Continued from page 1

Can This Be Love?

Originally posted Thursday May 05, 2005 12:00 PM EDT

A crowd waited outside Piperno restaurant to watch Cruise and Holmes depart April 27. He seemed happy, says a source there, to "show off his new woman friend." Photo by: FREEPRESS-LUCKY MAT

And that was before Cruise, 42, found out that as a little girl, Holmes, 26, used to dream about walking down the aisle with the Top Gun hunk. Momentarily silenced after hearing of the childhood fantasy she had confessed to Seventeen magazine last year, he simply smiled and said, "I don't want to disappoint her."

He is not alone in regarding their future with some cautious optimism. While in Rome the couple cozied up over codfish and artichokes at Piperno restaurant (where "he kept winking at her, and she kept wrinkling her nose at him like a bunny," according to a witness), back in the real world there are a few questions.

For starters, when did Cruise and Holmes – who just ended her five-year relationship with American Pie star Chris Klein in March – even meet? Answer: a few weeks ago at his L.A. office, where, says a source, "Katie was called in to meet for a part." The tête-á-tête ended four hours later – but Cruise's interest was just beginning. "They hit it off," says the source. He walked her to her car, then she gave him a lift to his car.

Soon after, says a friend of Holmes's, Cruise called her to ask for a date. The next thing she knew, she was sharing sushi with the star and taking a ride above L.A. with him in his jet. After landing back at the Santa Monica Airport, the two rode on his motorcycle to the beach.