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Axel held out his arm, gesturing in the direction to the terminal doors, and she followed him, pulling her suitcase behind her. She was very aware of the sound of her heels against the airport floor, but she wasn’t going to back down to Axel Sturlusson. She hadn’t got where she was as a surgeon by backing down. She’d learned how to stand her ground.
Except when it came to Thomas. She’d let Thomas walk all over her and she hated herself for that.
They stepped outside and she was met with a blast of cold, icy air completely foreign to the temperatures she was used to in Manhattan and back home in Tennessee. Her teeth chattered.
Axel turned. “You stay here and I’ll pull the car up.”
Betty nodded. She wasn’t going to argue as she opened up her carry-on bag and dug out an ugly knitted cap and the matching mitts she’d bought at an outdoor store. Fashion be damned, she was freezing her keister off.
It wasn’t long before his SUV pulled up and he got out. In a couple of strides he was beside her, picking up her suitcase and her carry-on and stowing them in the back.
Betty took a step toward the car, but her ankle twisted and she lost her balance.
Before she could hit the cold, unforgiving ground, two strong arms came around her, holding her gently. She looked up into Axel’s startling blue eyes. She’d thought they were darker, but up close she could see how deep a blue they were.
And her heart skipped a beat. It was as if those eyes had pierced her very soul. It was unsettling how much the intensity of his gaze affected her.
“I told you those were ridiculous boots. I knew that you were going to slip,” he grumbled as he set her upright.
“I didn’t see the ice,” she said, but she still clung to him.
“Well, you’re going to kill yourself walking around in those.”
Before she had a chance to respond or react Axel bent over and scooped her up, depositing her over his shoulder, as if he were carrying her from a fire. Upside down she had a good view of his butt. Which wasn’t a bad thing, just unexpected for a first meeting. Especially in light of the fact that she was going to be working with him at the hospital. It wasn’t the best first impression, but it also wasn’t the worst.
“Excuse me!” she hollered, but didn’t bother struggling because that would just make things worse.
“What?” he asked, moving toward the SUV, his hand firmly planted on her backside.
“Put me down!” she said.
“I will. Once you’re out of harm’s way.” He stated a matter of fact.
“Look, you great big Viking...you can’t treat me like this.”
He moved her and then set her down in the front seat of his SUV. There was a condescending, smug smile playing on his face.
“Treat you like what? I got you to the vehicle safely. This way you won’t be laid up with a broken ankle during your first month of work in Reykjavik. My father would not be happy if I let harm come to you.” He motioned for her to slide her legs into the foot well so he could shut the door.
Fuming, Betty begrudgingly did as he asked, her eyes tracking him as he climbed into the driver’s side and buckled in. He glanced at her.
“You should buckle up.”
“Do you always manhandle people like that?” she muttered as she reached for her seat belt.
“Only people who don’t know how to appropriately dress in icy weather and may be susceptible to a nasty fall.”
Betty’s anger melted away and she tried to fight the amused smile that was threatening to erupt on her face.
“I have better boots, but they’re in my luggage.”
“I do hope so. If not, there is a store not far from your rental where you can purchase a good sturdy pair. You’re not far from the hospital, but as that part of town is close to the sea, it can get dangerously icy at times,” Axel stated calmly as he drove away from the airport and headed toward the city.
“How do you know where I’m staying?” she asked.
“My father helped you find it. And as I said, he gave me the task of making sure that you are settled. He’s quite overloaded with some work at the hospital, so I’ve been the one dealing with it all.”
The last few words were said cautiously and she could see his jaw clench under the stress. She almost wondered if Dr. Sturlusson Sr. was sick rather than overworked and if Axel was hiding it. She knew that look well. She knew the pain and the pressure one carried when a parent was dying. Her mother died when she was young and it had just been her and her father for so long. Then he got sick and it was just her caring for him while trying to do her first year as a resident.
“I’m sorry to hear that your father is ill,” she said gently.
“Who said he was ill?”
“Your expression. Your tone of voice. I thought—”
“He’s a busy man,” Axel snapped.
“Okay.”
“He doesn’t have time for much,” Axel muttered darkly. He didn’t elaborate. He just kept his eyes on the road, his jaw clenched and those blue eyes dark and serious.
“Sorry for making an assumption. I lost my father some time ago and I know they were about the same age.”
“It’s all right,” he said gently. “And I’m sorry. My father spoke highly of your father.”
“Thank you.”
Betty turned and gazed out of the window, her eyelids becoming heavy as the exhaustion that had been pestering her finally caught up with her.
* * *
Axel could hear her deep, even breathing and he glanced over at her. Her head was pressed against the window and she was fast asleep. She was quite beautiful. He hadn’t been expecting that. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, to be honest, but he hadn’t been expecting her.
Blonde hair, brown eyes and a pixie-like face. She was tall, or at least taller than the women he was used to dating. Although it was hard to tell because of the heels. She seemed to have a bit of fire in her, but one that she was suppressing and he couldn’t help but wonder why.
Axel was attracted to her but, with his past and the fact that Betty would only be in Iceland for a short time, there was no point acting on that attraction.
He relaxed, but only fractionally.
