Stockholm Diaries, Caroline

by Rebecca Hunter

  “Careful,” he chuckled when she released him. “The hotel is a long way away.”

  She straightened herself back up and looked around. The other people in line were staring at them. Some of them were grinning.

  “Niklas,” she said softly, “I can’t just let you buy me a plane ticket.”

  She brushed her hair out of her face, trying to pull herself back together.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I just can’t. Because—”

  She paused, trying to get her thoughts in order.

  “Caroline, there’s nothing I’d rather spend my money on,” he said. “Please let me do this. We can discuss it more if you want to later, but right now let’s get ourselves onto this plane before the first class tickets run out, too.”

  He squeezed her hand and smiled at her.

  “I just want to be with you,” he said, looking carefully into her eyes. “Please can I buy this ticket so we can go to Italy together?”

  Everything in her wanted this, and she couldn’t bring herself to protest anymore. She couldn’t do that to herself, and she couldn’t do that to him, either.

  “Okay,” she said. “I mean, thank you.”

  He let his lips brush against hers once more, and then he took her hand and stepped up to the ticketing counter. The agent looked at Niklas’s passport, then at him, and then back at his passport, the spark of recognition in his eyes. And she watched as the hockey player Niklas Almquist appeared, the man she had first seen at the press conference, good-humored, talkative, and in control. And she saw what he was doing. He kept his voice low, engaging the agent in Swedish, and deflecting the attention from her. He did it instinctually, and she still wasn’t sure what to make of this side of him or her own willingness to go along with it.

  The agent handed over two boarding passes and grabbed her bag, and then, suddenly they were free. They were going to Italy together. Niklas’s hand found hers, and he squeezed it. Slowly, they walked towards security as Caroline tried to sort out the course of events that had changed so quickly, leaving a chaotic tumble of thoughts running through her mind. She drew in a deep breath, but it didn’t take the shakiness out of her voice.

  “You know, I’m going to want to eat out. At restaurants,” she said.

  He stopped and put his arms around her.

  “This is your trip, your way,” he said. Then he grinned. “Besides, no one in Italy cares about hockey.”

  “And I don’t even know where I’m staying yet or what I’m doing,” she said, her words coming faster now. “None of this trip is planned. I was just going to wait and see what happened.”

  He nodded and ran his hand over her hair. The warmth made her shoulders relax a little.

  “That works for me,” he said softly.

  “It’s in the middle of tourist season,” she continued, “and many of the hotels will be full by now. We’ll probably have to hunt for a place to stay for a while.”

  His hand continued to follow the path of her hair, along her face, over her shoulders and down her back.

  “I don’t mind,” he said evenly, “though if you’re worried, we can always stay in the pensione I booked for the next few nights.”

  “You already have a place to stay?”

  “In case you decided you wanted to go alone,” he said. Then he added, “You can still decide that, you know.”

  “Why would you think I would want to go alone?”

  “You didn’t ask me to come with you,” he said gently. “I just showed up. I had to consider that you might not want me there.”

  Caroline stared up at him, her mouth open.

  “I didn’t think to ask you, but not because I didn’t want you to come,” she said finally. “I just didn’t think—”

  She stopped. There wasn’t any way to make this sound good.

  He waited and then, when she still didn’t speak, he said, “You didn’t think a bad-tempered hockey player like me would follow the woman he was falling in love with?”

  Caroline closed her eyes. She could feel her heart pound at his words. This was almost too much to register.

  “Something like that,” she said. “But not the bad-tempered part. Replace that with ‘incredibly hot.’”

  Niklas chuckled and bent down for a long, soft kiss.

  “Did it occur to you that I might be asking the same thing? Could this incredible, sexy woman want some brute like me crashing in on her adventure?” He looked at her carefully, searching for signs of doubt. His face was serious now, and she was close enough to feel his heart pounding as hard as hers was. “You can tell me if you don’t want me there, you know.”

  At last she saw that he was just as nervous as she was. Niklas had stated so simply that he wanted her the night before, and she didn’t stay. And he still came for her. She shook her head decidedly.

  “No. I mean, yes,” she said, flustered. She swallowed. “What I mean is that I do want you there. I really, really do. There’s nothing that I want more on this trip. Or anywhere, for that matter.”

  He nodded, and the corners of his mouth moved up into a small smile. She glanced down at the duffel bag in his hand, small enough for carry-on, and then looked back up into his eyes.

  “But you hardly have anything with you,” she said.

  “Would it be too much if I told you that you’re all I need on this trip?” he said with a mischievous smile.

  “I don’t know,” said Caroline. “Give it a try.”

  Niklas’s face was serious now, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with real emotion.

  “Caroline, all I need on this trip is you.”

  She slid her hand slowly up his arms and then down his chest. This time, reality was truly better than the best her imagination had come up with.

