Page 99 of You, As You Are

He wouldn’t give any thought to her idea because she was right. Doinganythingwith Maisie would be perfect for a date, but there was something about the nighttime and the dewy scent of forest that reminded him of climbing onto barn roofs as a teenager; the danger and excitement that came with it and the reward of sitting under the stars as they moved across the mountains.

If itwerea date, Iain hoped for there to be a few less people there as well, and he’d have planned to bring more appropriate snacks beyond shop bought oat bars.

“Have you heard from Vera yet?” he asked to take his mind to someplace less incriminating, getting off of his knee, finally, to sit down.

“No. I hope she’s feeling guilty, but she’ll probably just be smug and pleased with herself for orchestrating this.”

“We got played at our own game.”

Maisie scoffed. “Yeah.”

“Here—” Iain patted the blanket, offering up his hand to guide her down.

“Thank you.”

Maisie lowered beside him and tested her position until she settled on crossing her legs. Iain tried to not focus on each time her knee nudged his outstretched thigh, remembering the agreements they’d made. The one about how he could only kiss her when it was necessary to their plan, and the other one about how this between them could only befriendship.

Iain knew where he’d like to take that word and stuff it.

Maisie looked up and around at the stars, whispering, “Do you hear that?”

For a moment, he stayed still, straining his ears to hear what she did. But there was nothing. “I don’t hear anything.” Otherthan quiet mutters now that every couple and family had settled in their own patches of grass, nothing.

“Exactly,” Maisie said lowly like she didn’t want to disturb the nothingness. “There’s silence. There’re birds and something creeping around in the woods, but there’s silence.” Her round eyes and parted lips were in an awe of things that Iain had long forgotten to appreciate. He supposed that he was used to everything that was around them. And like any feeling you grew used to, he was numb to appreciating it.

He kept his voice to a whisper: “Why do you live in London if you like being out here so much?”

The corner of Maisie’s eye dipped to him, the hint of a smile on her lips. “I never said that I like it here.”

“Your face says it.” His gaze swept lower. “Yourbodysays it.”

The way she relaxed, how she was as free as the ocean when they walked out in the open air … That kind of reaction to these surroundings was something she’d needed whether Maisie knew it or not, because it was the same reaction that’d happened to him when he’d left the farm and finally been able to breathe.

Maisie looked at him fully, those lips battling a smile. “You’ve been looking at my body?”

Ah, bloody hell.What was it about the darkness that turned Iain into a teenager again? Trying to get the attention of a woman who was out of his league.

He couldn’t lie. “You’re somewhat hard to ignore.”

Maisie’s mouth lost the fight with a smile. “I’ll choose to take that as a compliment.”

Iain stayed exactly where he was. Didn’t move a muscle from looking at the joy in her sparkling eyes. He didn’t need to look up to see the stars when there was one right in front of him.

She shifted under his silent gaze. “What? No witty retort?”

He shook his head. “Don’t need one. It was the truth.”

Maisie’s eyes flittered, bouncing across his face as she inhaled, her tongue swiping between her lips. Iain knew he shouldn’t, but he wanted to lean over and kiss those lips. One hand lowered out of her lap to the space on the blanket between them as she looked away from his transfixion. He could take it. He could entwine their fingers together. But for what reason other than that he wanted to? There was no member of the hiking group here to put on a show for. No reason thatwouldn’tblur the lines between them.

Before he could cross them, their guide gathered their attention, and Iain’s focus was diverted for twenty minutes. She explained the constellations, recanting stories like they were in the Middle Ages wrapped around a campfire, though the sprinklings of Welsh folklore were what he soaked up most.

They both laid back on the scratchy blanket and held their constellation maps above them. Iain looked up through his clear sheet of resin at the glowing dots, but it was only a few seconds before his eyes wandered to the woman beside him, how her mouth pushed to one side as she tried to figure out aligning the stars.

Was it possible to make one of these to map the freckles on her face? or her arms or her chest? It might take him a year, but he’d certainly try, and it’d be the most beautiful thing he might ever create with his bare hands.

“I can’t find the Plough,” Maisie whispered.

One leg propped up, Iain shuffled his upper body closer until their arms brushed. Head cocked between hers and her shoulder, he reached into the air and gently curled his fingers around her wrist, guiding her glowing, dotted tablet more towards him.

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