There was a hint of sadness in those blue, blue eyes, and he guessed she was thinking about her fiancé. But it was none of his business. He wasn’t going to push her to talk.
‘Though I’m sorry you had to deal with a break-up at the same time as a rough patch. That’s a bit of a double whammy,’ she said.
He lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. ‘If I’m being honest, we’d been heading for the rocks for a while. I’d been kind of deluding myself.’ Knowing he was being a coward, but wanting to get back on safer ground and talk about something less emotionally daunting, he asked, ‘So why did you come to Iceland?’
‘I’ve always wanted to see the midnight sun,’ Hayley said. ‘And there were other things on my bucket list, like seeing the whales.’
‘What else is on your list?’
‘Seeing a geyser erupt,’ she said promptly, ‘and touching a glacier, and seeing the split between the continental plates. Oh, and I saw this video of people walking behind a waterfall—I’d really like to do that, too.’
‘I can take you to do all that, as well as that beach with the cave that’s a bit like the church columns.’
‘Thank you. But it’s your job, so obviously I’ll pay you the going rate for a guide,’ she said.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Apart from my weekly self-indulgence of going to see the whales, I haven’t really done anything just for fun. So if you don’t mind me muscling in on your bucket list, and maybe making some suggestions of places I think you might enjoy, it’d be a holiday for me.’
She frowned. ‘Surely you’ve already visited all those places with clients—I mean, aren’t they on every tourist’s wish list?’
‘True, but seeing something through someone else’s eyes keeps it fresh,’ he said. ‘Please don’t offer to pay me.’
‘At least let me pay for the petrol,’ she protested. ‘And buy you lunch.’
He really ought to shut up. But his mouth wasn’t working to the same script as his head. ‘As long as you’ll let me buy you dinner tonight,’ he found himself saying.
‘I’d like that. Thank you.’
‘It’s a deal.’ He reached across the table to shake her hand.
* * *
When Sam shook her hand, it sent goose-bumps over Hayley’s skin.
This felt more like a date than agreeing to share some travel plans. Yet in a way it was a kind of blind date, because she knew hardly anything about him—just that he’d had some kind of career crisis and a bad break-up, so he was taking time out to decide what to do next with his life.
But, if she pushed him to talk about it, that would give him the right to ask her the same: and she didn’t want to talk about Evan and how her life had sunk into a black hole after her fiancé’s death.
She was just going to focus on the fun stuff. That was the reason she was in Iceland, after all. To help her move on. And if this was some kind of date—well, it wasn’t serious, but maybe it was something that she needed. Something that perhaps they both needed.
After coffee, they went to see the church with its soaring ceilings and tall windows. Hayley loved the sheer simplicity of it, and the beauty of the simple crystal font. She enjoyed the tour of the city afterwards, with Sam pointing out the places of interest—the Town Hall, the Tjörnin lake behind it, which was a perfect mirror for the town hall and old buildings that lined it, the Parliament building and the striking black glass building of the Harpa concert hall. Sam knew lots of anecdotes and stories and entertained her thoroughly, though she wasn’t entirely sure whether he was teasing her when he told her about the locals throwing yogurt at the Parliament building as part of a protest.
Before they stopped for dinner, he asked, ‘Do you have any food allergies, or are you vegetarian?’
She smiled at him, liking the fact that he’d been thoughtful enough to ask. ‘No and no. I’m very happy for you to recommend somewhere.’
He took her to a little bistro by the Old Harbour. ‘They do some of the best fish in Iceland here,’ he said. ‘And I can guarantee it’s freshly caught.’
The place was tiny and candle-lit; the interior walls were all of polished wood, and Hayley noticed that there were vintage photographs of the area hanging on the walls. ‘Would I be right in thinking that this used to be a fishing shed?’ she asked.
‘A lot of the buildings in this area are,’ Sam explained. ‘They’ve been renovated and painted different colours. Some are shops, some are cafés and restaurants, and there’s an ice cream shop here that does an amazing array of flavours.’
The ambience was lovely—but the food was even better. On Sam’s recommendation, she chose ‘catch of the day’, which turned out to be a seafood risotto topped with fresh cod.
‘The food is amazing,’ she said.
And the dessert was spectacular: a chocolate dome that, when she poured hot caramel sauce onto it, melted into a rich chocolate pudding.
Even better than the food was the company. Hayley couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out to dinner with a man, and Sam was nice. He had an innate kindness that appealed to her; and he was easy on the eye, too, with short dark hair brushed back from his face, hazel eyes and a sensual mouth.
Not that she ought to be thinking about his mouth. Or kissing. Or wondering what his hands would feel like against her skin. It made her feel disloyal to Evan—even though she knew that Evan wouldn’t have wanted her to be alone for ever.
They lingered over coffee, took a last stroll round the Old Harbour area, and then Sam walked her back to her hotel.
‘I can hardly believe it’s half-past eleven at night and it’s still so light,’ she said, marvelling. ‘Back at home it would be dark by now.’
‘With your hotel being this side of the bay,’ he said, ‘you’re going to get amazing views of the sunset across the sea.’
Just what she’d hoped for.
Ahead of them was a steel sculpture of what looked like a Viking boat; it glowed gold in the light of the setting sun. And when Hayley looked back over her shoulder, the sky was ablaze with orange and gold and hot pink.
‘The midnight sun,’ she said softly. ‘I’ve always wanted to see it. And it’s as incredible as I thought it would be.’
When they reached her hotel he asked, ‘Shall I meet you on the dock outside the ship at nine?’
‘That sounds good. See you there,’ she said.
He didn’t attempt to kiss her, and Hayley was shocked to realise that she was faintly disappointed. And then she felt ashamed. They weren’t dating and they hadn’t even agreed to have a holiday fling. Sam Price was simply a kind stranger she’d met by chance, and he’d offered to keep her company in her travels. She really shouldn’t be throwing herself at him. And wasn’t he still getting over a bad break-up? The last thing he needed was someone mooning about over him. Maybe she should have made a polite excuse and stayed on her own after all. Tomorrow, after the whale-watching trip, she’d feign a headache.
‘Goodnight,’ she said, and headed for her room.
Her window overlooked the sea, so she took some last shots of the sunset and emailed them to Dani, along with an account of her day and the fact she was acting in accordance with their agreement about saying yes to opportunities. She woke in the middle of the night and was surprised to see it was still quite light; back in London at this time it would be dark. She woke again in time for the sunrise and was stunned