Page 62 of You, As You Are

“So you can support your friend on her opening day?” he ventured. “I’m not a complete prick.”

“You’d really do that?”

Iain huffed. “Would you just say yes?”

“Yes!” Maisie jumped on his offer – and literallyhim– her phone forgotten in her lap to grab the crook of his elbow instead. “Thank you. I’ll pay you for your time, and your petrol.”

Iain didn’t want to take her money – he refused to. Just seeing her so excited was enough. “What does your friend bake in this bakery?” he asked.

“Doughnuts. But she’s branching out into other pastries and stuff.”

“Then you can pay me in doughnuts.”

Maisie pouted. “That’s not exactly?—”

“A man needs to eat,” he said, wondering what the foreign warmth he felt inside was for. “I like doughnuts.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MAISIE

“For once,I know where we are,” she said as soon as she jumped down from the minibus inAberdyfi. “God, I’ve missed coming here so much. Mytaidused to drive us up here when we were young. We’d set a blanket out on the sand and toss a ball around until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore.”

“Sounds like a good day.” Iain joined her with Ted, looking out at the perfect sand and grassy dunes. No pebbled beach in sight, here.

“It was,” Maisie affirmed, “especially in summer. The sand and the view are just incredible here.”

“Well you’ve got this view for the next four miles.”

She spun. “Really?”

Gesturing inland at the half-dried estuary where the river was low, Iain said, “Tide’s out. You’ve got four miles of sand and ocean views up toTywyn.”

Maisie didn’t need any more convincing to get moving. She took Ted’s lead from him and powered down to the seafront with the dog skipping at her heels, listening to the low rumble of Iain’s laughter fading behind her.

What he’d offered to do for her on the drive here had left her in a little bit of an emotional wreck. She hadn’t been hankeringfor his help, but he’d given it unprompted, and she’d called Faye straightaway to say that she’d be able to go toBaked’sopening without elaborating onhowshe’d be getting there – Faye would only have a million questions that Maisie wasn’t sure she was ready to answer.

Her agreement to only be friends with Iain said one thing, yet when he looked at her like he had done at Vera’s party, her body gave a different reaction. How he’d stood so close behind her, and the shudder she’d felt when his breath had ghosted along her skin – there was too much to be read into, and she’d rather keep those untimely feelings to herself before they snowballed into something she couldn’t shake off.

The entire stretch of soft sand up to where they left the beach before they’d end up trapped between the groynes onTywyn’sseafront,was gorgeous. Typically breezy and overcast but exactly as Maisie remembered as she walked wide-eyed along the quiet shore. And for once there’d been no hills for her to deal with – her knees thanked her very much.

They’d purposefully gotten ahead of the group, if not just to curb Ted’s enthusiasm to run free, but so that when Iain slipped his hand into hers, every single one of Vera’s friends could see it.

Step two of the plan to convincingly fake date: obvious affection.

Tick.

Though Maisie’s pulse still hadn’t slowed down from the shock of Iain’s skin against her palm, the way he’d taken her hand between them so casually like he’d done it a thousand times. She hadn’t said anything because, above all, it felt right. His massive hand engulfing hers, his big body shielding hers from the salty wind blowing in from out at sea.

More than that, Iain didn’t back off. Like it was natural to be so close willingly.

Eighty minutes after setting off, their hands were still joined as they walked through the townto a spot where Iain promised her ice cream. Who cared if it was ten degrees and eleven in the morning? The folk here ate frozen desserts in all weather.

The ice cream shop was surrounded by locals perched on the stone seating and picnic benches outside. Seagulls wandered across the rooftop angling for a snack, and the hoisted red dragon of Wales buffered in the wind.

A sign on the entrance window listed the flavours of the day.

“They havewhiskeyice cream?” Maisie was half doubtful and half intrigued.

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