Chapter 15
Emil was tickled pink that there were so many grown-ups to enjoy his pizza. Lotta gave him a pad of paper and asked him to make a list of what toppings everyone wanted. There was much hilarity when Erik requested chocolate.
‘You can’t have chocolate,’ Emil said, giggling.
‘I can’t? Well, I don’t know then. What’s the house special?’
‘Den beste pizzaen,’ Ida explained to him.
Emil didn’t hesitate. ‘Pepperoni.’
‘It’s good with hot honey,’ said Fredrik.
‘In that case, pepperoni with hot honey, please.’
‘Takk,’ Emil said, moving onto his next customer.
‘What about me?’ Fredrik said to him.
‘You always have the same, Pappa,’ Emil said, rolling his eyes.
‘That’s true,’ Fredrik said, laughing. ‘And so do you.’
Erik actually looked as if he were enjoying himself. He and Mats were having a discussion about the best way to repair a roof strut which then led into Erik asking about the moss roofs on the cabins.
‘Sounds pretty boring, doesn’t it?’ Lotta said, topping up their wine. ‘Probably not what you want from a date night.’
‘It’s actually nice how easy he gets along with everyone. I always thought if I found someone, the hardest thing would be introducing them to the family.’
‘You guys can be scary,’ Lotta said, laughing. ‘Actually, you weren’t the worst. When Ingrid gatecrashed my first meeting with Oda, the designer I used for the Snug campaign, I wondered what I was getting into. Erik looks like he’s taking it in his stride. That’s a good sign.’
‘Of what?’
‘That he’s a nice bloke.’
‘He’s a nice Canadian bloke,’ Ida said with air quotes around Lotta’s English slang word. ‘It’s not going anywhere. Just fun while he’s here.’
‘A way to get back into the swing of dating.’
‘Exactly.’
‘So you won’t be heartbroken when he leaves?’
‘I’m not sure I’m built for heartbreak.’
‘Everyone is, Ida. I know you think you’ve survived the worst that life can throw at you, but don’t assume that’s true. Love can hurt.’
‘I’m not in love with him!’ Ida flicked her eyes over to Erik to make sure he hadn’t heard her. He was busy sketching something out on Emil’s notepad.
‘I’m not saying you’re in love with him yet. But you might be surprised how quickly that can happen before you even notice.’
If anyone knew about this stuff, it was Lotta. She and Mats had pretty much fallen in love at first sight when they met in London last year.
‘How did you know?’ Saying that to Lotta felt like admitting she knew it was a possibility.
‘I don’t know. I had a feeling.’
‘That doesn’t give me much to go on.’
Lotta gave her a knowing look. ‘You’ll just know.’
After dinner, Fredrik and Emil left, and Ida offered to clear the kitchen up since Mats and Lotta had cooked.
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Erik said, while Mats and Lotta went into the lounge to watch a new episode of a series they were obsessed with.
‘I’m going to help Mats with the cabin for a few more days,’ Erik said as he handed Ida the plates to stack in the dishwasher.
‘I still can’t believe you want to work while you’re on holiday.’
He smiled. ‘It doesn’t feel like work, and it’ll be good to do something less strenuous for a bit. Give my leg a chance to catch up with me.’
‘It doesn’t sound like a relaxing end to your holiday.’
‘I’ve extended my stay.’
‘Have you?’ Her heart leapt and she wondered if that was the kind of feeling Lotta had been talking about.
‘I spoke to Emilie when I got back last night.’
She was desperate to ask why he’d decided to stay longer but it felt too risky. But Erik had no problem sharing his thoughts with her.
‘I don’t want to leave when we’ve only just started.’
‘What have we started?’ She said it carefully, and didn’t meet his eyes in case it put too much meaning into her words.
He closed the dishwasher. ‘Come back to the island with me tonight.’
There was no mistaking what he was asking.
‘You think we’re ready to…’
‘We don’t have to. That’s not what I’m asking. I don’t want to say goodbye to you tonight. Leave here in my kayak and be a fjord away from you again. I want to hold you in my arms. Even if you have PJs on.’
‘Are you going to wear PJs?’
‘No. I sleep naked, but you can wear PJs. I don’t mind. What do you say?’
It was the most outlandish idea she’d ever heard. And the most exciting.
‘Yes.’ She was so certain. Even if it came to nothing because he went back to Canada, she knew she wanted to have the experience of being with a man she found ridiculously attractive. And the fact he seemed to think the same about her was the icing on the cake.
‘Yes?’ He grinned and pulled her into his arms.
‘Maybe someone’s unexpectedly checked out and we can have a bigger bed.’
He shrugged. ‘The bed’s fine. It’s cosy.’
Ida felt like it might verge on too cosy, but she was willing to give it a go for one night because the thought of being wrapped in Erik’s arms for an entire night was all she could think about.
‘Let’s go now while they’re distracted with whatever they’re watching,’ Ida said. ‘Let me grab some clothes for tomorrow.’
She ran upstairs and shoved some clothes, underwear, and basic toiletries in a bag, then put in an oversized t-shirt she could wear in bed. Just in case. It had been a long time since she’d been so excited. She went back downstairs and led Erik to the doorway of the living room.
‘Bye.’
Mats pressed pause and shifted as if he were going to stand up.
‘Don’t get up,’ Ida said quickly. ‘Thanks for dinner. We’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘You’re going back to the island?’
Lotta shoved Mats and said something in a low voice that didn’t carry to where Ida and Erik were standing.
‘Thank you for making me so welcome,’ Erik said, then Ida pulled him away before anything else could be said.
