Page 237 of My Fake Dating with the Grumpiest Highlander

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“When I look at you, I see someone good, Finn. Why can’t you see yourself the way I see you?”

Because I don’t deserve that look.

Because I’m terrified.

Because if you really see me, you’ll leave.

“Looks like Ragnar was right after all,” she says softly.

“How so?”

“He protected Courage because it was the right thing to do. Even when it was hard. Even when it meant stealing food and hiding away. Sometimes courage is just continuing even when you’re afraid.”

And just like that, she somehow manages to give me a life lesson using a criminal sheep as an example.

CHAPTER 32

MARY

Tea and Truth

(Or How Maggie Finally Comes Clean)

Maggie’s private library is exactly the way I remember it: dark, warm, lined with old books that smell like leather and time itself. A porcelain teapot already sits on the small table near the window beside two cups.

Maggie is seated in her favorite chair, the deep burgundy velvet one that makes her look like a queen sitting on a throne. She’s wearing an elegant gray dress and her usual tartan shawl.

She doesn’t smile when I walk in.

She just watches me with that expression I know far too well—the one that says she can see straight through every defense I have.

“Sit down, Mary.”

Not a request.

I lower myself into the chair across from her. She pours tea with slow, precise movements, like it’s some sacred ritual.

“Milk? Sugar?” she asks.

“Both, please.”

She fixes my tea exactly the way I like it, which honestly shouldn’t surprise me.

Maggie remembers everything.

She hands me the cup.

Our fingers don’t touch.

“How did the interview go?” she asks quietly.

“Really well.”

“They offered you the job?”

“Yes.”

“But you still asked for forty-eight hours to think about it.”

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