Page 27 of Snug in Iceland
“So, you like my hat?” he said leaning in towards her, looking right into her eyes, still smiling.
“I do, it is by far the nicest hat I have ever seen and I wanted one the same.”
“I would have given you mine if you’d told me that. I’ve got lots of hats.”
The beer and the euphoria of actually being out with people had blinded Rachel to what she would normally, if she was sober, realise was blatant flirting by both of them and even if she’d had the wherewithal to notice, right at this moment she didn’t care.
Jonas leaned in and softly kissed her on the lips. It wasn’t a lingering kiss but it was nice and if it had lingered she might not have minded. However, it was enough of a kiss to break through the moment and bring her to her senses.
“Sorry Jonas,” she said slowly pulling away and shifting herself just a tiny bit further away from him, “I can’t.” In that instant, she felt quite sad about it.
“No,I’msorry Rachel. I know you’ve got a boyfriend, I shouldn’t have.” He rubbed his hand over his chin and sighed.
“It’s alright, let’s just forget it.”
Gently, she leaned into him, giving him a friendly shove.
“That is easier to say than to do.”
“Easier said than done.”
“Exactly, thank you.” He smiled ruefully, without meeting her eye.
Rachel reached up and touched his cheek. “If things were different…”
What else could she say? She was so confused… and so drunk. Even so, she knew it was not the time. All she could do was leave. She stood up and put her coat on. Jonas stood up too, his hands in his pockets and watched as she zipped her coat and pulled her gloves on.
He leaned in and pecked her on the cheek. “I will walk you back.”
“No, it’s fine, it’s only around the corner. But thank you. And thank you for asking me out tonight I really enjoyed it.”
She turned to leave.
“Things could be different.”
She didn’t turn back, unsure whether Jonas had said that or whether she had muttered it herself.
16
THE MORNING AFTER, Rachel awoke feeling a little bit worse for wear but not as bad as she had feared. She badly needed tea, water and maybe some toast, but she wouldn’t be sure about whether she could stomach the toast until she’d had the tea. It was way past breakfast time so she made some tea in her room and dozed in bed, periodically sipping it until she felt reasonably normal.
What had happened last night? The kiss. There was no question that she had done the right thing by putting a stop to it but at the same time, it had seemed like a natural progression of the evening. If she wasn’t with Adam, there wouldn’t be an issue. But she was with Adam and was not about to cheat on him. The fact that Jonas made her feel things that Adam never had ought to make her question whether she was with the right person, she knew that, however unappealing the prospect was. But that decision had to be separate from Jonas notbecauseof Jonas. Didn’t it? But the truth was that she was sorry she had stopped the kiss. It felt great to be the centre of someone’s attention again. Desired and attractive; it was exciting.
She called Adam. After the beer-skewed thoughts she’d been having about Jonas, she needed to gain some equilibrium back by talking to Adam but it went straight to his voicemail and continued to every other time she tried calling him over the weekend.
*
On Monday morning Rachel rang Jonas’s company to organise a trip for the following weekend when Adam was due to visit. She liked Jonas and wanted to give him her business but at the back of her mind, she was worried that it could be awkward if he was running the excursion. Eventually, she had decided that it was unlikely and asking them to confirm who would lead the excursion seemed like overthinking it. This theory was borne out by the fact that the person who she spoke to wasn’t Jonas and reassuringly kept repeating phrases like ‘One of our guides…’ which lessened the odds in her mind. They were going to be picked up at the hotel early on Saturday morning to go on a Golden Circle tour with a meal at a restaurant and then a Northern Lights excursion after that. Perfect.
Gudrun was due to pick her up after breakfast for a trip they were taking to a designer-maker north of Reykjavik who made felted wool homewares. Rachel was excited about it because it was the first Icelandic designer they would meet and she was desperate to build a stunning portfolio of new stockists to wow the London office. She was waiting in the lobby of the hotel, looking out for Gudrun when her phone rang. It was Anna.
“Anna, hi!”
“Hi Rach, how’s it going? Been on any more dates with the hunky Icelander?”
Gudrun pulled up and beeped the horn so Rachel hurried out, still on the phone, mouthing hello and sorry to Gudrun as she got into the car.
“It’s going great and it wasn’t a date.”
