She regarded him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Drew found he was holding his breath.
“All right,” she said at last. “Impress me.”
Chapter Three
“Are you out of your damn mind?” Eva asked, not for the first time since they had started the climb. “How is this legal? This cannot be legal!” She gripped the iron rungs firmly, and Drew noticed she was actually having no trouble with the ascent up the spare, metal scaffold.
“Wanna bet?” he called up to her over the singing wind.
“Not particularly,” she retorted. “Not now that I know you only make loaded bets.”
“I’m more risk-averse than I let on,” Drew corrected her. “I only like to bet on a sure thing.”
“Death and taxes, Mr. Brantley,” Eva reminded him. “The only two sure things.”
“You sure are good with the light banter,” he said, slightly winded with the effort to keep up with her. “Jesus, how fit are you? You’re not even out of breath. Here, take that ladder to the right, next.”
From the narrow catwalk they crossed to the next ladder, the last leg of their climb. Drew’s hands were chilled to the bone despite his insulated ski gloves, and he could only imagine Eva had to be even colder, slender as she was. He admired her for not complaining. Almost as much as he admired her for the extremely fine rear view she presented as she climbed nimbly up the ladder above him. Her parka only came down to mid-hip, and the jeans she had changed into were strategically faded. God, he loved it when jeans were strategically faded. Not that the ass in question needed any highlighting to look stunning.
“Almost there,” he reassured her with a shout.
Then they were there, Eva hitting the top platform with a visible sigh of relief and Drew crowding up the ladder behind her.
“Okay, now don’t turn around yet. And close your eyes.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she grumbled, but gripped the back rail on the narrow ledge they were standing on, squeezing her eyes shut.
Carefully, Drew turned her around by the shoulders and then slid his hands down her arms to help her find the front rail. He pulled his hands back only as far as her waist, telling himself it was to help steady her, and that the two or three inches of down padding in her parka covered everything really interesting anyway.
“Okay. Tilt your head back a tiny bit and open your eyes.”
He tried to see it as Eva would be seeing it, for the first time. The panoramic view of the surrounding farmland, silver in the light of the sinking half-moon, and then the infinity of stars overhead. The cold front had passed, leaving only fresh snow on the ground and a bit of ice in the newly clear air. They were just far enough away from any severe light pollution that the lights of the night sky could be seen in all their sparkling glory.
“Oh…” she whispered, and then let her head drop back against his shoulder as she took in the astonishing view. Each star, crisp and clear as if seen in a textbook, something one couldn’t see in Indianapolis or even in the middle of a small suburban town.
After a few minutes of silence, which Drew hated to break, he bent close to Eva’s ear—the bottom half, with a delicate pearl earring she’d been wearing since the beginning of the evening peeking from beneath her black, fleecy ski cap.
“Let me know when you get too cold,” he murmured.
“I was already too cold when we started,” she admitted. “But it was worth it. This is beautiful.”
“Did I impress you?”
Eva laughed. “Yes, you impressed me.”
“You want to see something else impressive?”
“Please tell me that isn’t a double entendre. Okay, what?”
“This way.” He pulled her by one hand down to the opposite end of the platform, to a door Eva hadn’t seen before, apparently leading into the dome-like structure they had climbed.
“I thought this was a water tower or something,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “In the dark, you know.”
“Nope. Observatory. We didn’t exactly come in by the front gate.” He opened the door to reveal a round room occupied by two bespectacled astronomers and the biggest telescope Eva had ever seen. The sliding roof was open a wedge, but a space heater warmed the desk area somewhat.
“Brantley! Where you been, man?” The younger of the two men greeted Drew warmly with a handclasp and a slap on the shoulder. “And who have we here? Good evening,” he said, dropping his voice and shifting gears instantly when he got a good look at Eva. “Welcome to the Brantley-DeWitt Observatory Facility. I’m Dr. Davis, and if there is anything I can do to assist you while you’re here, anything at all, please don’t hesitate—”