Page 16 of Falling for the Recluse

“Unfortunately,” I say, “we should get going right now.”

She slides her hands through her hair and swivels back to face the counter. After reheating her coffee, I get back to making her breakfast.

Two days ago, I was looking for a way to stop her from coming here. Now I can’t imagine ever letting her go. I don’t want to. I want to keep her here, trapped like a princess in a castle, hidden away on the distant island where she belongs only to me.

Except there’s a whole fucking world out there past the ice and the cold.

“You have all your research stuff ready?” I ask.

“Everything’s in my backpack.” She takes a swallow of coffee and wipes the corner of her mouth. “Have you seen the penguins yet?”

“A few times. They just started breeding. There are hundreds of them.”

She nods eagerly. “That’s why the PRG was so determined to start studying this particular colony. They’ll be able to tell us so much about the state of the environment. I’m going to set up some remote cameras so I can continue monitoring them back in California. I want to keep track of their behavior and activity patterns.”

Ignoring the idea of her back in California, I load the eggs onto a plate with a few slices of bacon I’d cooked earlier, slather two pieces of toast with butter, and set it all in front of her.

“Eat everything,” I say. “And help yourself to whatever’s in the pantry. You need to drink plenty of water and take in a lot of calories here.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” She picks up a fork and digs into the mushy eggs. Her shirt sleeves are pushed up to her elbows, and there’s a little tattoo of an Adélie penguin on her inner right forearm.

“Good thing you became a penguinologist.” I brush my fingers against the ink. “Given that you have such an unusual birthmark.”

She snorts and giggles at the same time. Her amusement makes me feel like I just won the lottery.

“I guess you don’t have any tattoos,” she remarks, eyeing my chest.

“No. I don’t know what kind of a tattoo a glaciologist should get anyway.”

“A snowflake, maybe,” she suggests, nibbling on a piece of bacon. “Or an ice cube. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“You just did.”

She grins. “And your answer is…?”

Though wariness stabs me, I nod. “Go ahead.”

“Why did you say you have to put up with me if you want to stay on Needle Island?”

I toss the dishrag onto the counter. “I’m here on the approval of the US Science Foundation. They don’t fund my research, but they’re in charge of the Needle Island Research Station. I have a yearly contract with them to live and work here. But now the USF is extending its budget to wildlife and climate change research, which is why they’re partnering with the Penguin Research Group. The USF director told me that if I didn’t let you stay here, they wouldn’t renew my contract.”

She processes that. “And what would happen if they didn’t renew your contract? If you had to leave Needle Island?”

“I’d have to find somewhere else to live.”

“Like somewhere among people? Somewhere that’s not the most remote, isolated place on the planet?” Though her voice is casual, her blue gaze is too penetrating, as if she knows there’s shit buried under the ice—and that she’s cracking through it.

“Be ready to go in fifteen minutes.” I glance at the utilitarian clock on the wall, not caring that my change of subject was abrupt.

“Your wish is my command,” Josie murmurs.

I would kill to see her grant all my wishes and obey all my commands. She knows it too. I turn away from her and head back to my room.

Fire.

That’s what she is. A hot, bright flame burning through my fortress. And though I’ve spent most of my life avoiding fire, I don’t know how to stop Josie’s burn. I don’t think I even want to.

The door to her room is half open. I stop and look in. Already, evidence ofheris everywhere. Her clothes are all neatly hung in the tiny closet, photos are tacked to the walls, and a stack of books rests on the nightstand. A patchwork quilt I’ve never seen before is folded at the foot of the bed, and a stuffed penguin sits on top of the pillow.

---