She stopped, unable to explain herself in a way that would make sense to her brother. Because none of it made sense, she saw that now. Fortunately, Moon took pity on her.
“Has it worked?” he asked more gently.
“No,” she admitted, falling on the stool behind her. “Sven still sees me as a friend, nothing more. And I’m starting to think he will never see me in any other way.”
And yet… Yet, she didn’t feel half as dejected as she’d imagined she would feel. Her pride had been hurt when she’d had to admit out loud that Sven cared nothing about whom she kissed, but her heart had not missed any beat.
“Oh, I’ve been such a fool! ’Tis like Edita says, no one will ever take any interest in me.”
“Wait, what does our unbearable cousin have to do with this?”
Aife made a gesture of helplessness. “She is about to get married for the second time, while I’m alone. She says no man will ever be interested in a plain, scrawny woman such as I am. And she’s right. I have never?—”
“Hush. Edita is a fool, we all know that.” Moon lifted her up and drew her into his arms. “Sister, you know I love Sven. But he is…”
“Yes. I know.”
Though he didn’t finish his sentence, unfortunately, she knew exactly what he meant. Sven was not ready to settle, might never be. She stayed cradled in her brother’s embrace a long moment, relishing his warmth and unconditional support. Then Moon drew away and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Go tell Torsten you don’t need his help any longer.”
This time her heartbeat did increase in alarm. Interesting, she observed in a detached corner of her mind… Acknowledging out loud that she had not managed to attract Sven’s attention had provoked no reaction inside of her, but the idea of putting anend to what she and Torsten were doing was causing her whole body to lurch in protest.
“Why would I do that?” she asked Moon, doing her best not to betray her consternation.
“Because there’s no point in two people kissing if it doesn’t lead anywhere.”
“No, no point,” she agreed weakly. Still, she’d found that she had rather liked it. More than liked it. Torsten kissed exceptionally well, nothing like the other men she had kissed. It was as if he were awed by her, as if he wanted to become part of her soul. The feeling was intoxicating.
“Besides, he clearly is interested in another woman and he should be free to pursue her. It is only fair.”
“Yes.” The word barely passed Aife’s lips. He should be allowed to do what he wanted with Bera.
And she to go back to her inspiring life.
“Torsten. I’m sorry.”Moon ran a hand down the back of his head like a man suffering a deep embarrassment. “You were right. I spoke to Aife. She told me everything, and I thank you for doing your best to help her, even though I fear it is a lost cause.”
Torsten could not help a snort. A lost cause. Definitely. Edita was so steeped in her own malice he wasn’t sure she would ever see—or care—that she was hurting people.
“It’s not a problem.”
No, it hadn’t been. Kissing Aife had been anything but a chore. With her, he had rediscovered the simple pleasure of kissing, something he had enjoyed as a younger man but that had become fraught with complications of late. He’d been too worried about the possible consequences to let himself go.
With Aife it had been different. There had been no fear that the kisses would lead anywhere he didn’t want to go. Not once had she demanded more, tried to entice him into bed like the other women had, or used him for her own amusement like Bera had. He had started to relax around her, enjoy her company and their kisses for what they were. He’d noticed they sometimes kissed even when they were alone, as if they could not help themselves, as if they enjoyed the kisses they shared for what they were.
If truth be told, he had started to wonder if he should ask Aife if she really wanted to stop what they were doing once her cousin had gone back home. Perhaps the two of them could see where this might lead.
Every time he made her laugh, which was often, because every time they met he did his best to provoke her evocative laughter, he reacted in the same way. His body ignited in desire, his heart started beating with purpose, and his mind sparked back to life. He had started to notice that his feeling of dejection was beginning to fade. Aife had reawakened his lust for life.
“Anyway,” Moon was saying. “What do you think? Do you think Sven has even noticed you two together?”
Sven? Probably not. But what did it matter?
“I would be surprised if he had,” Torsten answered. “He has enough conquests of his own to worry about any of mine.”
“Yes. As I thought.” Moon nodded. “I told Aife as much, as gently as I could, but you know…”
What did he know? This conversation was becoming rather odd and Torsten wasn’t sure he quite followed it. “Mm.” He gave a non-committal grunt, hoping it would be enough.
