Chapter Three
Diana
I let my head drop onto the back of the sofa. It’s nine o’clock. The harbor is a dark void outside the window. There’s a faint outline of the mountains on the far side of the water, the glimmer of snow on the peaks.
It was strange seeing the sun set just before four in the afternoon. I wonder what it would be like to be here in the peak of winter, when the longest bit of daylight is just over four hours. Or, I think with a small smile, the days of the midnight sun when the sun doesn’t fully set.
But I won’t be here for either. God willing I’ll be out of Iceland in less than two weeks.
My heart starts to pound. It’s been over seven hours since Ari delivered his ultimatum. I was so angry I almost punched him just so I could have the satisfaction of seeing him thrown off balance.
Angry, until my hormones decided to kick into overdrive and I nearly kissed him.
I’d seen the desire in his eyes, heard it in the deepening of his breathing, felt it in the heat coming off his body in palpable waves.
The moment we’d first kissed in Central Park had come roaring back, how his lips had fused to mine in a powerful, electrifying kiss I can sometimes still feel.
It was like being woken from a bland, colorless dream world and yanked into a vivid, colorful existence where I had felt every beat of his heart against my breast, every line of tense muscle beneath my fingers as he’d kissed me like he’d never stop.
But today he’d pulled away, leaving me humiliated and exhausted. Our near kiss had been nothing but a minor occurrence in the grand scheme of his day. And unless I want to risk my career or the reputation of my firm, I am stuck working for the bastard.
My heavy sigh echoes in the room as I let my eyes drift shift.
I could write a lengthy list about all the things wrong with my situation with Ari.
But the most painful of all is realizing the first man I truly felt a connection with, not just in bed but emotionally, is unfazed by our attraction.
Can turn it on and off like a damn faucet.
Another sign I did the right thing by walking away back in New York.
My fingers reach for the heart, my thumb caressing the silver.
I’ve touched it so many times over the years Lucy’s name is starting to fade.
I should stop wearing it, put it in a jewelry box for safekeeping.
But I can’t. For so long, it had been a reminder of the moment my life changed for the better.
Now, when my world is slowly crumbling around me, the charm is a tether to memories of happier times.
Memories helping me keep my head just above the surface.
I open my eyes and sit up, scrubbing my hands over my face in a desperate attempt to wake myself up.
After my and Ari’s brief discussion, he’d left for his meeting with a terse order to email him a summary of what I did that day.
It had taken considerable effort not to lob something at his head as he’d walked out.
But regardless of how much I loathed the odious man, I had a job to do.
Thankfully, Ari’s secretary, Malla, is much nicer than he is.
Like Viktor, she either doesn’t know or doesn’t care I was engaged to Ari’s brother.
She offered me a small office on the floor below.
A cozy space with ivory walls, a desk, and a whiteboard.
I’d worked in there for several hours, reading through corporate policies, proposals, and pages of emails between Ari and Georgios Xenakis, as well as their various staff members.
It had been a lot to wade through, but each page had helped me form a plan.
Until the soft shushing of heat blowing in through the vents abruptly stopped.
Malla popped her head in a few minutes later to let me know the heating system had malfunctioned on that floor.
But, she’d added with a smile, Mr. Valdasson was out for the rest of the night and she was sure he wouldn’t mind me using his office.
I smirk. I’m sure he would mind very much, which gives me no small degree of satisfaction.
Slate gray walls threaded with strands of gold.
Lights built into the ceiling that can be adjusted to a variety of brightness settings.
There’s the glass table and tufted black office chairs off to one side.
Ari’s massive desk in front of the bank of windows that overlook the harbor, a modern behemoth fashioned out of a giant slab of what looks like marble.
Potted ferns soften the room, but just a fraction.
I would have preferred my bright, airy office back in New York with my leather chair and soaring bookshelves. But as far as workspaces go, this one’s been satisfactory.
Especially when I think of how easily he walked away as I stood by the door, chest heaving and body throbbing as I tried to control both my anger and my desire.
God, I can’t stand him.