‘No problem! See you tomorrow!’ Mats called as they headed outside.
Ida felt her cheeks redden, knowing that her brother knew exactly what she was about to do. Not that they would necessarily do that tonight, but that’s what Mats would think.
‘That’s going to be awkward when you’re woodworking together tomorrow,’ she said, leading the way back down the steps to the boathouse.
‘Why?’
‘Because he knows we’re sleeping together tonight.’
‘That’s not the kind of stuff we talk about,’ Erik said, his eyebrows raised. ‘You’re a grown woman. I’m sure he’s not shocked that you might have sex.’
‘Erik!’ She stopped and turned around, hardly able to believe he’d said it out loud.
‘What?’ he laughed. ‘You’re… how old? Thirty? And you think your brother thinks you’re a virgin?’
He was enjoying this far too much.
‘Can we not talk about sex out in the open, please?’
‘Ida. Are you a prude?’
‘No.’ She wasn’t sure what that word meant but if it meant she didn’t want to talk about her sex life in the garden when their words could carry down the sides of the mountain, then yes. She was a prude.
She carried on down the steps to the bottom, skipping down without worrying about whether Erik was behind her.
He was slower, but she needed a minute to gather herself without him flustering her.
It was ridiculous to worry about what Mats thought.
As if he’d mind. It’s not like it was any of his business at all.
He was probably bemused about why she wasn’t sleeping at home and maybe hadn’t even thought she might sleep with Erik. That made her laugh.
Once Erik caught her up, he held the kayak steady for her to climb in, then passed her bag down, and she tucked it between her legs. He climbed in himself, making it rock more dramatically than it had before, and Ida couldn’t help but let out a small shriek.
She watched Erik’s shoulders bounce up and down as he laughed before he picked up the paddle and they started across the water.
It was a beautiful evening. Still and cloudless.
A few of the brightest stars were shining in the twilight, but it wasn’t dark enough to see very many.
As Erik propelled them across the fjord, Ida thought this was the most romantic way to begin the rest of the night.
She was sure she wanted to have sex with Erik, but she didn’t think it would be tonight.
Not because she wasn’t ready, but because he was weary.
She would take him in her arms and soothe his pain away.
The feelings she had for Erik were on another level entirely to any other physical relationship she’d had with a man.
None of the few men she’d slept with had the magnetic quality that Erik had.
She’d liked them, of course she had, but had she felt drawn to them or captivated by them in the same way she was with him?
No. And that was because until now, she hadn’t known it was even possible to feel like that about a man.
Erik pulled up at the jetty and braced himself against it so that Ida could climb out. Then he eased himself out and lifted the kayak out of the water and put it back behind the bushes. Then he turned to her, smiled and held out his hand.
‘Coming?’
She nodded, dropped her life vest into the kayak, put her hand in his, and they walked in silence through the woods to the hotel.
As they approached the front door, Ida suddenly wondered what she was going to say to Emilie by way of an explanation.
Going upstairs with Erik was going to look so obvious.
But Emilie wasn’t at the desk, so Ida breathed a sigh of relief and walked up the stairs alongside Erik.
She glanced at him, feeling his hand gripping hers more tightly as they climbed.
His jaw was set, and she wished she had a room on the first floor she could give him right now.
It seemed to take a long time to climb the stairs to the third floor. It might have been because Erik was taking it slow but it might have been Ida’s anticipation of what was going to happen next that was drawing out the seconds to feel longer.
Erik dropped her hand, and patted himself down to find whichever pocket held the key. Then he tapped the lock and stood aside so Ida could go in first.
Out of habit she switched the bedside light on to cast a warm glow, then she sat on the bed because there was nowhere else to go without being in Erik’s way as he closed the door behind them.
He picked up a slim plastic document wallet that was on the pillow.
‘Is that your family research?’ She could see a newspaper article through the clear plastic.
‘Just some leads I had from the Bergen archives. Nothing interesting.’
He stuffed the wallet into the backpack that was propped underneath the clothes rail.
‘I’m going to use the bathroom,’ he said.
While he was in there, Ida undressed and pulled on the t-shirt she’d brought with her to sleep in, then she slipped into the bed and sat there with her arms around her knees.
Erik came out of the bathroom topless, his mouth crooked up on one side. ‘Got room for another one?’
He pulled his trousers down, revealing black jersey trunks. Although it wasn’t that different from what she’d seen when he’d been swimming, at the same time it was. Maybe because she knew that body was about to be next to hers.
She scooted over and held the covers up for him. He sat next to her, then lay down, stretching himself out and gave the most enormous sigh of relief.
‘That feels so good.’
She shifted so that she was lying next to him. Not touching. Yet. And propped herself up on her elbow. She reached her fingers to his forehead and stroked her thumb across his brow.
He looked at her, his dark blue eyes melting her soul.
Then he moved his arm so that it was lying across the pillow, inviting Ida to lay her head on his shoulder as if they’d been here a thousand times before.
She accepted and slid her hand across his chest. He shifted towards her so that their bodies were touching, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
She wished she weren’t wearing the t-shirt now.
As if he was reading her mind, he slid his other hand under the hem and ran it over her hip, resting on her waist. ‘Want to lose the shirt?’
‘Yes.’ In one swift motion he pushed it up and over her head until she was lying back against him with all of her skin against his, and it felt so wonderful. She looked up at his face. His eyes were closed, and he had a soft smile on his lips. ‘Night, Erik.’
‘Night Ida.’ He dropped a kiss on her temple.
She was asleep a few minutes later, and it might have been the best night of her life.