At first she was bored. Oh, the bike ride to the Parthenon had been exciting enough. The Ducati’s engine roared, drowning out the sounds of the traffic, and Callum wove in and out between cars as if he’d been born in Athens. A few times, Eva closed her eyes and pressed her head against his shoulders. She’d worn a helmet—Callum insisted—but it buckled below her chin and left her cheeks clear. Wind tore into her eyes and she was glad he’d insisted on her changing—she’d never have been able to keep her dress from riding up to her hips.

Once at the Acropolis, they parked and had to climb up to view the Parthenon. Callum went on and on about how the columns appeared to be straight but actually were slightly curved and leaned inward.

“Think of it—this building is the most copied structure in the world, from the French Parliament, to the U.S. Supreme Court, to banks, and museums—they all look to this building as the symbol of strength and democracy. And it’s here in Athens, where Socrates studied philosophy, and Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine, visited Athens, and even Herodotus, who pretty much started the study of history, wrote about it.”

Eva glanced up at the pale, marble columns. Construction equipment lurked in the inside of the Parthenon—Athena’s temple, she knew. She shrugged. “It’s a lot of stone—and it’s going to fall down someday.”

Callum shook his head. “You have no romance in your soul—and no ideas in your brain!”

She stiffened. “I do too!”

He took her shoulders and turned her. “Look. This is a masterpiece. There’s not a right angle here, or a straight line. It’s illusion. And the Greek architects who built this believed that all beauty mirrors the proportions of an ideal human body. Just like Da Vinci and the other masters. But that was invented here.” He took her hand. “The span from finger tip to finger tip is a fixed ratio to total height. And height is a fixed ratio to the distance between the navel and the foot. And it’s not an accident that Da Vinci's ideal Renaissance man stands in a circle surrounded by a square. Da Vinci named him ‘Vitruvian Man’ after the Roman architect, and the ratio of the radius of the circle to a side of the square is one to one point six. Pythagoras came up with that—the golden ratio. And the Parthenon uses ratios. A ratio of four to nine is found between the width of the columns and the distance between their centers, and the height of the facade to its width. It’s perfect! How can you want to be any kind of artist and not want to know this?”

Eva frowned. She’d worn a sleeveless blouse and Callum’s fingers seemed to burn into her skin. “Okay...I see what you mean. I should know about that. But I’ve studied symmetry and composition.”

“But you don’t know why they matter—you don’t know the math or science behind the art.” He gestured up again. “Do you even know the marble was once painted in brilliant shades of red, blue and green?”

She looked up. “Was it? I thought it was always white.”

“No….no. That’s a Victorian idea we’ve been stuck with. Don’t you want to know about colors?”

She smiled…and nodded. But what she wanted was to keep seeing Callum like this. He wasn’t stuffy now. He wasn’t making her read endless pages, and she liked how his eyes lit up and how the wind ruffled his hair.

Taking her hand, he pulled her with him through the ruins. Talking about ratios and how to calculate a radius. She started to understand—a little. The math could affect composition. She tried to ask good questions, and she even got another smile from him. He also made good on his promise to take her to dinner and a club.

She took him to the Rock n Roll club where they ordered burgers and the music was loud. The club had just reopened for the winter—it was closed in summer—and was one of Eva’s favorite hang outs. She liked the loud music, the understated luxury, and the two huge bars. Callum ordered a beer, barely touched his burger, and didn’t seem to like it at all. And it was too noisy to talk. This wasn’t working out at all. Eva had thought they would dance, drink, and he would unwind, but he was looking more uptight and disapproving than ever.

She saw some friends come into the club and waved to them. Sophia and Niles came over to the table and Sophia caught Eva in a hug. “Where have you been? We haven’t seen you in ages? And who is this?” She spoke in rapid Greek, leaving Callum out of the conversation.

Waving to Callum, Eva introduced him in English, saying, “He’s from New York. He’s my—” Cheeks warm, she bit off the rest of it. She didn’t want everyone knowing she had been saddled with a tutor. “My friend.” She glanced over to see Callum staring at her, his eyes narrowed and his hand tight around his beer.

Sophia gave Callum another once over. She was blonde and pretty and very much a party girl. Niles slid into the booth to sit next to Eva. “So we’re thinking of going skiing this winter—you up for that?” He spoke in Greek again, and it was obvious he intended to shut Callum out of the conversation.

Eva shook her head and answered in English. “I may go skiing, but I want to get my college acceptance first.”

Niles laughed and answered in Greek. “What do you need that for. And is that why you’re hanging out with this old man? What—he’s going to get you into college?”

Switching to Greek, she told Niles, “Go take a flying leap.” She smiled and turned to Callum. “Shall we go. Later, Sophia.” Calling for the bill, she paid and headed for the parking lot. Outside, she waited for Callum.

“Nice friends you’ve got,” he said.

“Oh, they’re not my friends. Well, Sophia is. But Niles can be an immature jerk sometimes.”

“So I noticed. So you like him?”

“What?” Eva huffed out a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? His father is a diplomat and Niles thinks the world revolves around him. He started making passes at me when I was thirteen, and I’ve been telling him to take a hike for that long as well.” She grinned. “He stays away when Tonio is around. And Dareios. Neither one of them like him much.”

“I know the feeling. Put your helmet on.”

She grabbed the helmet and fastened it. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d like the Rock n Roll—it’s famous.”

He shrugged. “Not my scene. Ready to go?”

She nodded. He threw a leg over the bike, and she climbed on behind him. She wanted to put her arms around him again, but he seemed distant again—back to being her tutor again. He’d been…something else at the Parthenon, and she’d started to like him a little. Now he was all stuffy and formal and very much the guy she didn’t like.

Swinging off the bike, she stared at him. This evening hadn’t gone so well. But at least now she knew he didn’t like clubs, but he did light up when it came to history.

Callum gave her a nod. “Get plenty of sleep. We’ll move back into math in the morning.”

She groaned. And Callum rode the bike off to the garage. Heading into the house, she tossed her helmet onto a side table and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too restless to sleep, so maybe she’d go for a swim. She started to dig through her closet to pull out her swimsuit when her cell phone rang.

“Eva! It’s Alexandra.”

Eva flopped down onto her bed. “Hey, big sis. Are you having a fabulous time with Dareios? I’m so jealous you didn’t take me with you on his yacht!”

Alexandra giggled. “We’ll be home tomorrow. And we’ve set a date—we’re getting married next month.”

“What? Alexandra, you can’t possibly pull together a large wedding in that time.”

“We don’t want a big fancy wedding. As soon as I get back, we have to go find dresses. I want both you and Claire to be my bridesmaids.”

“Claire and Antonio are gone for a few days.”

“We’ll just have to pick something out that can be altered when she gets back. I need to talk to Gaia about the food. Well, everything except the cake.”

“She’s not here either. Her daughter went into labor early and she flew to Patras right after lunch. Maybe you guys could wait?”

“And let Dareios change his mind maybe? No way. I’ll see about a caterer. And you can help me.”

Eva lay back on her bed and stared at the white ceiling. “I’m buried under books. This tutor Antonio hired for me is a monster. It’s all work, work, work. I don’t think he likes me.”

“Sweetie, you can bet Antonio told him that he’d better not like you.”

“You think that’s it? Great, now Antonio’s pretending to be our papa. Well he’s not going to dictate my life!”

Alexandra laughed. “You go girl. But don’t go too far.”

Eva smiled. “Oh, I’m not the one who needs to go very far.” She hung up and clutched her cell phone to her stomach. Great, now she had a brother messing with her life and a tutor making her miserable. She needed to get the men in her life sorted out but fast.