Chapter 10

Clara was mesmerized. John could tell how much she loved it just by looking at her face, that light smile curling up the corners of her mouth, that twinkling in her eyes. Suddenly John felt a stab of pride because going to Norway had been his idea and he had brought her along. She loved it and maybe he was hoping she would extend that sentiment to him.

He quickly brushed the thought aside, knowing that he shouldn't even dream about that. It was a bad idea, a really, really bad one. He liked Clara, but flirting with her would only result in trouble. He could restrain himself for a while, he didn't need to play with her just because she was pretty. She wasn't his usual type of conquest and maybe that was why it was so tempting to flirt with her. No, playing with a woman like Clara could backfire terribly and a broken heart was the last thing he needed at this point.

"We could possibly look at a few towns on the south coast before he find a nice spot for the night," John suggested, "The higher we go the longer we'll have daylight."

"Sounds good," Clara agreed and turned around, smiling at him. Her hair was all over the place again, dishevelled by the wind. She looked so wild and carefree like this.

No, John reminded himself, he wouldn't flirt.

"I've read that at a certain point it won't be dark at all," she added.

John nodded. "Yes, around the summer solstice once you've crossed the Arctic circle. The sun won't set at all."

"Can we see that?" Clara asked him, the excitement written all over her face. How could he possibly say no when she looked at him like that?

"Sure, if you can stand my company for three weeks," he replied and leaned on the railing to look across the water. The Norwegian coast was visible already.

"Or you mine," she giggled, joining him at the railing, "So, that's the plan? Drive north, look at the country?"

"First we need to stop at a bank. We'll need petrol and for that we'll need Norwegian money."

"Oh," she uttered, "I didn't even consider that."

John turned his head, smiling at her. "Cause you don't travel much, but, yes, some countries in the world have other currencies outside the pound. Not many. Just a few."

Clara nudged him softly, laughing. "Stop making fun of me."

"See that town over there?" John asked her. Clara looked ahead, but she was facing the wrong direction. Gently he placed his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer, and pointed straight at it. "That's a place you've never been to before and it's exactly where we're going."

Clara turned her head, beaming at him. "Exciting," she giggled, "I've never done anything like this before."

"What? Run away with a stranger?" John cocked his eyebrow at her, "Oh, I don't know. You're pretty good at it. I had assumed you did that on a daily basis."

"I told you to stop making fun of me," Clara complained, but when she smiled at him John was certain that she didn't mind a little teasing at all.

"Ah," he inhaled deeply as he leaned his back against the railing, looking right at her, "We'll make a globetrotter out of you yet, trust me."

The left the ferry in the early evening and, just as John had expected, the sun was still high up in the sky as the drove to the nearest bank to get some money and afterwards to stock up on petrol. When John stepped out of the petrol station, breathing in the Norwegian air, he felt reassured once more. It had been a good decision. Maybe not the right one, maybe a selfish one, but a good decision. He had completely forgotten how much he loved the country. As he approached the camper van again, John found Clara leaning against in, looking at her surroundings.

"Can you smell it?" John asked once he had reached her.

"What? The petrol?"

"No," he laughed, "The sea. Norway. Freedom."

John came to a halt next to Clara and inhaled deeply. Okay, maybe she was right.

"Unless freedom smells like petrol, I don't. Not really," she said and nudged him softly, "Come on, let's get going. I want to see some things outside this station."

John watched her as she jumped into the back of the camper van and decided to follow after her after a moment to go ahead with their journey. He had already made a plan in his head about what he wanted to see and show Clara.

"Listen," he said as he had stepped into the motorhome as well, "I think we should head for Hardanger and-"

John stopped dead in his tracks when he suddenly noticed that Clara had taken her top off for some reason he couldn't quite fathom, but the sight of her in just her underwear still left him speechless for a moment. He hadn't expected that. He hadn't really expected anything, especially not finding Clara half naked.

"Uhm-"

"Could you be a gentleman and turn around while I change?" she asked and continued to rummage through her suitcase, hardly paying any attention to his presence at all.

Still John took a moment to actually realized what she had asked of him. He spun around on his heels to give Clara the privacy she had asked for.

"Sorry, uhm," he spluttered, "Didn't really expect to, erm, you to. . . undress. Sorry."

Why was he spluttering? Why was he nervous all of a sudden? It wasn't his first time seeing a beautiful, young woman in her underwear, far from it. In fact, he had seen a lot of beautiful, young women completely naked, but this time it had come as a surprise. This time it was one he wasn't supposed to look at or flirt with, even though a part of him wanted to. Oh yes, a part of him didn't want to be a gentleman at all and instead turn around and watch her. Clara was turning out to be a temptation he hadn't seen coming at all even though he knew that he should have. Jack was right. He was a selfish bastard after all.

"Done," Clara's voice suddenly said behind him and John turned back around, noticing that she had changed into a cute summer dress. "Didn't really expect it to be this warm in Norway. Everyone keeps saying how cold it is."

"Well," John cleared his throat, "Norway has summer, too. It'll get cooler the further north we go. So don't put your jumper too far away."

"I won't," Clara said, smiling at him, "So, where did you say we should go?"

John raised his eyebrows at her, not really knowing what she was talking about.

"You said we should go to a hangar or something."

"Oh, right," he blurted out, "Not hangar. Hardanger. There's a beautiful fjord there that you should definitely see. It will probably take us a day to get there. Unless you'd prefer to drive up the west coast, in which case it could take a bit longer. Depending on how often we stop."

Clara replied with a shrug. "I'm in no hurry."

"Good," John concluded, "Good. Long way round it is then."

She beamed at him before she skipped ahead and made her way past him to the front of the car, leaving John still somewhat baffled and confused. Yes, Clara was a temptation he hadn't expected, but he would not give in, no matter how sweet and beautiful she was. This time he wouldn't be selfish.