Jake was aware of the sudden flush on Lydia’s cheeks. What had happened to make her colour rise like that?
He was horribly aware that he’d like to see her skin bloom with colour in a completely different situation. One where her breathing would be ragged and her eyes would be wide with desire and her mouth would be parted and…
No.
Apart from the fact that he never dated anyone who worked for him—in his view, mixing work and relationships always ended in a mess—thoughts like these were completely inappropriate. For all he knew, Lydia was in a serious, committed relationship. There were no rings on her left hand, but that meant nothing.
Though he had heard Tim refer to her as the ice queen, as if she never dated.
The ice queen. Ha. More proof that the junior lawyer still had a lot of growing up to do. Just by looking at her, Jake could tell there was nothing icy about Lydia Sheridan. Her mouth had a sensual curve that would make any man want to reach over and touch.
Taste.
And right now he was beginning to wish that he’d brought Tim with him instead of Lydia. Because Lydia was the first woman who’d tempted him since Grace—and he wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to resist.
Two hours later, the plane landed and they disembarked. It was raining, and Lydia was glad of her coat as they hurried across to the terminal.
‘There’s a saying in Norway: God made the country so beautiful, he must wash it every day,’ Jake said, as if reading her mind. ‘Oslo’s beautiful at night, when all the lights reflect on the wet ground.’
She could imagine it. ‘I was expecting it to be darker than this.’
‘The polar nights, you mean?’ He shook his head. ‘We’re in the south of the country, so at this time of year there are six hours of sunlight—it’s not that much different from London. Dusk and dawn are a bit longer, maybe. Further north it’s twilight, but it’s still light enough to read by at midday.’
‘Takk,’ she said.
He looked at her in surprise. ‘I thought you said you didn’t speak Norwegian?’
‘I learned a couple of phrases last night. To be polite.’
He gave her an approving smile. ‘Good thinking. That’ll go down well at Pedersen’s. And if you want me to teach you…’
She completely missed the rest of his sentence. Because for a moment she could imagine him teaching her something, and rewarding her with a kiss. That beautiful, beautiful mouth lowering towards hers, teasing her and tasting her and arousing her until…
‘Lydia?’
‘Sorry. I was distracted by the scenery,’ she said. It wasn’t a total fib. Just that the pictures happened to be in her head, not outside. ‘You were saying?’
‘You’re happy with the agenda?’
‘It’s fine. No questions.’
‘Good. Oh, and keep a note of any calls you make to England from here. Andersen’s will reimburse you.’
‘Why would I call England?’ she asked, mystified.
‘Your family. To let them know you’ve arrived safely,’ he suggested.
It hadn’t occurred to her. She hadn’t even told her parents that she’d be out of the country; the gulf between them had widened over the years so that she spoke to them maybe once a fortnight, and saw them even less.
Though she had told her godmother and her best friend that she’d be away. She’d promised to send postcards and take lots of photographs, especially of the Northern Lights.
‘I’ll call them later,’ she prevaricated, not wanting to admit how difficult things were between her and her parents. ‘My father will be in court at this time of day, and my mother will be in a briefing meeting.’ And even if they weren’t, they’d be too busy to talk to her.
‘Then, if you’ll excuse me?’ he asked.
Jake was calling his parents?
Now that she hadn’t expected.
He tapped a button on his phone. ‘Mum? Yes, it’s Jake. We’re at Oslo Airport, safe and sound, so you can stop worrying now.’ He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corner. ‘OK. Since Dad’s on the golf course, you can tell him for me. I’ll call you tonight.’ His smile broadened. ‘I love you, too.’
When had she last said, ‘I love you,’ to her parents?
Then again, when had they last said it to her?
Jake’s ease with his family unsettled Lydia. Particularly when his next call was conducted in Norwegian—and he had the same sweet, loving smile on his face when he said, ‘Jeg er glad i deg.’ She didn’t need a translation. This was obviously the Norwegian side of his family, and he was close to them, too.
He glanced at his watch as he put his phone away. ‘Our meeting’s at three, Norwegian time,’ he said. ‘Which means we have an hour and a half. It’s going to be quickest for us to buy your boots here, then catch the shuttle train to the hotel—it’ll take twice as long to get there by taxi. We’ll have just about enough time to check in and unpack before we go to the office.’
‘I don’t need boots. These are fine,’ Lydia protested.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’ve been to Norway before?’
‘No,’ she admitted.
‘Then perhaps you’ll agree that I’m in a better position to judge. You do have shoes to change into, in the office?’ he checked.
‘Yes.’
‘Good. That makes it easier.’ Once they’d collected their luggage and gone through passport control, Jake ushered her over to the shopping area, asked her shoe size, then spoke in rapid Norwegian. With brisk efficiency, the assistant brought her three different styles of boots, and when she’d chosen the ones that fitted best her own boots were wrapped up and Jake had paid before she could stop him.
‘I’m quite capable of paying for my own boots,’ she said as they left the shop.
‘I know, but it’s quicker this way. We’ll sort it out later,’ he said.
The train took about twenty minutes and their hotel was only a couple of minutes’ walk away from the station. ‘Wow,’ she said at her first glimpse of the sheer glass tower, silver against the grey sky. ‘That’s gorgeous.’
‘It looks even better when the sky’s blue,’ he said. ‘I had Ingrid book rooms for us on the thirtieth floor. The views are fantastic.’
He’d understated it, she thought when she unlocked her room and saw the fjord spreading out below. Instead of unpacking, she spent her time just drinking in the view. This was definitely something she’d sketch, later.
She heard a knock at the door, and glanced at her watch. They needed to be going. Quickly, she slipped her shoes into her briefcase, gathered up her coat and handbag and opened the door. ‘Sorry. I was admiring the view.’
‘Hopefully we’ll have time for me to show you a bit of the city in the evenings. If it dries up,’ he said with a smile. ‘It’s not far to Nils’s office, but it’s bucketing down outside so I’ve booked us a taxi.’
Nils Pedersen’s office was in Aker Brygge Wharf. ‘It used to be a shipyard,’ Jake explained on the way there, ‘but it’s been developed as a business and tourist centre. It’s really pretty in the summer. My grandfather says that when he was a boy, in the winter the fjord would freeze and they’d make roads with sledges on the ice, and as spring came they’d cut channels in the ice. Of course, winters are milder now.’
‘You