He shifted his weight, and I again noticed his muscular thighs, calves. “Yeah? Why inside?”
I continued up the steps. At the door, I paused once more and looked at him. “I’ve got something to show you.”
His white teeth flashed. “Now you’re talking, Sunshine. See ya at eight.”
I watched Brax swagger away, and noticed how his muscular legs bowed a little. A strong, sexy, athletic-type bowed walk. Completely arrogant, male and confident. He broke into a trot across the Science complex and disappeared through two buildings. I couldn’t quite figure out what he wanted with me, but somehow, I was glad for his interest. Despite his reputation, and the rumors, he was nice. Really nice. Somehow he’d mastered a way to put me at ease. Not an easy feat by no means. Which is why I’d thought to show him a view through my scope after work. I’d Googled the weather and it promised to be a perfectly clear and starry night sky.
I pushed through the double doors of the observatory, and the cool air flushed over my skin. Noah was seated at the front desk, and gave me a broad smile as I walked toward him. Before I reached the desk, he stood. I noticed the blue Winston U Observatory collared shirt he wore, with a silver celestial logo on the left upper chest.
“Hey, Olivia,” he said, and reached beneath the counter. He handed me a blue plastic draw-string souvenir bag. “Three work shirts. Just like this one,” he said, and tugged at his collar. “Do you remember where the employee break room is?”
I took the bag he offered and nodded. “I do.”
“Great. There’s a restroom in there where you can change, and I see you brought your scope.” He eyed my bag.
“I can’t wait,” I confessed. “A friend is going to come by after I get off work. Is it okay—”
“Sure, no problem,” Noah interrupted me. He rubbed his chin and grinned. “As long as there’s no horsing around, as Dr. Callander calls it. But I don’t take you as someone who horses around too much.”
I grinned. “I do try to contain it if I can.”
“I’m sure you do.” Noah inclined his head toward the hallway that led to the employee’s lounge. “When you finish changing you’ll find Steven in observation room #3, cleaning the planetarium display.” He smiled. “He couldn’t wait for you to get here to help.”
I raised my brows and headed down the hallway. “Oh boy,” I said, then waved. “Thanks, Noah.”
“You bet. Oh, and my office is just across the hall from the lounge. You can stash your scope behind my desk.”
I took a few minutes in the employee restroom to change shirts and wash my face, then found a place to store my scope in Noah’s office. After heading down the wrong hall, I found my way to observation room #3. Steven was just climbing down from a ladder situated beneath an enormous Saturn model when he spotted me.
“Whoa! Olivia!” he said, and hurried over to me. His dark shaggy hair swung over his eyes, and he flipped it to the side. “I got here an hour ago so I could leave an hour early.” His chin lifted. “I have a stargazer’s meeting. Amateur and off-campus, but don’t worry. It’s only once a month. Anyway,” he pointed overhead, “we need to get all the planets wiped down, as well as the upper and lower rows of recessed lights. And auditorium seats. I’ve already cleaned the left side of each, plus three planets. There’s a presentation this up-coming weekend.” He pointed. “Come on, your cleaning stuff’s over here.” He walked to the side wall where sure enough, my planetarium cleaning supplies sat in a plastic bucket.
“Okay, no problem,” I answered.
“I’ll get your ladder set up,” he offered.
“Hey, that’s all right,” I stopped him. “Steven, I’m used to hard work. I can handle a ladder.”
He gave me a long look, then nodded. “I like a nerdy girl with a strong back. We’ll work great together, Olivia.”
I chuckled, found my ladder and situated it beneath Mars. I grabbed my bucket and dug in. I was pretty sure the planets hadn’t been cleaned in a while, and the tacky residue on the metal exterior wasn’t easy to remove. Steven and I talked about class, our observation logs and upcoming night observations, and his weird roommate Curtis who ate orange peels. It passed the time and soon, the planets were finished, as were the recessed lights.
“I’ll finish up these seats if you want to go ahead and leave,” I told Steven.
“Sincerely?” he asked. “Thanks! I owe ya one.” He grabbed his supplies and stopped at the door. “When you’re finished you can leave your bucket in the tool closet, just down from the lounge. See ya in class.”