Page 84 of Ignited in Iceland
‘Exactly,’ said Iris.
‘And we will leave you to rest now,’ he said, standing up.
‘If you need anything, let us know,’ Gudrun said, collecting the coffee mugs up and taking them into the kitchen.
Iris saw them out and watched them make their way along the snowy path back to the road, wondering what was going to happen now. Was she staying here with Siggi? She ought to stay until he could get around well enough that she’d feel confident he wouldn’t topple over every time he stood up.
After Gudrun and Olafur had left, Siggi lay down on the sofa, his leg up on the back again. Iris made a pillow stack and sat next to him on the floor.
‘I feel like we’re suddenly living together,’ she said.
‘We are suddenly living together.’
‘But just until you’re okay.’
‘Okay,’ he said easily.
‘Because I don’t think I’m ready to actually do that.’
‘That’s okay.’
Him agreeing with everything she said wasn’t telling her what he thought. But she was also aware that she was probably over-thinking it. It was as simple as being here to help him out. If he didn’t have a broken ankle and a flat on the third-floor, there would be no need.
‘So I’ll stay until you’re up and about and then I’ll find somewhere to live.’
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘You know I am happy whatever you want to do. I don’t want to take things slowly. I love you and I want to be with you, but that does not mean I think we should move in together today either.’
‘That’s good,’ she said, grinning as a wave of relief swept over her. ‘So we won’t count this. I mean, I could be anyone. I could be Olafur. That’s what I’m here for, just to help.’
‘Iris,’ he said, pulling her closer. ‘I do not want you to be Olafur. I hope that while you are here, we will be together like we were on the camping trip. This can be like a holiday, maybe like the honeymoon of us getting back together.’
‘I love that,’ she said, kissing him.
He pulled her towards him for a deeper kiss, with a gentle hand on the back of her head. His kisses were melting her insides.
‘I can help you look for somewhere to live,’ he said, a little later, by which time Iris was lying by his side on the sofa.
‘That would be great. I don’t want to end up in a dodgy area.’
He laughed. ‘There are no dodgy areas in Reykjavik, but I want you to have a nice place. Not too far from me.’
‘As soon as you’re okay, I’ll have to go home to England,’ she said, allowing a flicker of reality into their bubble. ‘Just to finish up at work.’
‘Could I come? I cannot do tours for a while and Jonas has given me a couple of weeks off before I start working in the office instead.’
‘I’d love that,’ Iris said. ‘We can get an Airbnb. You won’t be bored while I’m at work?’
‘I’m never bored.’
‘I’ll need to go to my mum and dad’s to pack up some stuff to send over here.’ Her parents didn’t even know about Siggi. They’d only just got back from their holiday and she hadn’t had a chance to speak to them. Finn was the only one who knew, and probably Felix by now. ‘I’d better warn them I’m bringing my boyfriend home with me.’ It sounded wonderful to say out loud.
‘I am meeting the parents.’ He shuddered.
‘Is it the same when you’re thirty-four?’
‘It’s always the same, I think. They will want to know I am a good guy for you, however old you are. That is what I would think.’
She paused, knowing what he was thinking. ‘Do you think you might call Hekla?’
