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He lifted the hand he’d been stroking to his lips and planted a soft kiss on her palm, finally meeting her eyes and revealing the boyish enthusiasm in his gleaming gray gaze.
“Thank you… it’s not always easy to see the simplest of solutions right in front of your nose. I needed this. I’m so fucking excited to try it, to do only what I want to and to hell with what the public and the critics think.”
“I’m very happy to have helped. And I can’t even begin to tell you how hot I’m finding this steely resolve of yours,” she teased, fanning herself. “Now are you going to take me to bed, mister? Or am I going to have to seduce you on this uncomfortable love seat?”
He growled and picked her up caveman style. She squealed, laughing uncontrollably all the way back to the bedroom.
“Can I borrow your phone?” Iris asked Trystan two days later after they’d returned from their post-breakfast walk. It was a glorious day, with blue skies and moderate temperatures ranging in the mid-teens. They were back in the kitchen now, facing each other across the island. “I want to call my parents. I haven’t spoken to them in a week and I think they need to hear my voice. They like to pretend they’re cool, but I know they’ve been concerned about me. More so since I lost my phone. They probably think I’ve been kidnapped or something, despite my constant messages and emails. I think it would be good for them to see that I’m okay.”
“You don’t have to explain, Iris,” he said with a chuckle, handing his device over. “Of course you can call them. I’m sorry; I should have offered sooner. If you want to catch up with your friend, Evan, afterward, you can call her too.”
Iris had told Trystan she was concerned about Evan’s silence. Her friend had only responded to one of her emails, and it had been a curt two-line message.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” he said, turning to go and Iris hesitated. She’d spoken to both of his best friends, and had self-consciously participated in a group call with his parents and older brother, Dan, the night before. While her parents and best friend still had no clue why she was here and who she was with.
“No, stay. I think it’s time I tell my parents why I’m here, but be warned, they won’t be cool about it.”
“I don’t blame them. Their daughter has been trapped and alone with a strange man. It would make any parent uncomfortable.”
She stared at him for a beat and then burst into laughter.
“Oh my God, it’s so cute that you’re actually serious right now,” she said, clutching her sides after nearly busting a gut laughing. He looked confused and that set her off again.
“Trystan, sweetheart.” God, he really was adorable at times. His eyes sparked in pleasure at the endearment, and she vowed to call him that more often. “When I say my parents aren’t going to be cool about it, I mean they’re going to lose their collective shit when they realize that I’m with you. Dad’s a massive fan, he’s watched every one of your movies. And mum—” she grimaced. “I think she has a wee crush on you, actually. Which could get awkward.”
“Is she as hot as you?” Trystan asked with a wicked grin and Iris gasped in horror.
“Don’t you even dare… Just shut up about my mum’s potential hotness! Ew!”
He laughed. “I’ll be on my best behavior, I swear. I’m fucking great with parents.”
“Fine, but stay out of sight until I’ve explained the situation to them.” She sat down at the banquette and he squeezed in next to her. He unlocked his phone and she quickly dialed her mother’s number before she could change her mind.
“How do you know the number? I haven’t got a single number memorized.”
“Mum made me recite it over and over again when I was a kid. It hasn’t changed since. She was paranoid about—” The phone was answered abruptly and her mother’s ear and graying brown hair appeared on-screen.
“Hello? Hello? Who’s this?”
“Mum? Mum, it’s me! Move the phone away from your ear, for God’s sake, Mum. It’s a video call.”
“Hello? Iris? Is that you? Jason, it’s Iris! Whose number is this? Are you okay?”
Iris cast her eyes heavenward and prayed for strength before trying again.
“Mum, it’s a video call, move the phone away from your ear.”
She heard Trystan smother a chuckle and glared at him.
Her mother finally moved the phone but the image was a bit blurry thanks to her having rubbed her ear against the camera lens.
“Oh, there you are. You look warm and healthy. We’ve been so worried about you… Jason, Iris is on the phone.”
“Is that Iris?” her father called, before he appeared on screen beside her mother. Iris smiled at the sight of their endearing faces. Her mother so pretty, with her graying brunette hair and pale brown skin, her father so dapper in his bow tie, his blond head balding, his eyes a faded gray. She’d missed them so much.
“Hello, my darling,” her father said, his voice warm with love and affection. “We’ve missed you. When will you finish up this top-secret job and come home?”
“About that… I need to explain about the job,” Iris said, happy he’d given her the opening. “I came here to interview Trystan Abbott.”
