here.”
“Good. Let’s eat and then we can see some sights. I was thinking maybe the Royal Palace and a trip down the canals?”
I brightened and he smiled at my obvious excitement. “That sounds wonderful. I’d love to!”
Room service arrived then, and the waiter set it out on the table as if he was a maitre d’ at a Michelin star restaurant. And we weren’t just eating some sandwiches.
My croissant and melted cheese was to die for. Adam laughed at my obvious pleasure in the food, but I could tell he was having a similar reaction to his roast beef. “If I could get away with flying these in for lunch every day from Amsterdam to Irvine, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“Oh, that’s probably pocket change for you.”
“Nope. I could never bring myself to do it. An ostentatious waste. I already feel enough guilt over my carbon footprint and I pay to offset it. But when I do get a chance to stay here, I make sure to have one. I also took one to space with me.”
“Shut up!” I said, my eyeballs almost falling out of my head. “You’ve been to space?”
He nodded, finishing up his next bite. “I spent ten days at the International Space Station last year. Biggest high of my life.”
Every minute I spent with this man, he managed to surprise me even more. “Are you an astronaut, too?”
“A space tourist, more like. The Russians sell slots on their launches to the highest bidder. I got lucky. It happens often,” he said, shooting me a meaningful look.
But he hardly got a reaction from me. I was still reeling from the news that he’d been to space. “What was it like?”
His eyes drifted off to the side and had a sparkling quality about them, liked polished onyx. “It was…indescribable.”
I blew out a breath of disbelief. “Give me something to work with. Come on, just a few adjectives?”
He paused. “Unforgettable. Unbelievable. Like…the entire world had gone silent. The whitest of white points against the blackest black and huge, blue world below my feet.”
I took another bite of my delish sandwich, contemplating his words. “That’s very poetic for a geek. It’s fortunate that I can never quote you because you might have to have your geek card revoked if it gets out.”
He grinned. “I’m a geek for life. Not only am I president of the geek club but I’m also a member.”
I snickered and bit into my sandwich. “If your geek card isn’t revoked because of the poetry it should definitely be revoked for having all those muscles.” I said and then blushed scarlet, realizing I was still remembering that vision of him with his shirt off. The firm pecs, the clearly defined abs and biceps, like he’d been chiseled from marble. “Geeks don’t have muscles,” I said, lamely covering my embarrassment.
It was true. What kind of computer programmer had a body like that? He smirked. “The geeks who didn’t like getting picked on in school and decided to bulk up as a deterrent do.”
I studied him as I finished up my sandwich, hard-pressed to imagine any idiot picking on Adam. But I had no idea what he’d been like as a youth, so how could I know? Whatever the incentive, it had worked. It, along with his brilliant mind, handsome face and dark good looks completed a whole dreamy package. One that, I’d bet, many women tried to get their hands on. I pondered that in silence over the rest of my sandwich. I’d found no information about any previous relationships online. Maybe he’d made those women sign NDAs too.
We spent the afternoon at the Royal Palace and then on a guided tour down the canal. The city was vibrant, clean, a stunning fusion of old world and new. I’d now stepped into an even stranger world than the one I’d entered in that first-class line at LAX. This world included only one other person and I was sharing every experience, all the conversation—for we were rarely without something to talk about—with him. To use his words, it was like the entire world had
“Good. Let’s eat and then we can see some sights. I was thinking maybe the Royal Palace and a trip down the canals?”
I brightened and he smiled at my obvious excitement. “That sounds wonderful. I’d love to!”
Room service arrived then, and the waiter set it out on the table as if he was a maitre d’ at a Michelin star restaurant. And we weren’t just eating some sandwiches.
My croissant and melted cheese was to die for. Adam laughed at my obvious pleasure in the food, but I could tell he was having a similar reaction to his roast beef. “If I could get away with flying these in for lunch every day from Amsterdam to Irvine, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“Oh, that’s probably pocket change for you.”
“Nope. I could never bring myself to do it. An ostentatious waste. I already feel enough guilt over my carbon footprint and I pay to offset it. But when I do get a chance to stay here, I make sure to have one. I also took one to space with me.”
“Shut up!” I said, my eyeballs almost falling out of my head. “You’ve been to space?”
He nodded, finishing up his next bite. “I spent ten days at the International Space Station last year. Biggest high of my life.”
Every minute I spent with this man, he managed to surprise me even more. “Are you an astronaut, too?”
“A space tourist, more like. The Russians sell slots on their launches to the highest bidder. I got lucky. It happens often,” he said, shooting me a meaningful look.
But he hardly got a reaction from me. I was still reeling from the news that he’d been to space. “What was it like?”
His eyes drifted off to the side and had a sparkling quality about them, liked polished onyx. “It was…indescribable.”
I blew out a breath of disbelief. “Give me something to work with. Come on, just a few adjectives?”
He paused. “Unforgettable. Unbelievable. Like…the entire world had gone silent. The whitest of white points against the blackest black and huge, blue world below my feet.”
I took another bite of my delish sandwich, contemplating his words. “That’s very poetic for a geek. It’s fortunate that I can never quote you because you might have to have your geek card revoked if it gets out.”
He grinned. “I’m a geek for life. Not only am I president of the geek club but I’m also a member.”
I snickered and bit into my sandwich. “If your geek card isn’t revoked because of the poetry it should definitely be revoked for having all those muscles.” I said and then blushed scarlet, realizing I was still remembering that vision of him with his shirt off. The firm pecs, the clearly defined abs and biceps, like he’d been chiseled from marble. “Geeks don’t have muscles,” I said, lamely covering my embarrassment.
It was true. What kind of computer programmer had a body like that? He smirked. “The geeks who didn’t like getting picked on in school and decided to bulk up as a deterrent do.”
I studied him as I finished up my sandwich, hard-pressed to imagine any idiot picking on Adam. But I had no idea what he’d been like as a youth, so how could I know? Whatever the incentive, it had worked. It, along with his brilliant mind, handsome face and dark good looks completed a whole dreamy package. One that, I’d bet, many women tried to get their hands on. I pondered that in silence over the rest of my sandwich. I’d found no information about any previous relationships online. Maybe he’d made those women sign NDAs too.
We spent the afternoon at the Royal Palace and then on a guided tour down the canal. The city was vibrant, clean, a stunning fusion of old world and new. I’d now stepped into an even stranger world than the one I’d entered in that first-class line at LAX. This world included only one other person and I was sharing every experience, all the conversation—for we were rarely without something to talk about—with him. To use his words, it was like the entire world had
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