For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
This wasn’t how I’d imagined it. I’d made plans, I’d thought about timing. Calling him first. Something more structured than meeting in the middle of the airport.
“I—” I stopped, swallowed. “Give me a second.”
Stefan didn’t move. Then it hit me.
He doesn’t seem surprised to see me.But only one person had known about my?—
“Karl,” I said, a low growl slipping out before I could stop it.
Stefan smiled. “Of course.”
My annoyance cut through the shock. “How much did he tell you?”
He bit his lip, andfuck, I’d missed that.
“We met for coffee yesterday. He told me about the job, and that you were coming here for a few weeks.” His eyes shone. “Congratulations, by the way.”
He shifted closer, until we stood too close for this to be casual.
“I was going to call you,” I said. My voice shook a little. “Once it was confirmed. I didn’t want to?—”
“I know,” he said again. He brought his hand up, as if to cup my cheek, then lowered it. “I should have calledyou,” he said in a low voice. “And long before now.”
I swallowed hard. “But you didn’t.”
Stefan’s Adam’s apple bobbed sharply. “I thought I needed to be certain. About what this was. What it would mean.” He took a breath. “I was wrong.”
I couldn’t move. Stefan didn’t say things like that. At least, the StefanIremembered didn’t.
My chest tightened. “And now?”
His gaze didn’t waver. “Now I realise I shouldn’t have let you go.”
Everything stilled.
I took a step forward, closing the last of the distance between us. My pulse quickened.
“There was a moment at the station. I was sure you?—”
His jaw tightened. “Yes. I nearly asked you to stay.”
My heart thumped. “I would have.”
His breathing caught. “I know.”
“Why didn’t you stop me?” I asked.
I didn’t mean to sound accusatory. I just needed the truth.
“Because I didn’t know if I could give you what staying would have meant.”
His words were as they always had been, honest and uncompromising.
“And now?”
He raised his hand again, and this time it came to rest at the back of my neck.