Irritated with how much time I’ve spent thinking about him, I rise and drift over toward the windows. It’s been cloudy ever since I arrived. I look up, peering at the night sky with the faint hope of seeing a glimmer of the Northern Lights.
“You won’t see them tonight.”
I bite back a yelp as I spin around. Ari stands in the doorway, feet spread, hands tucked in his pockets. Casual yet powerful.
“What?”
“The lights.” He closes the door behind him. A shiver traces its way down my spine, a not completely unpleasant sensation. “I assumed you weren’t keeping watch for me out there.”
I arch an eyebrow at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same of you.”
The humiliation from earlier tries to creep back in, but I beat it back as I straighten my shoulders and maintain his gaze. If I have to jump in the harbor to cool my ridiculous lust, so be it, but I will not let him see the effect he has on me again.
“The heat went out on the lower floor. Malla said I could work in here since she didn’t expect you back tonight.”
He glances at the clock on the wall and frowns. “It’s past nine.”
“And you can read time. Well done.”
I inwardly wince. I’m not usually snarky. My job is to help people overcome their differences, communicate, and solve problems, not poke at the ego of the man who hired me.
Thankfully, he ignores my sass. “Why are you here so late?”
I gesture toward the papers spread out over the glass coffee table. “There’s a lot of work to be done. Reviewing what’s been done so far, conduct a cross-cultural analysis, start drafting strategy recommendations.”
He stares at the pile of papers.
“Did you sacrifice a forest?”
“I’ve been staring at a screen for hours.” I walk over to the couch and sit, inwardly wincing at the three dozen pages arranged in piles. “I prefer paper.”
My stomach does a long, slow roll as his gaze snaps back to me. “Why?”
I pick up a sheet outlining AuraGeothermal’s proposal for who will manage the logistics of the shipping. “I like the feel of it. Something tangible. Something I can connect to.”
I’d spent hours huddled in a corner of that godforsaken yard, curled up with a book from the school library as I hid from my foster father, Dale.
Scribbling on faded notebook paper, seeing my thoughts turn into concrete words.
When I’d see that sudden flare of drunken fury in Dale’s eyes, I’d wonder if that night would be the night he hit me so hard I’d never wake up.
In those moments, I comforted myself with the hope that one day someone might find my diaries jammed into the tin can littering the grass along the fence.
Would know I existed if I suddenly disappeared.
My head jerks up. Ari is still watching me. Is it just my imagination, or has something in his face softened?
No. Trick of the light. The man can barely stand the sight of me.
“How late are you staying?”
I glance at own watch. Grimace when I see it’s closer to nine thirty now. I didn’t sleep well on the plane. Altogether I’ve been up for nearly twenty hours.
“Hopefully another forty-five minutes. But more if I need to. I want to be prepared for the meeting tomorrow.”
I pause. I have an idea, a good one. He’s not spitting fire at me, so I might as well give it a shot.
“What about starting with the geothermal tour tomorrow?”
Ari frowns. “Why?”
“You two have been battling this out over video conferences and in boardrooms. High-tension business environments. Putting you somewhere new could neutralize some of that tension and give you a chance to show Xenakis what you work on, not just tell him.”
He doesn’t reply, just stares. The mask is still firmly in place. The same mask he wore during the dinner with Liam. Detached, imperial, unreachable.
So different from the man I locked eyes with in the Met.
The man who had gazed at me with a masculine appreciation I’d felt all the way down to my toes, and an understanding of the sadness I’d been fighting.
I’d seen it plenty of times before, but that night the grief had hit hard.
Aislinn being so far out of reach, Liam burying himself in work, and a painting that reminded me of a simple childhood rite of passage I’d desperately wanted.
Reminded me of the day I found out I wasn’t wanted.
I’d turned. The connection between Ari and I had snapped into place as his understanding had soothed my fraying edges.
I had known in an instant that the handsome man in the museum recognized what I was battling, saw his own grief and loss reflected in me.
And then he did the one thing I hadn’t realized I’d so desperately needed.
