Page 95 of Ice To Meet You

“Yes. But for all the right things … for you … for how you make me feel.”

Emotions played over her face. “But I already flew once today to find you.” She looked back at the copter. “I … I can’t”

My chest ached at her reluctance. “You can’t or you won’t?”

She drew her brows. “Matteo, I’m scared. And not just because of the flight.”

“What are you scared of?”

She pressed herself against my body. “Us. Me. What we have. How messy everything’s been so far.How messy it could be in the future.”

I shook my head, running my fingers over her cheeks. “Es, love is messy. And that’s what this is. For me. I love you. And I want nothing more than to get even messier.”

She widened her eyes to the size of snowballs.

“It’s true. I want to be a complete mess—totally tangled, wrecked, and buried. Please come with me.”

I brought my lips to hers, but someone raced past me, shouting for me to hurry. I looked at my helicopter. It was full of guests and ready to leave.

I turned back to Esmé. Her eyes darted behind me, her chest heaving. She was terrified.

I took her head in my hands again, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “I understand. I’ll be back in a couple of days. We’lltalk then.” With another kiss, this time to her forehead, I pulled her close before turning and walking to the helicopter.

Every step felt like walking through thick mud—every movement, an effort against the pull of her presence. And as I looked back over my shoulder, before I stepped onboard, the sight of her standing alone on the tarmac almost ripped my heart out.

33

ESMÉ

The roar of the helicopter blades filled the air, whipping my hair around my face as I stood frozen, watching Matteo fly away. My heart pounded so hard it hurt.

He was gone.

I only just got him back, and now he’d slipped through my fingers. Only this time, I couldn’t blame a humiliating viral video.

I swallowed at the lump in my throat, but it stayed firmly lodged. My chest ached, heavy with the weight of everything left unsaid. The words had been there, teetering on the edge of my tongue, but fear had held them back. Fear of falling. Fear of flying. Fear of trusting that what he felt was real.

He said he loved me.

I watched the helicopter shrink into the sky, and something inside me shifted. Would I really let fear decide my fate? Would I stay here, grounded and safe, while he soared away, not knowing I felt the same way?

I turned on shaky legs and strode toward the second group of people. A man stood at their side, ticking something off a clipboard. “When’s the next flight up the mountain?”

He looked up, then ran his eyes over my wholly unsuitable outfit. It’d been good enough for the early morning flight from Paris. Next, he looked at Matteo’s helicopter disappearing into the distance. “Ten minutes.”

Ten minutes. Ten minutes to fix everything.

"Sign me up."

He looked at me again, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Are you booked on the trip?”

I shifted on my feet. Who had time for the Spanish Inquisition? “Not technically, but I’ve been told there’s room for me.”

The corners of his mouth bobbed. “And who are you, exactly?”

“I’m …” I froze. Who was I? Was I Matteo’s lover? His boss? His boss with benefits? “I’m Matteo’s girlfriend.”

A grin cracked the man’s face. “Nice. It’s Claudette, right? I thought you were blonde.”

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