When he had been ordered by his father to take on the role of assisting the new American surgeon in her three-month placement he’d instantly been outraged.
“I don’t want to babysit some American surgeon.”
“You need to do this, Axel,” his father had said sharply. “I don’t have time to deal with her.”
Axel had been able to feel the pain in his father’s eyes even without looking directly at them. He’d become an expert at it since the accident two years ago. He still couldn’t look his father in the eye. Not really.
“I’m here to save lives, not babysit another surgeon who outranks me.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“I do my work. I save lives!”
“You’re not striving for anything better. You’re not publishing papers or doing anything innovative. There will be no more discussion about this. You’re doing it.”
Axel really hadn’t been able to say no. His father was the Chief of Surgery and was Axel’s boss now that he was no longer part of the tactical coast guard and worked as a surgeon in the hospital. He just wanted to save lives and go home. He didn’t want anything more. He didn’t deserve anything more.
He’d worked with Americans before and they hadn’t been pleasant to him. So when he’d gone to the airport to pick up Dr. Betty Jacinth, he hadn’t been expecting the woman he’d found waiting for him.
Her beauty stunned him. Sure, she had a feisty little temper, but there was a vulnerability beneath her surface and he wondered what had made her that way.
What had hurt her?
What made her feel as if she needed to prove herself in front of him? Prove that she was so strong, when really he could see that her confidence was shaken under the surface.
That he understood.
He could still hear the screams, smell the smoke and feel the icy cold water cut through his skin like daggers.
Get control of it.
Axel rolled his shoulders as he banished the thought away. It was hard, especially during the winter months when the thoughts of the helicopter crash crept closer. The botched rescue attempt.
His elder brother drowning beside him.
He was the only one who survived, when he should’ve been the one who died.
Now, Axel was guardian to his fourteen-year-old niece, Eira, and he had to deal with the fact that his father blamed him for Calder’s death. His niece certainly did.
Don’t think about it.
Betty stirred in her sleep and Axel glanced at her only briefly. Working with her was going to be harder than he’d originally thought.
Maybe his father would take pity on him and step in, especially if his father saw how working with her would be a struggle. He wasn’t completely sure how he was going to manage that, but he’d find a way. He couldn’t work with Betty. Her or anyone.
He was better on his own. Focused on saving lives and taking care of Eira. That was all he could handle in his life and that was all he really deserved.
His PTSD and Eira were baggage that women couldn’t handle and he was fine with that. Eira and his work were his priority. Too bad he was also failing at that. Lives he could save, but dealing with a fourteen-year-old girl was something else altogether.
Still, Eira had no one else and he’d promised his brother he would care for her as they’d clung to what was left of the helicopter in the stormy North Sea.
Betty woke with a start, jolting Axel from his musings.
“Are we there?” she asked drowsily.
“Nearly,” he said, gently.
“Good.” She sat up and stretched. “Sorry I dozed off there.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re tired and you need to get your sleep. You start in a couple of days and the shift starts at five in the morning. I’ll come and pick you up.”
“I can walk to the hospital.”
“It’s still dark at five in the morning. I will pick you up.”
“Fine. I guess that’s okay. I don’t want to get disoriented on my first day.”
“You will have obstacles. Language, for one.”
“I can speak a bit,” she responded in a bit of broken Icelandic. “And I believe most people here speak very good English.”
He laughed. “You are right. When did you learn Icelandic?”
“My father spoke Icelandic because he spent a few years working here before I was born. That’s how he and your father became friends. My father came here to work and met your father and then they corresponded for years. My father loved it here and taught me a few words of the language.
Axel shrugged. “I never thought to ask how my father knew yours, but I guess it makes sense. My father is not much of a traveler, so I couldn’t really picture him going to the US.”
Silence fell between them.
He pulled down a side street off the Hverfisgata that wasn’t far from the hospital. Her little rental was a small blue-green cottage that had a view of the water. It made his stomach twist in a knot as he looked out over that cruel, unforgiving stretch of sea.
He used to love that wide expanse of churning blue, now he hated it.
“Here you go. I’ll help you in.” Axel didn’t give her a chance to protest. There would be icy patches down by the sea and it was windy. As soon as he stepped out of the car he could feel salty mist spraying his face.
“Hold on, Calder. Help is coming.”
“I... I can’t.” There was a wound on Calder’s face; his eyes were closed. “Promise me.”
Axel knew what he was talking about. “I’ll look after her. Don’t worry, but just hold on.”
“I’m so cold.”
“You okay?” Betty asked as he opened her door and then he realized he was blocking the way.
“Fine.” He reached down to pick her up, but she held up her hands.
“I’ve got it. Thanks.”
Axel didn’t fight her and stepped back. He grabbed her luggage from the back and followed her up the path and the few stairs as she punched in a code on the lock box and got the key. His pulse was thundering in his ears, because every fiber in his being was telling him to get away from the water.
Once they were inside, he set her luggage down.
“I’ll pick you up Thursday morning at five.”
“You don’t have to...”
“No, I’ll be outside. Waiting.” He didn’t want to argue with her. He just needed to put some distance between himself and her, the sea, from it all.