He’d stayed.
I’ve never believed in love at first sight. I know better than to believe in fairy tales. But if anyone was capable of making me think happily-ever-after could be a reality, it would be Ari.
Was Ari, I mentally correct myself. And it hadn’t been real.
It had fallen apart the next day. Even if our connections to Liam hadn’t destroyed any possibility of more, Ari had no interest in me beyond casual sex.
After my one failed attempt at a relationship in college, I hadn’t done much dating.
But I’d made a promise to myself that if I did find someone I could let down my guard with, could imagine a future with, it would be someone who could reciprocate, let me in and share himself with me.
Ari isn’t that kind of man. I would always be kept in a constant state of guessing whether or not he was going to leave.
“All right.”
I blink in surprise. “Oh. Okay.” I stand and start to gather my papers. “What time would you like me there?”
“Eight.”
Lovely. By the time I make it back to my hotel and shower, I might be able to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before I have to get up and get ready.
“Problem, Miss North?”
I bite down on my tongue so I don’t stick it out at him.
“Not at all.” I slide the organized stacks into various folders. “Just a little tired.”
“I don’t require you to work this late.”
“I know.” I glance up at him as I put the folders into my leather bag. He’s watching me, or rather, watching my hands as I pack everything up. “But this is part of the job. Work until it’s done.”
I finish arranging my tote and head for the door. Ari crosses the room and beats me to it, but this time he opens it for me.
“Nice change of pace,” I mutter as I start to walk by.
“Why did you and Liam break up?”
I stop so fast I nearly stumble.
“What?”
Ari leans against the doorframe, his hair nearly silver in the dim light.
“Why did you end your engagement?”
I swallow hard. “It was a mutual decision.”
He leans down until his nose nearly touches mine, even closer than this afternoon.
“Why?”
The last time we were this close, we were tangled up in bed together. Which does absolutely nothing for my self-control. I tilt my chin back to better meet his gaze, show him I’m not afraid.
But all it does it bring our mouths closer together.
“We realized we were better off friends.”
“And who decided that?”
His breath feathers across my lips. God, I can smell him, that delicious blend of whiskey and cedar, power and wildness. My traitorous body tries to pull me forward, just like before, but I’m prepared this time. I stand straight and tall even as that delicious, curling heat makes my body languid.
“We both did.”
“Did you tell him about us?”
Icy guilt douses my lust in one fell swoop.
“No.”
“Feeling guilty?”
I cock my head at him. “Guess that makes two of us.”
My barb hits its mark. His blue eyes turn as cold as glaciers as I stalk past him.
“Eight o’clock.”
As I turn around, he closes the door in my face, leaving me in the atrium outside his office. I force myself to walk at a sedate pace to the elevators, to not look back over my shoulder at his door.
I wanted to kiss him. Again. Even though I resisted, I hate myself for that, especially when he was just using my reaction to solicit information.
I let my guard down for two seconds because he accepted my idea for starting tomorrow off at the geothermal plant and because he was asking questions about why I liked paper.
I quicken my pace as I walk out into the dark night. I sneak another glance upward. But all I see is a blanket of low-lying clouds.
If I’m trying to find a positive, at least I was right.
The man I started to fall for that night isn’t real.
Really, Liam saved me with his proposal.
Saved me from getting hung up on a man who is the last person in the world I should be having romantic thoughts about. Ari is pretentious. Arrogant. Rude.
My fingers tighten on the strap of my bag.
Even though we’re completely wrong for each other, and he has no interest in me besides what I can do for his company, it still bugs me that I was so wrong about him.
Growing up the way I did made me highly attuned to people and their personalities, their moods and triggers.
The Ari I met that first night in New York was powerful and confident, yes.
But he was also respectful, charismatic, generous.
I’m not the first woman to be blinded by a man’s true nature because I find him attractive, to fall for an act. It’s just a blow to my ego, both personally and professionally. If I just keep reminding myself of how truly cold-blooded Ari Valdasson is, this will stop.
It has to.