It crossed her mind to give him a peck on the cheek. It also crossed her mind that she’d like to put a hand behind his head and pull him in for a full-on kiss, so she settled for quickly patting his hand where it rested on the gearstick, then she opened the door and climbed out before grabbing her stuff. She didn’t look back, but she didn’t hear him pull away until she was inside.
When she got into her room, she stood with her back to the door and exhaled. Siggi. It was a feeling she was unfamiliar with. She wasn’t in the habit of falling for anyone. It made life complicated, and she thought that over time, she’d become immune to the charms of men. The thing was, Siggi wasn’t trying to be charming. He was down-to-earth, looked like he’d just stepped off that beach in Hawaii and coasted through life on his own terms. But that, combined with the protective streak he’d shown today, was hitting Iris right in the heart.
It had taken her a long time to get over what she thought of as her one true love. It had seemed impossible that she would ever feel ready to face the thought of being hurt again, and even dating had seemed too risky. So she’d concentrated on work, which had enough challenges of its own to keep her busy, and she hadn’t felt like she was missing out. Until now.
Siggi was the first man for as long as she could remember who made herfeel. She had to acknowledge that she wasattracted to him, foolish as that was, because it wasn’t as if it could go anywhere. They were from different places, had very different outlooks on life and lifestyles that meant, even if something developed, it would be rare for them both to be in the same place at the same time.
But there was a connection that Iris couldn’t ignore. She’d enjoyed being with him today, even for the frustrating few minutes when he’d been so reluctant to knock on that door.
Perhaps she’d reached a point where enough time had lapsed that she was ready to look for love again? But she didn’t think that was it. Whatever this was, it was specific to Siggi. A man who clearly had a rocky past with women, a man who, given his age, seemed incapable of settling down, and was probably a commitment-phobe as well. But these things paled into insignificance when Iris thought about how caring and thoughtful he was. There was something loveable about him, so if he was alone, it suggested that was because he wanted to be. And in that sense, they couldn’t be more alike.
6
IT WAS CRAZY to ask Siggi to take her to the IMO. Wasn’t it? Iris had made an appointment for that afternoon with Bjarkey, someone Jay had suggested she get in touch with. Apparently, he was the remote monitoring expert at the IMO. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to it, well aware that she could easily come across as someone flouncing into their office and telling them she knew better. How she was interpreting the data was unconventional, but she was slowly gathering enough data to prove her point. So stressing about whether to take Siggi up on his offer was a welcome distraction.
Iris had found a coffee shop along the street from the hotel, so after breakfast she took her laptop there, ordered a flat white and sat at a table for two in a cosy corner while she checked in on the data that her seismometer had hopefully been retrieving in Hraunvik. Thankfully, the signal was good and there was some data there, consistent with what the IMO had been gathering, according to what they’d published. That would make this afternoon easier. She could correlate her data to theirs and then explain the nuances that she would spend the rest of the morning deciphering.
After an hour or so, Iris got up to order another coffee, then checked her phone before she engrossed herself in work again. There was a text from Siggi.
What time shall I collect you?
His confidence in assuming she was planning to take him up on his offer made her smile.
Don’t you have anything better to do?
No
How long does it take to get there?
15 mins
He either knew where it was, or he’d looked. Iris hoped it was the latter. She paused, then decided, why not?
Meet you at your office at 13.15?
Siggi replied with a thumbs up emoji. It was a done deal.
That afternoon, she arrived at his office just after one o’clock. He was standing talking to another man who was sitting at the desk.
‘Hi,’ she said.
‘Hey, Iris,’ Siggi said, with a warm smile. ‘Olafur, this is Iris, the volcanologist I was telling you about.’
‘Welcome, Iris,’ said Olafur, holding out a huge hand for her to shake. He was about twice the size of Siggi and looked a bit like a viking. Perhaps more typical of what she imagined an Icelander to look like than Siggi was.
‘This is Olafur, a friend and a colleague.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ said Iris.
‘Has Siggi asked you to come to the bar tonight?’
All sorts of things whipped through Iris’s head. Did Olafur somehow think she and Siggi were an item, and if he did, did that mean Siggi bizarrely thought the same? Did Olafur think she and Siggi somehow already knew each other and hadn’t just met two days ago? Thankfully, Siggi stepped in, speaking Icelandic to Olafur.
Then he turned to Iris and said, ‘I am sorry. My friends assume that everyone we meet who is travelling alone needs to be entertained. It happens all the time.’
‘Siggi, invite her properly, please. Or Gudrun will have something to say about it.’
Siggi rolled his eyes. ‘Would you like to come to the bar tonight? There is a group of us, some English people. It might be fun.’
