Page 22 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

And that damn spicy-sweet scent didn’t help. As we walked side by side along the stage, the smell of her wrapped itself around me, and my mouth watered. All I wanted to do was bury my face in her skin. Just for a minute, just enough to get a taste, and I was so fucking frustrated by it.

For the life of me, I just couldn’t figure out why.

Why was I attracted to this woman, of all people?

It didn’t make sense. I couldn’t understand it–or her. I couldn’t understand how this loud, unfiltered, vibrant person was the way she was, or why I was drawn to her.

She was infuriating, but she was also fascinating, and I just couldn’t push the two together into something I could explain.

She looked at me from the corner of her eye as she lifted my fingers from her shoulders. “You know, I’m pretty sure I can walk through this set without getting maimed. I don’t need you to lead me through it.”

My tongue tripped over itself, and it took me a minute to process that she was holding my hand.

Eventually, I managed, “Right. Sorry.”

She patted my knuckles and said, “It’s fine,” before letting go.

“You made this yourself?” she asked, stepping through the faux porch I’d been working on.

“It didn’t take much.”

She scoffed. “Must be nice to be ninety-eight percent muscle. I couldn’t even lift these boards, let alone nail them together.”

I flexed my fingers and fought the urge to do something with my hands. I was more relaxed around her when she was mocking me. This truce-based small talk was starting to get under my skin. “There are plenty of female carpenters out there.”

She tapped the edge of the wood with her toe. It didn’t budge. “And I bet every one of them could beat me to a pulp. It’s one of the cons of being a couch-sloth. I have the muscle density of a potato chip.”

I had this urge to reassure her and had to bite my tongue to stop it from happening.

“But this looks great. I bet you’re the kind of dad who builds their kid’s bed.”

I did, actually. I built all of Kira’s beds. And most of her furniture.

She sighed and turned to face me. “Are you like this with everyone, Theo? Or am I just special?”

Confusion hit me like a brick to the temple. “What do you mean?”

She folded her arms and stepped closer. There was a slight wrinkle between her brows. “I’m trying here. It might be easier for both of us if you tried too.”

I had no idea what she was talking about. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t trying.”

“Well, then maybe Gem should be the one doing this walkthrough with you.”

I frowned. “If that’s what you want.”

“I think it might be for the best. I mean, thank you for saving me from an almost-certain concussion and all that, but I’m just here to help the students, and you’re here to help your daughter. So maybe we shouldn’t force this?”

I wanted to ask her what the hell she was talking about, but my daughter and her co-star, some big kid named Miles, walked in.

They dropped their backpacks on the ground and made their way to the stage. Kira’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and that single look made the last week worth every ounce of effort.

“Dad, this is amazing,” she gushed. Pride was in her voice, and everything in me softened at the sound of it.

Miles looked nervously at my daughter. “Yeah, it’s great,” he murmured.

If silence had a chance of falling in the amphitheater, Mia wouldn’t let it. “It’s the perfect place for you two to pretend you want to stab each other.”

She brought a laugh out of Miles, and I assumed that wasn’t easy to do. Based on what Kira told me, he reminded me of what I was like at that age. Quiet and reserved, not sure of how to behave around people. It was a little hard to believe that a kid like him would want to play the lead role opposite my daughter.