placed the earbud back in her ear.

“Here, let’s stay together.” Nikolai put his arm around her shoulder, so they stood closer, and the earbuds had less chance of falling out again. Becca held back a grin as her stomach did a flip. She enjoyed the scent of Nikolai’s shaving cream or maybe it was his shampoo.

The tour led them down a long corridor and into a room different from the rest, lit in a neon-blue low light. A Plexiglas display case housed a suitcase-sized Bible, so old the relic could have been written by Jesus himself.

“This looks more like a New Age nightclub than an abbey,” Becca whispered. “I feel like a deejay’s going to start playing and monks are going to dance in.” Nikolai caressed her bare shoulder with his thumb, sending shivers through her. She hoped he didn’t stop.

Becca giggled. “Not too much history in here.”

“And I’m so disappointed. I really wanted to teach you a few things.” He whispered close to her ear, his breath tickled her neck.

“Did you now?”

“What? I’m talking about history. What are you thinking about?” he said, his blue eyes all wide and innocent, but she knew better.

They moved from the blue room into a green-hued room filled with centuries-old papal robes. The next room was lit bright yellow, and held encased gold crosses and Communion chalices. Nikolai appeared to be interested, but Becca wondered if he even listened to the guide dribble on about this eight-hundred-year-old trunk or that six-hundred-year-old rosary. Becca was tempted to turn the speaker off, but didn’t want to risk losing Nikolai’s arm, which he draped comfortably around her. He occasionally whispered something in her ear that made her laugh.

Next they entered a richly adorned library, so huge that it spanned two stories. Narrow walkways led to the books. Old tomes occupied every inch of the richly hued wooden shelves. The guide rattled on about how this was only a small percent of all the tens of thousands of books in the abbey collection, and that several other rooms hosted even more. Bringing up the rear, as the group shuffled over the marble floors, Becca and Nikolai passed a narrow winding staircase with a No Admittance sign blocking entry. Becca leaned over and looked up. A spiral staircase went up several stories.

“Look at that. It’s amazing.” Becca leaned over the railing and pointed up. The staircase wound skyward and the banister created an artistic view leading to the painted ceiling several stories above.

“Let’s check it out.” Nikolai unhooked the velvet rope blocking the stairway.

“Are you out of your mind? We can’t go up there!”

“Sure we can. Come on.” He pulled her along and reattached the rope behind them.

“Oh my God. We are going to get in so much trouble.” And she never got in trouble, but she didn’t want to miss a moment of Nikolai.

“Only if we get caught.” He smirked.