Page 102 of The Highland Game

Her voice is faint but unmistakable. Relief crashes over me like a wave, but I don’t stop—I can’t stop—not yet.

“Maisie!”

I run on until, through the haze of rain, I finally spot her—a small figure moving towards me down the hillside, her tentative steps turning into something quicker when she spots me too.

I don’t stop until she’s in my arms, soaked to the bone but alive, miraculously alive. I hold her tight, like I’ll never let her go again.

When I finally pull back just enough to look at her properly, my words tumble out: “Did you fall? Where are you hurt? Should you even be standing? Christ, let me carry you.” My arms move instinctively around her again, already preparing to lift her off her feet.

“Jamie!” She slaps my hands away gently but firmly, laughing—a real laugh full of warmth and life. It washes over me like balm to raw nerves. “I’m fine!”

I’m happy but also confused. I don’t understand. The livestream⁠—

“I was so bloody lucky! See that cliff?” She points up to a crag that must be twenty-five, maybe thirty feet high. “I wobbled right on the edge of it. I won’t lie, it scared me shitless, but I managed to keep my footing.”

I pull her into another hug because . . . well, I can’t help it. “You have to be more careful!”

“Aye, don’t worry, I’ve learnt my lesson. Well aware I could’ve gone the way of my phone. It went tumbling right down. I’ve been trying to look for it—safely, obviously. It must be around here somewhere. It’s probably smashed to bits anyway.”

“I’ll help. In fact, let’s get you somewhere dry first then I’ll look for it.”

“Hold your horses! Before anything else, there’s something I need to say and it can’t wait.”

I glance up at the sky, at the endless rain still pouring down. “Can’t it? I don’t want you catching a cold out here—or worse, slipping again.”

“No, it can’t wait.” A gust of wind catches her hair, plastering it across her face in dark, damp strands. She swipes at them absently then tilts her head. “Actually, first, a question. How did you get here so fast? I swear it’s only been a few minutes since I narrowly averted disaster.”

I shrug, water dripping from the tip of my nose. “I drove. Then ran.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I take issue with both parts of that. First, you drove? In this? This rain is wild! I thought with weather like this you⁠—”

“Aye, well,” I interrupt. “I needed to get here, didn’t I?”

Maisie studies me intently. She reaches up and brushes my wet hair from my face with gentle fingers, her touch soft and lingering.

“And the run? You’ve already gone up and down this hill today—more than that leg of yours has done in a long while. You shouldn’t be pushing it any more than that.”

“Same answer as before,” I say simply. “I needed to get here. For you.”

Her hand falls from my face to rest against my chest. “And I came here because there’s something I need to say to you. I wanted to lay out my feelings on that livestream—for everyone to hear—because I’ve been a fool for far too long. I don’t care if you run a rival business. Hell, I don’t care about anything else. The only thing that matters is you.” She swallows hard. “And I want you, Jamie McIntyre.”

“Aye? Well . . .” My voice deepens into something rougher now as the weight of everything boils over inside me. “I want you too.” My hands find their way to her waist without thought or hesitation, and I pull her closer. “Because you, Maisie Kerr, are fucking perfect.”

As if on cue, the rain begins to ease—not stopping entirely but softening to a gentle drizzle—and a single ray of light breaks through the thick clouds above us.

“Can I kiss you?” I ask softly.

Her lips curl into a slow, certain smile. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”

Without waiting another second, I angle my head and press my rain-soaked lips to hers. Despite the damp chill clinging to us both, Maisie’s mouth is soft and deliciously warm. My hand cups her cheek as we lose ourselves in each other beneath the Highland sky. Slow at first, searching, savouring every movement until hunger takes over and we kiss deeper, bolder. Her hand clutches my drenched shirt, and the subtle scent of rain and heather wraps around us.

When we finally pull back—reluctantly—I grin at her and can’t resist a cheeky wink through our shared breathlessness. “Well,” I say with a laugh that feels lighter than it has in years, “that was officially the best kiss of my life—and that’s saying something considering how bloody drenched we both are.”

I want to take Maisie to my car, to crank up the heat and get her warm, but she wants to hunt for her phone for just a little bit longer. So we both look and I find it before long. It actually wasn’t far from where we were both standing. What’s more, by some miracle it seems intact when I pick it up from the patch of thick grass it landed in.

Even more unbelievably: the livestream is still running, and people are still watching it. The moment my face comes into view on the screen, a deluge of comments floods in.

It IS him! The voice we heard is #TheHighlandFlash guy!