Page 47 of His Innocent Unwrapped In Iceland

She didn’t have much to recommend her. She had a temper and she cared too much about things. She was too stubborn and she pushed when she shouldn’t. She wasn’t CEO material at all, and she clearly hadn’t been daughter material for anyone.

But as he’d shown her, that temper, that passion was a strength, not a weakness. It came from love and he needed to know that. He needed to know that she loved him, that his happiness mattered to her and she was prepared to fight for it.

Her last gift to him would be her heart, and while it might still not be enough for him, it was worth the risk to offer it. Because he was more important than her own fear. Because he was worth it, full stop.

She wiped her eyes and finally got to her feet, and then she turned around.

To find Orion standing behind her, tall and gorgeous and dressed only in a pair of jeans.

She hurriedly wiped her eyes again. ‘Sorry. Was I making a noise?’

He stared down at her, his beautiful face enigmatic. ‘No. What are you doing up?’

‘I couldn’t sleep.’ She swallowed and straightened. ‘I... I’ve been thinking.’

‘Isla—’

‘No, let me finish.’ She took a breath and squared her shoulders. ‘I never fought when that family sent me away. I never told them I wanted to stay. And I never told David that I wanted to be his daughter either. I just did what I was told, because I thought not making a fuss, not rocking the boat, would make me more acceptable. But it didn’t.’ She swallowed and met his gaze head-on. ‘And now I’m tired of not making a fuss. I’m tired of trying to be more acceptable. I’m tired of letting myself be sent away and not fighting for what I want. And what I want is you, Orion. What I want is your happiness. You think you’re this terrible, selfish destructive person, but you’re not. You think your happiness isn’t important, but it is. It is to me.’ She gripped tight to her courage and looked into his dark amber gaze, letting her conviction burn in hers. ‘I know you don’t want a family again. I know you don’t want a wife. But you loved your son so much, and I think that no matter what you tell yourself, youdowant that. And I can give it to you. Iwantto give it to you.’

She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and saw that it had just turned twelve, so she glanced back. ‘So today’s gift to you is my heart, Orion. Because I love you.’

Orion didn’t understand the words at first. He’d got up because he hadn’t been able to sleep either, and had seen her sitting under the tree. There had been tears on her cheeks and his heart had twisted and ached. He shouldn’t have gone to her. He’d made the right decision yesterday to give her up, for her own good, and he thought he wouldn’t regret that decision.

Yet all he felt was regret. Especially now, because apparently, she loved him and he had no idea, no idea at all what to do with that. It didn’t make any sense after yesterday, when he’d been so cruel to her.

‘Why?’ he said, unable to think of a single reason why she should.

‘Because you’re kind and patient, and caring and strong. Because you took me to Amsterdam and listened to me witter on about Van Gogh, and asked me questions and were interested. And you took me to a volcano and you showed me how to skate, and you showed me the northern lights.’ She took a step forward, her blue gaze fierce. ‘You showed me pleasure and you showed me your pain. You showed me your heart and you showed me your love. And I... I will never be the same, Orion. How could I? I didn’t know what love was until you told me about Luke and what you did for him, and then I couldn’t understand how he wouldn’t love you. Because I loved you.’ She took another step. ‘All I want is happiness for you—I don’t care about anything else. So please let me try. Please let me try to make you happy.’

She was so beautiful standing under the tree, her dark blue eyes glittering like the lights of the tree itself. Like the aurora.

The gift of her heart. She had already given him so much, how could he say no? He loved her already and what she was offering him...he wanted it so badly. Hewantedit.

She deserves happiness, too, and hers is just as important as yours.

He didn’t want another family. He couldn’t bear the thought. But he also couldn’t bear the thought of her giving up her own happiness for him. He didn’t want her doing what he’d done all those years ago, sacrificing a future for love.

So give it to her. You want it too. Don’t deny it.

‘You shouldn’t love me, Isla,’ he heard himself say. ‘All I’ll do is hurt you.’

She lifted a shoulder, seeming casual, yet there were more tears in her eyes. ‘It’s too late for that, I love you already.’

You want this. You want more. You want it all. You always have.

He did—he could feel it, burning there in his heart. A bone-deep longing for love, family, a home, a place where he belonged. For children that were his, that he didn’t have to give up and a woman at his side whom he loved and who loved him. No more breaking. No more destroying. Only building. Only creating.

You can’t send her away. You can’t reject her like everyone else. She deserves more than that.

He felt as if he was on the edge of a cliff and the wild wind was trying to pull him off. ‘Isla...’ He couldn’t sound detached now and he didn’t even try. ‘If you were smart, you’d leave me. You’d get on that helicopter and you’d never come back.’

There was something hot in her blue eyes, something fierce. The love she’d offered him, her burning heart. ‘Do you want me to? Do you really want me to?’

He should have said yes. He should have turned and walked away. But he couldn’t, not this time. The thought of her pain if he sent her away was too much, because no, shedidn’tdeserve that. She didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of his fear. And that’s what it was, wasn’t it? Fear of the pain that love was, fear of risking his heart again. Fear that he didn’t deserve this second chance somehow.

But she thought he did, and she thought his happiness was important, and what was important to her, was also important to him, so...how could he refuse her? How could he let his pain and fear be more important than her love? He couldn’t.

Something burst free in him in that moment and it came to him, in a sudden rush of insight, that loving her wasn’t a sacrifice. Loving her didn’t mean having to give her up. Loving her meant joy. Loving her meant happiness, because that’s what he’d had with her here in this little lodge.

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