Page 95 of Night and Day
His hand cupped her face and he skimmed his thumb across her lips. His voice dropped and eyes burned with meaning. “It’s okay. I’d fight them. I didn’t come all the way here to give you up.” He paused, those dark eyes glistening under the Christmas lights.
“Why did you come here, Izzy?” Mia held her breath, her heart skipping God knows how many beats. “I would have come back to you.”
“I fucked up at the airport. I let you go. I didn’t tell you...”
“What?”
His thumb swiped a snowflake off her eyebrow and his eyes wrinkled in the corners, his lips curling up. He pulled her closer, his breath tickling her ear. “I’m in love with you, Mia. Head over heels like a fool and I don’t care if it’s too soon or if it’s all doomed because of the distance. I don’t know what will happen, but I had to tell you.”
He pulled away to look her in the eye, then dropped his gaze to her lips.
Mia gasped as his mouth landed on hers, closing the world outside. The heat from his touch engulfed her, and emotion erupted in her chest like fire crackers, gathering more tears in her eyes. They mixed with the melting snowflakes, her face salty and wet, but she couldn’t pull away from him, her brain belting out one thought like a broken record.
Izzy is here. Izzy loves me.
His beard scratched her chin and his fingers sunk into her hair, holding her tight. He tasted of beer and passion, of Izzy. A billow of memories flooded Mia’s brain and she travelled ten thousand miles in a fraction of a second, back to their first kiss in his basement. Home. She hadn’t felt like home since then, but he’d brought home to her.
Finally, they came up for air and Mia rested her cheek against his puffer jacket. It looked so strange on him, like a Halloween costume. “I love you. You don’t have to travel alone anymore. I’ll go with you. I’ll follow you anywhere.”
His beard rubbed against her beanie and he bent down to kiss her forehead, his voice a low whisper. “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Chapter 39
Izzy followed Mia througha snowy archway leading to a small courtyard. “This is my sister’s place,” she said. “I’m staying here until I get myself sorted.”
The pale yellow apartment buildings, lit by eerie torches, rose towards the dark sky. The snow fall had ceased, but the alien feel of the foreign city hung heavy in the air, making his head spin. He felt better next to her, his only anchor in this strange place, like some tiny part of it belonged to him via her, as long as he stood close enough and breathed the same, crisp air.
“We’re not staying the night, though?” He asked again as she opened a heavy door and led them into an echoey corridor. “Your sister just had a baby.”
She turned to face him in the dark. “They’re still in the hospital. The baby came early, she had to be under blue light and has trouble feeding... Anyway, let’s stay here tonight and we can find somewhere else tomorrow?”
Relief engulfed Izzy as he followed her up the curved staircase of the historic building – so solid and quiet it seemed to have its own atmosphere with no connection to the howling wind outside.
Mia opened the door and led him inside the modern apartment. They peeled off their winter jackets, beanies and scarves and Mia showed him where to hang them. “Are you hungry?” She asked and he shook his head. “Tired?”
Izzy nodded. He felt so out of his element, but he’d be okay, as long as he kept his eyes on her, his lighthouse in the dark ocean. Sensing his hesitation, she took his hand and pulled him into a small room with a single bed. “This is where I’m staying. There’s another mattress that pulls out from underneath. Sorry, it’s not flash.”
