Just As You Are
KATE MATHIESON
One More Chapter
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2020
Copyright © Kate Mathieson 2020
Cover design by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020
Cover images © Shutterstock.com
Kate Mathieson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008328450
Ebook Edition © February 2020 ISBN: 9780008328443
Version: 2020-02-13
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Acknowledgements
About the Author
About the Publisher
To every girl in the world – be fabulous.
Do the things. All the things.
And always wear cute knickers – just in case.
On the first morning of February, I woke up drooling on a stranger’s arm.
‘Oh God, sorry.’ I said, horrified, trying to wipe off the small patch of my saliva from the strangers’ navy-blue jumper. Shit, it looked like cashmere. Hoping I’d got it all, I looked up at the man whose arm miraculously tasted like mint toothpaste and wood shavings.
His steely blue eyes were staring at me, a hint of shock glimmering across their surface. His skin was smooth and tanned. His hair was short, slightly wavy and styled to the right, a light blonde like white chocolate. He was well built, like a fit, broad Swede who biked everywhere and sailed yachts. He was wearing brown boat shoes, beige linen pants, and a thin, navy-blue wool jumper which I had just salivated on. Everything about him screamed ‘expensive’. Including the large titanium watch on his tanned, left wrist. He would have been about thirty-five, maybe a little older.
I wiped my mouth quickly, eliminating any traces of sleep saliva from my face. What was Thor doing in economy? And how had I not noticed him when I’d sat? But then I remembered, I’d taken a valium because I’m not a great flyer and I’d fallen asleep as soon as I sat in the middle seat. And here he was now that I’d woken up, perched on the aisle like a glowing angel.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’d been praying the universe would find me someone. MY PERSON. And here was this Scandinavian Norse God, deposited next to me on a jumbo jet. Of all the seats, in all the planes. Here we were.
We both looked down to where I’d been lying on his arm just moments before. Small little saliva marks had dried on his sleeve, like salt did on your clothes after being at the beach. He took a tissue, pulled a face and tried to wipe away my mouth imprint.
‘I should at least have waited until you bought me a drink first,’ I joked awkwardly, readjusting so I was back in my seat.
He looked at me strangely. ‘The drinks are free.’ His voice was low, gravelly, and had a slight Northern European lilt.
‘Shall we have one then?’ I said hopefully. I would never usually be so presumptuous, to ask a gorgeous man, to have a drink with me after I’d drooled on his arm, but it seems the valium had reduced my filter to zero.
‘It’s 4 a.m.’ He said curtly, reacting exactly how I would too, had some stranger left their tongue lolling about on me.
‘Well yes in Australia, it’s 4 a.m., but somewhere else in the world it’s happy hour.’
He paused for a second, before finally saying ‘I suppose.’
Oh God, isn’t this how lifelong romances begin? Yes, we met on a plane. Your mum drooled on me, but she was adorable. I couldn’t help but love her. Yes, your dad was a tricky one at first, but after being single for so long, I thought why not, and suggested a drink – how could he resist?
With a flutter of excitement, I flicked my light on and hoped the attendant would arrive quickly, before he changed his mind.
A slightly irate, and brusque flight