‘Yes. I think it’s a real possibility,’ he deadpanned. ‘Until there are staff and guests, it’s just me and the builders, and they don’t count me as a builder.’
‘Even though you’ve just built an extension to our cabin?’ She feigned shock.
He laughed, mostly with relief that she’d referred to it as “our cabin”. ‘Even though I’m basically a master carpenter now.’
When they got back to Lotta’s later that evening, they snuggled together on the sofa to watch a movie, but it wasn’t long before the kissing became too big a distraction and they realised they’d lost track of the story.
‘We may as well go to bed,’ Lotta said, taking Mats’ hand and leading him into her bedroom.
Her bed frame was an old-fashioned iron one, high off the ground. There was a patchwork quilt folded across the foot of the bed, and the bed linen was in different neutral shades that made Mats feel relaxed and ready for bed just by looking at it. He made a mental note to mention the idea to Becca.
But this was no time for thinking about sleep. Finally, they were back to a place where they could come together. They were in no hurry as they pulled each other’s clothes off, standing next to the bed, taking each other in.
Mats held Lotta to him; the sensation of her skin against his was mind-blowing after two weeks without her. He ran his hands down the smooth skin of her back, and she nuzzled into his neck, her hair soft against his chest.
‘I’ve missed you so much,’ she breathed, her hands in his hair as he picked her up and laid her on the bed.
It did his heart good to hear that. Being away from her, especially when they hadn’t been in touch regularly, gave him too much time to doubt everything. He’d asked himself countless times whether they had what it took to last, whether their love could survive these times when they were forced apart by circumstances, by the lives they’d chosen before. But any doubts or worries he had flitted away now. The only thing on his mind was how much he loved Lotta. And making love, physically giving themselves up to each other, using their bodies to show the depth of their love, left Mats in no doubt that the relationship they had was the real thing. They would always come back to each other.
When he woke later that night, Lotta wasn’t in bed. He pulled on his underwear and left the bedroom in search of her. She was sitting in the corner of the sofa with her laptop. The television was on mute, playing Friends.
‘Hey,’ he said, sitting next to her and kissing her temple. ‘You couldn’t sleep?’
‘I have a pitch to finish for next week. It’s on my mind, so I thought I’d get some of it done.’
‘What’s it for?’ He took a sip from the glass of water he’d left on the coffee table earlier.
‘It’s the Norwegian tourist board. They want a campaign to highlight heritage crafts.’
‘That’s come from your work with the Folk Museum. That’s brilliant!’
Her eyes were shining when she looked at him and nodded. ‘It’s the first word-of-mouth business I’ve had for a long time.’
‘Can I see what you’ve done?’
She showed him her presentation. ‘It’s still rough, but you get the idea.’
‘It’s so impressive, Lotta. Such a clever concept, you’ll win it no question.’
‘Well, you’re biased, but thank you.’ She was beaming with pride in a way he hadn’t seen since the night of the party in Oslo.
‘You should have told me you needed to work this weekend. I don’t mind, there’s plenty I can find to do in London if you want tomorrow to work on this.’
‘Really? I didn’t want to spoil the weekend.’
‘You don’t need to put stuff on hold when I’m around. This is important.’
‘You’re important.’
He pushed her hair back, cupped the back of her head, and kissed her. ‘We’re important,’ he corrected, ‘but we’re ticking along all the time, even when we’re not together. We don’t need to treat a couple of days together as anything out of the ordinary. It’s a chance to catch up with each other, but if we have other stuff going on, that’s just life. And I don’t want you to feel you can’t tell me you need to work. That’s important.’
‘Okay.’ She closed the lid of her laptop and yawned.
‘The boss of a successful marketing agency can’t work through the night. That’s not good for anyone.’
She stood up and laughed. ‘Look at you giving business advice in your underwear.’ She took his hand and hauled him up. ‘Take me back to bed then.’
‘It would be my pleasure.’
