Page 32 of Love to Prove You Wrong

As I had stuff of my own to take care of, I decided it was no use staying on the sidewalk and watching a heated discussion unfold. I turned around and walked over to the spot where Justin and I were setting up our food stands.

“Do you really need to work on this shirtless?” I asked, motioning toward his bare chest. “This place is crawling with kids, you know.”

Justin put down his drill and narrowed his eyes as he looked around. “Oh yeah, where are those kids you’re talking about?”

I followed his gaze around the square. The swings at the far end were deserted, as well as the slide. Milly was placing colorful quilts on a table and Mr. Rogers was trying to get his electric wheelchair over an uneven patch of grass, his tires not getting any grip whatsoever. Luckily for him, a group of seniors sportingBingo Was My First Loveshirts came running to his rescue.

Fine. There were no kids in sight, but they could arrive any minute.

“Take this,” Justin said, throwing something my way.

The object landed at my feet before I could even stretch my arms and try to catch it. I crouched down and picked it up.

“A packet of peanuts?”

He laughed. “Yeah, what else? You love nuts so much that you sleep with them.”

“I don’t love nutsthatmuch,” I said. “I actually prefer a different kind of nuts. Not human nuts, walnuts,” I quickly added.

Gah, I had to stop with the nutty talk.

I shoved the gift in my pocket. “What do you want me to do?”

He handed me a big wooden model of a plate. “Hold this so I can attach it to the roof.”

He held the other side and attached it, then came over to my side. I gripped the piece of wood like it was a matter of life and death. He was standing so close to me that I almost got pushed into his chest hair. I turned my face, but that didn’t help matters either. Now my other cheek was pressed against his bare chest. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think of anything but him and how good his skin felt on mine. It was no use, as I was still inhaling his ridiculously awesome scent. Even his armpit smelled nice, all manly and intoxicating.

It wasn’t fair that Justin had everything going for him. Good looks, a great job, lots of money,anda non-smelly armpit. No wonder he often came across as arrogant.

“You can let go now,” he said, drilling the last screw into place.

I pulled my face away from his chest and let out a long breath.

He wiped some wood dust off his jeans and took a step back to admire his creation. “Not too shabby, right?”

I had to give it to him, the guy knew how to build something appealing from nothing but a couple of wooden planks.

He held his palm up for me. I high fived it. I was still feeling confused and flustered from being smashed into his body, though. Okay, I knew that it didn’t mean anything. Not anything romantic anyway. There simply was no other way to attach the plates to the roof of the food stand without him standing close to me.

“Oh, look, it’s Suzie,” I said, spotting my friend passing the Great Wall of China and heading our way.

Any excuse to step away from Justin would do. I didn’t know if he felt the tension between us as well, but to me, it was making the air so heavy that I was afraid I’d get crushed.

“This is looking good. Great job, Justin,” Suzie said.

Her eyes twinkled when looking at him.

“Thanks,” he said before walking over to the other side of the stand.

I slapped her on the arm and pulled her out of hearing-distance from Justin. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Checking him out with that look,” I whispered.

She let out a laugh. “Oh, come on. I love Alex fiercely, but this is Justin Miller. As in famous and gorgeous actor. Any woman would have a peek if they were standing so close to him. It doesn’t mean anything. You on the other hand…”

“Me what?”

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