Page 158 of You, As You Are

Iain wet his lips again, his breathing as gently choppy as the sea. “Does this mean that …”

Maisie threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, you big ol’ fool. I want to date you. I want tobewith you.”

“I don’t have much?—”

“I don’t need anything more than this.Us.”

His smile was indulgent. “What I was going to say?—”

Maisie let out a quiet“Oops.”

“—was that I don’t have much, but you’ve helped me realise thatIam enough. Neither of us needs to change.”

The grin that broke on Maisie’s lips as she twisted her fingers together to resist jumping on him was full of pride. To hear such self-belief coming from his heart caused hers to pound against her ribs so hard with happiness that there was a good chanceshemight be the next one to faint.

Iain held out the tray of muffins. “Could you hold these for me?”

“Why?” she asked, even though she took them.

“So I can do this.”

He swept forwards and cupped her head within his entire warm palm, crashing his lips upon hers. Maisie’s lungs filled with the sea spray and spiced scent of him as she poured her heart out into returning his kiss.

Tedwoofedwith excitement, his tail thwacking her legs as he danced around them.

The flowers Iain brought crushed under his arm where he wrapped it around her tightly – the epitome ofsafe.

It was the most perfect moment of Maisie’s life – the moment she’d waited twenty-nine years for. Iain was right: all the storms they’d endured in love were worth it to reach this point, together, at the start of their new story.

“For the record,” Iain said with their lips still pressed to one another’s, his nose brushing along hers, “all of the time that we spent together – it was real to me.”

“Me too.” With her one hand that clutched him, Maisie tightened her grip on his back and smiled through a chuckle against his lips. “Here I am, falling for you again, Iain Howell.”

“Good.” He tightened his arm around her body, bringing her impossibly close against him. “Because this time I’m ready to catch you in my arms right where you belong.”

* Yes

EPILOGUE

June

“Eek! They’re here.”Maisie bounced on her toes as she spotted the heads of her friends walking down the promenade.

“I don’t think you’re excited enough, Daffy.”

“This is me containing myself.”

Finally,it was summer in Wales – and also Maisie’s birthday.

Iain wrapped his hands around her hips and stepped up behind her, lowering his voice by her ear. “Then I’d like to unleash you. Tonight.”

Body shuddering in his grasp, Maisie’s round cheeks turned warm at the prospect of what he might engage her in. She was learning so many adventurous ways of pleasure in the bedroom nowadays, it was hard to keep up.Painlesssex was still a work in progress. Though it certainly helped to be falling in love with a man who treated her right, took his time, and turned her on so effortlessly, but still sometimes her body rebelled in that way. It wasn’t a perfect situation, but whereas before – in the world of males with gingham bow ties – she’d been riddled with guiltfor being a disappointment, now she was confident to stand up for her needs. Iain never complained and helped her through her pains – a man whose only priority was her … and his dog, too.

“Hey, Howell! Get your hands off our sister and get back in the game.”

Maisie glanced behind them to her brothers down the beach near the water’s edge, the three of them standing there under the sun. It was a rarity to see them all here as fully grown men, on the sands where they’d done that growing; she was overwhelmed with joy that the three of them were together at all.

Miles graduated from university two weeks ago, and both Maisie and Iain had travelled for the ceremony. To say that thrusting Iain into the madness of her family all at once for the first time had been stressful for Maisie was an understatement, but when Vera grabbed his hand and pulled him into the throng of Moss celebration, she’d stood back and watched, the feeling that everything would be just fine settling within her when he took it all in his stride.

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