  “No,” she whispered, “It wasn’t too much.”

  “Good,” he said, with a laugh. “Besides, you didn’t give me much time to pack. And I wasted most of my packing time trying to decide whether or not to go through with this crazy plan. I didn’t think I’d make this flight, and then I would have been stuck trying to hunt you down in Italy.”

  Caroline laughed, too.

  “Okay, but what I meant was how long are you planning to stay?” she asked. “Don’t you have to be back in a few days for… something?”

  He shook his head and smiled. “Nope. We lost to Switzerland, so we’re out of the tournament, remember?”

  “Right,” she said, swallowing, “but what happens after Italy?”

  “I’m willing to do whatever you want,” he said softly.

  “You’ll get bored.”

  He moved his hands around her waist and pulled her closer again.

  “I doubt that,” he said in a low voice that made her blush. Then he smiled. “And you still haven’t shown me how my camera works. I figure you can teach me a little about photography, if you’re willing.”

  Caroline gave an exasperated sigh and said, “But sometime you’ll have to leave me. Sometime you’ll have to get back to your life, and then what happens?”

  “Oh, Caroline,” he said, hugging her into his chest tight enough to take her breath away. “Yes, it’s true. I can’t follow you forever. Practice starts in September, and games start a while after that. But we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

  He released her a little and kissed the top of her head.

  “You’re the same woman who is flying to Italy without a place to stay, without any plans further than the plane ride. You’re doing this because you trust it will work out, one way or another, right?”

  Caroline nodded slowly. Niklas cupped her chin and raised her head so her eyes met his.

  “Can’t we trust that we’ll work this out, too? I’m willing to take that gamble if there’s a chance we’ll be together.”

  He gave her another soft, lingering kiss.

  “I was willing to risk rejection in front of the whole Sto
ckholm airport,” he said seriously. “And I’m ready to risk whatever else I need to be with you.”

  His deep blue eyes held onto hers, and she couldn’t look away. He was offering her more than she had dared to hope for. Caroline bit her lip and took a deep breath.

  “I want this to work out so badly,” she said in a shaky voice. “But it feels too good to be true.”

  “You might not feel that way after a few weeks with me,” he said with a wry smile. “I’m not always the easiest person to be around, remember? And with all those Italian men staring at you on the beach…”

  She buried her head into his chest and laughed, letting the warmth of his body fill her again. He lifted her mouth to his and brushed his lips against hers one more time. Then he took her hand.

  “Are we ready now?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said, and this time she really meant it.

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks so much for following Caroline and Niklas as they try to figure out how to have a future together. Their adventure together is just getting started; Stockholm Diaries, Caroline 2 will follow the next stage of their relationship. I lived in Stockholm for three years, and I loved writing about the city from an outsider’s perspective. Will they make it back to Sweden together? You can order the second episode of Niklas and Caroline’s adventure here!

  I’d be grateful if you took a moment to let readers know what you thought about the book, either using the prompt at the end of this e-book or by following this link.

  Interested in news, sneak peeks and free stories, including the novelette “Niklas in Italy”? Sign up on my website: www.rebeccahunterwriter.com. And please write me with any questions or comments at rebeccahunterwriter@gmail.com

  Thanks again, and I hope to hear from you!

  xoxo,

  Rebecca

  About the Author

  Rebecca is a writer, editor and translator who has always loved to read and writer. She has, over the years, called many places home, including Michigan, where she grew up, New York City, San Francisco, and, of course, Stockholm, Sweden. After their most recent move back to the San Francisco Bay Area, she and her husband assured each other that they’d never move again.

  Well, probably not.

  Other books in the Stockholm Diaries series…

  Stockholm Diaries, Melanie

  Long summer days in the Stockholm archipelago

  a young American biographer looking for answers

  and the sizzling Swedish man she finds instead...

  in the next book in the Stockholm Diaries series!

  Biographer Melanie has spent her life in the shadow of a single question: Why did her father abandon her? When he unexpectedly dies and leaves her his cabin in the Stockholm archipelago, Melanie heads straight for Sweden, looking for answers. But island life isn’t what she expects, and neither is her new neighbor, Henrik. Together they try to piece together the story that both tangles their lives together and pulls them apart.

  Available on Kindle Unlimited and in paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Stockholm-Diaries-Melanie-Rebecca-Hunter-ebook/dp/B015YKFYG0/

  Stockholm Diaries, Caroline 2

  A beautiful photographer searching for her own path

  A pro hockey player trying to leave his rough past behind

  After a summer together, Niklas and Caroline face a turning point. Familiar territory opens old wounds they can no longer avoid. They must both choose what is most important.

  Coming in 2016…

  Stockholm Diaries, Veronica

  Also by Rebecca Hunter

  14 Classic Love Poems to Read Aloud

  Author Q&A

  (from the blog "Livin' La Vida Latina")

  Q: What inspired you to write STOCKHOLM DIARIES, CAROLINE?

