Page 83 of Modern Romance September 2025 1-4
His gaze never leaves my face. ‘I was hoping you’d give it to me again. In private.’
My heart clenches, pain radiating everywhere in my body. I don’t understand what he wants now, not when he made it so clear last time that he didn’t care. Even though I knew what he told me then was a lie—that he does care—that wasn’t enough to make him stay.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t,’ I say, pleased that my voice is so steady. ‘I have other appointments today.’
It’s too painful to stand there with his golden eyes on me, so I finally manage to make myself turn and walk quickly to one of the exits.
There is sunshine outside, and the sea that the hall stands at the edge of, with boats on the water. My hotel is right next door to the hall, so I walk quickly towards it, desperate to get away.
But then strong fingers wrap around my arm, halting me, and I’m pulled into the ferocious heat of a strong male body, his arms surrounding me, holding me. I shudder as I feel his mouth near my ear, his breath against my neck. ‘Don’t go, my ice queen,’ he whispers.
I am trembling, the tears in my eyes making the sea in front of me swim. ‘You said you didn’t care,’ I say hoarsely. ‘So why are you here?’
‘I knew you were giving a paper.’ His arms are iron bands around me. ‘And so I’ve have been making plans. I’ve bought a lodge on the golden circle and I thought I’d kidnap you and bring you to it. And then I was planning to spend a good few weeks apologising for walking away from you.’
I shut my eyes, my heart hammering. ‘I don’t understand what you want from me. Is it another six months? A night? What?’
He is quiet for a moment, then he says, ‘I don’t want to demand anything from you or to take anything from you. Especially anything you’re not willing to give. But… I did want you to know that I lied back in Greece. I lied when I told you that I didn’t care.’
I swallow, my heart hurting, my body waking at the warmth of him surrounding me, his familiar scent making my mouth go dry. ‘I know,’ I say. ‘I know you lied. But you still walked away.’
Slowly he lets me go. I know I should walk away, but I don’t. Instead, I turn round and look at him, see the shadows beneath his eyes and the lean, hungry look on his face.
‘I had to,’ he says roughly. ‘I couldn’t keep you. I had to do the right thing for you and that was to get me as far away from you as possible.’
This time I don’t bother to withhold my tears, I let them slide down my face. Who cares if he sees them? The tears are the truth in my heart, the truth that I find so hard to say, even to myself—that I love him and I always will, no matter how he feels about me.
‘So why are you here, then? Why approach me?’ My voice is shaking. ‘Why are you making this even harder?’
‘Because I was wrong.’ His gaze tracks my tears and yet he doesn’t move, his hands in fists at his sides. ‘I thought I had nothing to give you, that it would be better to let you go, but it’s not. It’s not better.’
This is the truth, the heart of it—I can see that now.
‘I saw my sister,’ he goes on. ‘And she told me that she’s found a life of her own, one apart from mine, and that I needed to find one too. That I can’t let the past drag me down; that if she deserved happiness, then so did I. And I realised that the happiness I wanted was with you, Katla Sigurdsdottir.’
He takes a shuddering breath. ‘I love you, ice queen. I think I loved you from the moment I first saw you.’
The words are a hot shock, scouring my soul, and I look deep into his eyes—seeing the truth of him, seeing the big-hearted boy he once was, and still is, staring back at me.
My tears continue to fall and I let them. ‘I thought… I thought I wasn’t good enough,’ I say thickly. ‘I thought I was wrong to tell you that I loved you, that I was only seeing what I wanted to see, and…’
He moves then, compulsively, as if he can’t hold himself back any longer. And before I know it I’m once again in his arms and he’s kissing away the tears on my face.
‘You weren’t wrong,’ he murmurs, his lips feather-light against my cheeks. ‘And you’re more than good enough. In fact, you’re too good for me. I know it, yet I love you anyway. I want you to come back to the lodge. I bought it for you, and if you don’t want it, I’ll get rid of it. And if you want it but don’t want me, I’ll walk away. But, before you make any kind of decision, I want you to have this one thing.’
He lets me go, reaches into his pocket and then holds out his hand.
In the middle of his palm is a small white shell with the most perfect spiral. My heart clenches tight. It’s the shell from his office, the one Olympia gave him, the one he said was precious to him.
‘It’s yours,’ he says. ‘For your collection.’
I want to speak, but my throat is tight and there are more tears in my eyes. So I shake my head, though why I don’t know, because I want the shell and I want the lodge—but, more than anything in the entire world, I want him.
He seems to know, because he gathers me to him and lets me weep against his expensive overcoat.
‘Six months,’ I manage to force out once I’ve got myself under control. ‘I want my six months.’
He cups my face in his hands, his golden eyes on mine. ‘Not enough,’ he says softly. ‘How about a lifetime?’
