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When he finished the story and closed the book against his stomach, Alex heard herself talking.
‘My name’s Alex Robinson. I’m from Port Kernou. I had a ferry there; that’s the boat I rammed into the Clove Lore harbour wall.’ She rolled her eyes but he couldn’t see her face to know. ‘And now I’m here. I’ve got no job to go back to. I do have a house, though. My parents are both dead, years ago, and I miss them so much andumm, that’s me.’
She waited, her head still leaning on his chest, listening to him breathing.
‘It’s nice to meet you, Alex Robinson. I’ve been wondering when you’d show up.’
It was enough to make her laugh and lift her head.
‘Anything else to tell?’ Magnús asked, holding her gaze. ‘These were the secrets you couldn’t mention?’ He tipped his head. He knew there must be more to her running away than that.
Alex’s mind raced. Was there anything else left to tell? Perhaps, but nothing she felt like saying right this second. She thought of Ben and Eve, Mr and Mrs Thomas and the family she’d come to think of as her own. Yes, losing them hurt; it ached in fact, but with this new distance between them and the fresh clarity she’d found about Ben and her so-called best friend, it was a little more bearable. And yes, she had been embarrassed about running away and worrying everyone, but there was no need to let it eat her up now; she’d dealt with that by messaging Bryony.
‘There are still some practical matters to deal with,’ she told him. ‘But it’s OK.’
She knew she was making light of her dad’s wrecked boat, and the fact she still had to make a living somehow – the little money in her bank account wasn’t going to last forever – but in Magnús’s embrace it didn’t seem so pressing. And wasn’t she allowed to take some time off, after all these years? Couldn’t she just enjoy Christmas, and this man’s company? He’d be leaving for Iceland soon enough. She’d face the real world then.
With her eyes locked on Magnús’s soft gaze, she found there was nothing else she wanted to say.
‘Can I ask something?’ he said.
‘OK,’ she replied, a little too cautiously.
‘How old are you?’
‘Oh,’ she let out a laugh. ‘I’m twenty-six.’
‘Twenty-nine,’ he said, pointing a thumb at himself. ‘Thirty in August.’
‘Me too! I mean, I’m an August baby too. But I don’t like birthdays.’ She tucked herself into his chest again.
‘Cake? Parties? What’s not to like?’ Magnús asked before thinking better of it. ‘Oh, I get it, I’m sorry.’
‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘You try having a birthday with no parents. You just kind of want to forget it.’
‘Not even a cake?’
‘I banned birthday cake, and cards, and all the rest of it. No birthdays for me.’
‘Alex, that is so sad.’
She pulled away so she could look at him, his eyes so sorrowful thinking of the things she’d been through. Right at that moment, she didn’t feel sad or sorry for herself at all, and she told him so. In fact, she felt nothing but comfort and warmth.
It took only a few electric seconds for them to abandon their wine glasses and for the book on Magnús’s stomach to slip to the floor.
Magnús brought his fingertips to her cheek.
‘You know, I wanted to kiss you very much yesterday,’ he stated, his voice so low Alex felt its effect upon her core.
She only let out a held breath and allowed her eyes to dip to his lips.
This time it was Magnús who leaned in, determined not to let anything come between them.
He pressed his lips to hers with a fiery yearning and they sank even closer, the softness of their mouths touching and the heat from the hearth melting away the last twinges of tension in their muscles, their nervous energy dissipating and turning into something else, something spellbinding.
The awareness of having not only all night but all of the Christmas holiday stretching out before them helped Magnús pace the kiss, even when Alex drew him down onto the rug so they lay in each other’s arms.
The exquisitely slow pressure of his mouth and the tantalising way his tongue parted her lips and coaxed her to deepen her kiss told her that he was going to take his time, and the way she let her hands roam down across his back to press at the base of his spine told him that was what she wanted too.
