Page 47 of Vacation with the Ice Queen

"You're already accepting less than you want because it's 'what makes sense.' Tell me how that's different from what happened with Sophie."

She struck a match with more force than necessary, the small flame dancing wildly before settling. Was he right? Was she falling into old patterns, accepting emotional scraps because she was afraid to demand more?

A soft knock at the door interrupted her spiraling thoughts. She turned, expecting to find her scheduled client arriving early, and instead found herself face to face with Serena.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Serena said, standing just outside the threshold like a vampire awaiting invitation. "Your colleague mentioned I might find you here."

Lila's heart performed an acrobatic routine in her chest—leaping with surprise, stumbling with confusion, tumbling with a hope she'd spent all day trying to suppress.

"Serena." Her voice was steadier than she felt. "I wasn't expecting you. Do you need something?"

Not the warmest welcome, but all she could manage as she struggled to recalibrate. After this morning's conversation on the beach, after Marcus's warnings, after hours of convincing herself she could handle professional distance, Serena's unexpected appearance threw everything into chaos again.

"May I come in?" Serena asked, still hovering at the doorway, her usual commanding presence oddly subdued.

Lila nodded, gesturing to the room's arrangement of meditation cushions. "My next client isn't due for another twenty minutes."

Serena entered with characteristic grace, though something in her movements seemed less certain than usual. She worecasual clothes—linen pants and a simple blouse that probably cost more than Lila's entire wardrobe—but had abandoned her usual pristine styling. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, softening the sharp angles of her face.

She looked almost... approachable. The thought was dangerous enough that Lila pushed it away immediately.

"What can I help you with?" Lila asked, deliberately professional as she continued arranging items for her upcoming session.

Serena remained standing, her fingers trailing over the edge of a wooden Buddha statue with uncharacteristic fidgeting. "I wanted to apologize for this morning."

The statement was so unexpected that Lila's hands stilled, a cushion forgotten in her grasp. "Apologize?"

"Yes." Serena met her eyes directly, the blue sharpened by afternoon light streaming through bamboo blinds. "I was... abrupt. On the beach."

"You were honest," Lila countered, setting down the cushion with deliberate care. "We both know it's better to establish clear boundaries after what happened."

"Better, yes." Serena's gaze shifted to the window, where palm fronds swayed in the gentle breeze. "But my delivery was unnecessarily clinical. As if I were terminating a business contract rather than discussing something more... personal."

The admission hung between them, neither quite willing to name exactly what that "something" was. Sex? An attraction? A momentary madness brought on by moonlight and tropical air?

Lila felt her professional armor cracking despite her best efforts to maintain it. "It's okay. I understand the situation."

"Do you?" Serena turned back to her, something vulnerable flickering behind the composed exterior. "Because I'm not sure I do. Nothing about this was in my plans for this so-called retreat."

"Island magic," Lila offered with a small smile. "It has a way of disrupting plans."

"So I'm discovering." Serena moved closer, her proximity sending Lila's pulse into acceleration. "I've spent the day trying to focus on work and instead finding myself thinking about pools and moonlight and..."

She trailed off, but her eyes filled in the blank, dropping briefly to Lila's lips before returning to meet her gaze.

Lila swallowed hard, fighting the gravitational pull between them. "And we agreed this morning that it's better not to pursue this. Whatever 'this' is."

"We did." Serena stopped an arm's length away, close enough that Lila could smell her subtle perfume—something expensive and understated that probably cost more than a week's salary. "And logically, that remains the sensible approach."

"But?" Lila prompted, hearing the unspoken continuation.

"But I'm finding that logic and emotion don't always align as neatly as I prefer." Serena's admission seemed to cost her, each word carefully selected and reluctantly offered.

Lila's heart quickened at the vulnerability in Serena's voice, even as Marcus's warnings blared in her mind like klaxons. Dangerous territory, moving too fast, old patterns repeating.

"What are you saying exactly?" she asked, needing clarity before she risked anything more of herself.

Serena ran a hand through her silver-streaked hair, the gesture so uncharacteristically uncertain that it tugged at something in Lila's chest.

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