  A: My husband is Swedish, and we have lived in Sweden twice. Both times, I met women from around the world with interesting, unique stories about meeting Swedish men and moving to Sweden. These stories involved chance meetings, uncertain risks and sacrifice, all in the name of love. The whole Stockholm Diaries series is a kind of tribute to all these stories.

  Q: What was the development process like?

  A: I started this book with character ideas. In Caroline, I wanted someone who was completely new to Sweden and in some ways completely out of place, but I also wanted to create a character that was already intimately familiar with the aspects of belonging or not belonging. This is where her father’s history comes in: As an immigrant from Mexico, he struggled with the pull of duel loyalties, and to some extent Caroline does, too. So when Caroline contemplates her friend Veronica’s situation in Stockholm and then, in Book Two, considers the possibility of moving there herself, I wanted her to understand the complexity of that decision, both for her and for her family.

  Niklas was a little more straightforward. I'm (morbidly) intrigued by the idea that many professional sports reward aggression, but the players are supposed to be able to shut that part of them down off the ice/court/field. This can’t be easy, and I wanted to explore how that might play out in an essentially good guy.

  Q: Did you relate to the main character, Caroline, in any way? If so, what?

  A: There are many pieces of Caroline’s life that came from my own experiences. I myself grew up in Michigan and studied at the University of Michigan, and like Caroline, I had early tastes of the world beyond the Great Lakes and wanted to explore it. Also like Caroline, I fell in love with a Swedish man, and we have lived together in Sweden twice. But I should probably also add that Caroline’s life is certainly not my own!

  (from the blog "Where Heat Meets Sweet")

  Q: What is your favorite romance genre, and why?

  A: Good contemporaries are my favorite, but I think this is the hardest genre to get right. The reader judges the hero by today’s standards—often her personal standards for a man—and not every reader has the same standards, of course. The writer has to play by all of today’s rules, while writers in other genres are freer to make up their own rules about the world they write. So when a contemporary novel hits the mark, it’s doing all the right things!

  Q: When you craft a hero, are you incorporating traits from men you know, or are you writing about a man you have never met, but would like to?

  A: This is a fun question, and I spent a little time debating whether or not this was too personal to answer! At a dinner party, some friends jokingly suggested that the prize for our yearly holiday party contest would be to feature as the hero in one of my books… an idea I immediately rejected, of course! But I guess I do, in fact, incorporate snippets of real life in my characters, things like anecdotal experiences, funny quirks, conversations, that kind of thing. But the hero himself is his own, unique character, and I don’t think of any real-life "models" as I develop his character.

  Q: Beyond the satisfaction of the happily-ever-after ending, in your opinion, what else does reading a romance novel offer its readers?

  A: While romance ends in Happily Ever After, the best romance plots are filled with the struggles of imperfect people making difficult decisions. Characters are forced to choose between love and many other competing priorities, such as power, loyalty, fear and other real-life pulls that everyday people feel. And love always comes out on top. So while the Happily Ever After of romance plots can be a little glossy and unreal at times, the fundamental message in these books about choosing love over our darker sides is powerful.

  (from the blog "Romance Lives Forever")

  Q: Who is your "book boyfriend" (that hottie you read about and drool over)?

  A: Hmm… that might be Lisa Kleypas’s Derek Craven from Dreaming of You. We watch Craven struggle hard with his past and the idea that he is incapable of love. He resists Sara as long as he can, but unlike many historicals the couple is happily together by the middle of the book. Craven is clearly devoted to Sara, but the rest of the book is about Derek’s attempts to adjust and to let himself love. />
  When compared to contemporary romance heroes, a historical hero can be a little more over-the-top, a little crasser or more hardened or melodramatic, his history a little more fantastical. I think this is because a reader like me is more willing to suspend disbelief when the setting isn't connected to anything in my own experiences. This is especially true of Craven, whose past I probably would never accept from a contemporary hero but somehow feel comfortable with in a historical hero!

  Q: When you read for pleasure, what kind of books do you choose?

  A: I read a lot of romance, both for pleasure and for learning, but that’s only a recent development. Before I began writing romance, I read literary fiction almost exclusively. But there were times when I felt too busy or too scattered to invest myself in literary fiction, so during those periods I wouldn’t read at all.

  Now, after many years, I’m finally finding my own personal balance! I read both romance and literary fiction regularly, depending on my mood, along with some occasional fantasy, sci-fi, poetry, or mystery that friends recommend. I’ve been a member of a book club for many, many years, and that ensures I read at least one book of literary fiction or non-fiction per month that I didn’t find on my own. Plus, I have elementary-age kids, so I read plenty of middle-grade fiction as well, sometimes more enthusiastically than others.