Page 94 of You, As You Are

“I …” Her lashes fluttered, the air mixing hotly between them as he stood over her.

“If I’m going to kiss you, Daffy,” he said, watching the column of her throat rise in a flush bob as she gulped, “even to make a point – you can be damn sure that I’m doing it right.”

Appearing to get his message, Maisie nodded shallowly, her brows high and her eyes like saucers. If Iain didn’t know any better, he’d say she was flustered.

He wasn’t supposed to wish that he could undo her like this every day, which is why he took a step back and gave himself a reality check. This thing between them, whatever it was becoming, was too dangerous to play with. Not when he had no chance of ever giving her what she deserved.

Iain sobered up fast. “I hope you know how amazing you are, Maisie.”

Her features scrunched and softened, as off guard by the change in direction as he was. “Why?”

“What you just said about knowing your value – I saw that in you the first day that we met. Don’t ever lose it.”

Hazel eyes went glossy as they blinked up at him. A tiny crease formed between her brows, and for the sake of his heart, Iain wished she wouldn’t look at him like that – like it was the first time she’d been told such a thing – because it made him want to tell her a million other ways in which she was incredible just so that endearing look wouldn’t go away.

Ted slammed his head into his knee, a good enough signal that it was time to go.

“Come on,” Iain said with a cock of his head towards town, digging his hands far down into the pockets of his walking trousers. “I’m buying chips, apparently.”

“Oh … I was just saying that as an excuse to go.” Maisie gave a hollow laugh. “I was ready to bite your head off, Iain.”

“I would’ve let you. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

MAISIE

“What do you mean,exactly, when you say that there’s only one cabin?”

“That there is only one cabin booked by a Ms Vera Moss,” the brunette across the check-in desk stated calmly.

Maisie tried to keep a grasp on her collected state. “Could you check again, please?”

“I’ve checked three times.” So the likelihood of the receptionist being incorrect and the computer system magically spewing out that there were in fact multiple cabins booked waszero.

“Oh god—” Blood drained from Maisie’s face. “There’s only one cabin.”

And only two ofthem.

“What about the others being booked?” Iain inputted as she pressed her palms into her eye sockets.Fuck mascara– this meltdown she was about to have was worth ruining it over.

“We only ever had confirmation for one cabin in this reservation,” the woman said regretfully. “We don’t have a group party booked for this weekend. Only couples and families. All our cabins are now taken.”

Maisie spun and all but burst with frustration in Iain’s face. “Those menaces! They’ve set us up again.” Her hands made ten different gestures. “This wasn’t supposed to happen anym—whyare you so calm?”

Apart from saying very little in the five minutes of this exchange, Iain had barely shifted an inch or batted an eyelid. Ted sat bored at his feet.

“I don’t know what else you want me to be,” he said.

“Freak out just a little, please,” Maisie begged, because this absolutely could not have happened again. She never should’ve trusted hernain,and now she didn’t trust any of them. All of their cooing and excitement at the café last week – it was all a scheme. They were already‘together’as far as those pensioners were concerned. There was no need to set them up on a weekend getaway.

Iain’s trademarked frown returned. “You’re doing enough for the both of us, Daffy.”

Maisie had to stop looking at his lips. She had to stopthinkingabout them. They were off-limits. What she needed was space AWAY from him, but that was hardly going to happen now, was it?

Her mind flew back to sitting in that tearoom when Vera and her friends had made the proposal – remembered the taunting discussion about if they’d spent the night in Manchester separately or not.

“Oh my god.”As if this couldn’t get any worse.“They don’t think we’ve slept together! That’s what they’re trying to do.”

---