I grab the pencil from the coffee table and make two small marks where the nails should go.
“There you go,” I tell her.
She climbs down from the stool, and I hand her the hammer.
Wren taps the first nail in with careful precision, her tongue poking out slightly in concentration. It’s fucking adorable. She’s adorable.
“You know,” she says, positioning the second nail, “I never pegged you for the handyman type.”
I snort. “What did you peg me for then?”
“The brood-in-the-corner-and-glare-at-people type.”
“Fair enough.” I can’t help the small smile that tugs at my lips. “I can do both, actually. I’m multi-talented.” I bob my brows at her.
She giggles, her mind going straight to the gutter. I fucking love it.
“Yes, you are.” She hangs the picture and steps back to examine it. It’s a photo of Falkor and Luna on their wedding day, both of them young and radiant. “That looks great.”
“It certainly does.” I manage to force my gaze from her ass and actually look at her handiwork. “Really great.”
We stand there for a moment, looking at the picture. At the love captured in that frozen moment. The way Falkor is looking at Luna like she hung the moon and stars.
“They were lucky,” Wren says softly. “To find each other like that.”
“Yeah.” My voice is gruff. “They were.”
She glances at me, something unreadable in her expression, then turns away. “So, where did you learn all this handyman stuff anyway? Did your dad teach you?”
“Some of it.” I pick up the hammer and test the weight of it in my hand. “But mostly I taught myself when I built my cabin.”
“You own a cabin?” She looks interested. “I didn’t know that about you. Is it where you live? Or where you go on vacation?”
“It’s nothing fancy.” I shrug. “Just a small place out in the middle of nowhere. Right on the edge of the jungle, actually. I live there. It’s a bit of a commute but worth it.”
“Really?” She tilts her head, studying me. “It must be really peaceful.”
There’s a pause, and then her brow furrows. She’s got that look on her face like she’s working something out in her head.
“It is.” I nod. “You might not have noticed, but I’m actually not much of a people person.”
Wren lifts her eyes in thought and then pushes out a breath, frowning. She looks confused.
“What is it?”
“If you live in a cabin right by the jungle, surrounded by nature…” She looks up at me, still frowning hard.
I make a sound of agreement.
“Why did you go to that park by my house that day? You said you were running an errand in the neighborhood. That you decided to go there to be close to nature so that you could unwind. Why not just go home to your cabin in the jungle?”
My stomach drops.
Fuck.
She laughs a little, but there’s genuine confusion there. “It doesn’t really make sense, does it?”
Every muscle in my body tenses. My mind races, scrambling for something to say. Anything that won’t make me look like the stalking piece of shit I was.
