‘Sa-ra! Sa-ra!’ The cheering got louder as everyone tried to encourage me.
‘Sounds like it,’ I said, my heart thumping wildly. ‘It’s fine, I’ll be fine.’
‘Are you sure?’ I nodded, feeling sick. ‘The trick is not to overthink it,’ he said. ‘Hold my hand and we’ll go together. You’ll be done before you know it.’
I nodded again, feeling much better with my hand in his.
The whole experience was bizarre and surreal. The music, the clapping, the chanting, my naked toes exposed to the cold. It felt like I was about to be sacrificed to the gods. I looked for Mark, but he was at the back of the group, swiping on his phone. He must have had a coat hanger down his trousers to boost the signal.
‘Ready?’ Henrik asked, looking straight into my eyes.
‘Yes,’ I said, taking a deep breath. These coals were real, and the fire was hot, but I trusted him. I’d watched the others and they’d all taken different routes as they’d made their way across. Some held Henrik’s hand, but there was no trickery going on, no safe route he was steering people down.
I ran like a cartoon character, all arms and legs, as fear took hold of my insides. Henrik legged it alongside me to keep up, and I was ten metres beyond the coals when I realised I’d finished.
‘Did I do it?’ I shrieked. ‘Have I done it?’ I looked down at the grass under my feet.
‘You have,’ Henrik said, grinning.
‘Woohooooo!’ Relief and adrenaline coursed through my veins, and I jumped into Henrik’s arms. ‘I did itttt! I survived. Oh, thank fuck for that.’
‘We wouldn’t do anything that might hurt you,’ he said, spinning me round, then pulling back, our noses nearly touching.
‘You never know what’s going to hurt someone. What if I’d tripped?’
‘I’d have thrown you over my shoulder and got you out of there,’ he said, his eyes dark.
I felt my breath catch. He’d caught me unawares again. This guy was something else.
‘Really?’
He nodded silently, still holding me tight. The last time we’d been this close, we’d been kissing in jacuzzi jets, and the flashback gave me palpitations.
‘Well done, Sara!’ Mark shouted. ‘Now you can say you’ve walked over hot coals too!’
Henrik’s eyes changed, the desire gone, and he let go. I felt instantly colder as he stepped away, as well as being all hot and bothered.
Mark bounced over. ‘Nice one!’
‘Yeah, thanks.’ I murmured, watching Ethel’s face light up as Henrik congratulated her.
‘Fancy a cheeky nightcap?’ Mark whispered. ‘No point hanging out with this lot drinking camomile and cocoa.’
I absolutely needed a drink. I didn’t know what to do with myself, and Henrik was avoid my attempts to catch his eye. Aside from a few moments ago, he’d been giving me the cold shoulder ever since our tryst in the lake. I felt awful about the situation, but I needed to speak to him one on one to explain – it was still confusing to me, so it must have looked completely bizarre to him, and I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea. Mark gatecrashing my retreat had not been on my holiday bingo card.
‘Sure,’ I said, turning away from the group and following him. I glanced back briefly as we reached the edge of the forest, and Henrik’s eyes were fixed on mine from all that way away.
*
Mark poured me an amaretto and Coke, and it was the sweetest thing I’d tasted in alonnngwhile. Apart from the cheese and crackers we’d had earlier. I’d got the fire going almost instantly and had successfully turned on the hot tub. I was on the verge of becoming a professional woman-of-the-woods and now knew that dry, battered old logs made the best fires – the uglier the better. Mark and I had jumped in the jacuzzi and were relaxing in the bubbles under the stars. The booze had gone straight to my head and the woozy Henrik-factor wasn’t helping. That guy wasso sexy. I closed my eyes and imagined he was here instead of Mark. He was such a passionate, sexy kisser, and his body was so strong. The memory of him on top of me, nibbling on my ear, sent tingles down my spine. And knowing he was only ten minutes-walk away was torture. I wanted to order room service, but it was impossible with my ex-husband sat next to me, cramping my style.
I opened my eyes and Mark was staring at me.
‘I know that smile. What are you thinking about?’ he asked, narrowing his eyes.
I sat up and tried to pull myself together. ‘What? Nothing!’
‘Yeah, right.’ He gave me a cheeky nudge.
