Undone by the Star Read Online Free PDF

Alex’s hair had a copper sheen to it in the sun and she seemed happy to be out of uniform, more relaxed than he’d seen her before, in a pair of form-fitting jeans and a cotton top. He could hardly take his eyes off her.
    Knots of antique hunters and gaggles of tourists gathered in front of shop windows and spilled over into the street making it difficult to navigate. They stepped to one side to finish their coffees, then rejoined the crowd.
    “Hey, check this out!” Alex beckoned him towards a window filled with vintage costumes, travel trunks and all the props for a 1920s weekend in the country. “Isn’t that your era?”
    Marc had told her about the film he was working on when they first set out, a post-war drama set on a crumbling estate in Yorkshire. He was excited about his meeting with the studio execs the day before, and wanted to share it with her, but most of all, he’d wanted to ease any awkwardness she might feel over this “date” of theirs.
    He studied their reflections in the shop window. Without thinking, he set his hands on Alex’s shoulders. And felt her freeze. Her eyes shot up to his and held steady. Marc felt her body relax beneath his hands and the warm floral scent she wore wrapped around him. Like shadows they held steady in the reflection of the window, intimately, breathlessly, connected. And then the moment was gone, jostled by a knapsack-wearing tourist.
    Probably for the best, thought Marc. He dropped his hands and took her elbow.
    “Come on,” he said, “let’s find those lead soldiers your grandmother was telling me about.”
    “Across the street,” said Alex pointing the way. “Exactly how did you meet my grandfather?”
    “My godfather was an avid collector of lead soldiers, and your grandfather was the executor of his estate,” explained Marc. “Whenever I visited, I always helped my godfather clean the figures. I loved to line them up in their regiments, and play with them, which is probably why he left me his collection when he died. I was maybe ten at the time. Your grandfather helped me box it up and arrange for it to be shipped to the States.”
    They were moving at a snail’s pace. Marc shifted his hand to Alex’s shoulder so they wouldn’t get separated. “But, and this is the cool part, he had me pick my favourite soldier and we packed it in cotton wool. It should travel with me, he said, just like an army scout.”
    Alex smiled back at him. “My Grampa must have died shortly after that. I wasn’t very old but I loved the smell of him when I sat on his lap. All smoky and spicy from his aftershave.”
    He squeezed her shoulder. She reached up and squeezed his hand back.
    “In here,” she said, cutting through the stream of pedestrians to enter the Antique Hall. It was incredibly cramped inside, tiny shops with barely room to pass by, let alone get a good look at all the silver and jewels beneath the glass counters, or the fine laces and art lining the walls. Every surface was covered. Every step meant pushing shoulder to shoulder past other shoppers. The rumble of hundreds of conversations was as much a physical presence as the goods on offer.
    Alex mouthed, “This way.”
    Marc leaned his head close to her ear. “Don’t want to lose you,” he murmured as he reached for her hand.
    Alex simply nodded. She could feel the warmth of their togetherness working its way perilously close to her heart. Just for today, she told herself, she would let herself forget who he was…who she was.
    They edged past heaps of antique silver, paused at a display of military patches, insignia and medals, and came to a full stop in front of a glass counter housing a magnificent collection of lead soldiers.
    “These are amazing,” Marc said in her ear, his breath caressing her skin. While Marc spoke with the dealer, Alex pressed up against the counter, feeling a little weak at the knees, her eyes roaming over the mock battles and rows of infantrymen. They were sorted by