Free Fixer-Upper (Spinning Hills Romance 3) by Inés Saint Page B

that putting a musical together could combine all of that in a fun way, and that entering a competition would really get their juices flowing. Every kid in my class signed up because they have an interest in acting, singing, or dancing. It doesn’t matter if they have any abilities or natural talent. They just need an interest.”
    They had reached the entrance. Marissa was talking in an animated way, her hands gesturing all over the place, the way Rosa’s did. And he was smiling down at her. “I never knew Rosa learned English by watching soap operas, but I have to say, it explains a lot.”
    Marissa laughed. “She does have a flair for the dramatic, doesn’t she?” she agreed, before giving her head a barely perceptible shake and breaking eye contact.
    Johnny opened the door and Marissa swept through, while he looked back into the building. A feeling he’d always longed for filled him to the brim. The emptiness was fading. Yet some loneliness still lingered.
    He shook it off and jogged up to Marissa just before she reached a yellow Ford Focus hatchback. She’d bought one of the most practical cars out there, but in the brightest color available. Even the seats were trimmed in yellow. Why did it make him like her even more? It was just a car. If she judged him on his junky pickup, she’d think he was a careless slob.
    She beeped it open and Johnny cleared his thoughts. “Your project is going to work, Marissa, your students are going to learn, and the whole things is going to be special.” He looked into her eyes, unable to hide his enthusiasm and desire to help. “And I know you don’t need me or my approval to make it work, but part of my job and training is to promote student motivation and engagement, improve their communication and social skills, and teach them problem-solving, anger management, and conflict resolution. Your classroom today was a natural environment for that. I’d like to keep helping and supporting you both.” He winked. “And we both know I’m handy with a hammer.”
     
    Marissa looked up. His words sank in. It was true. He was everything she could ask for in a support staff person, right down to the fact that he was handy with tools. If circumstances were different, she’d be jumping with joy at their luck.
    But the man in front of her was also the dream-inducing stranger in the elevator. It had slowly dawned on her throughout the afternoon, during her few moments of peace and quiet, that the girl he’d been waxing on about for an entire year was her . It filled her with an anxiety that was one small part gratifying and one giant part strange.
    She’d been actively avoiding him for years, and now here he was, back in her life. It would be impossible to ignore him now. She allowed herself to study him for a moment, in a way she hadn’t allowed herself to in years. He was taller and broader than he’d been at seventeen, the last time she’d allowed herself to study him, and his voice was slightly deeper. The glasses, his clean-cut hairstyle, and the classic lines of his face all made him look like an angel. But she knew that angel came wrapped in temptation. It was there in the full, wide asymmetrical lips she’d inadvertently sampled.
    She looked away. As if reading her mind, he said, “If Rosa and Marty told you everything I’ve said this past year, then you know how I feel. But I’m not going to spend my days here second-guessing my professional decisions or wondering if you’re doubting my actions because you know I’m . . . infatuated with this memory of you. Of us.”
    “Infatuated?” She risked another glance at him. He was so solemn. So serious. “Infatuation is good. It’s temporary. It goes away.”
    His eyes held hers. “And it was only one evening and barely even that. It can’t be anything but infatuation. Right?”
    Infatuated with a memory. She raised her hand and showed him her ring, her eyes never leaving his. “Exactly. I’m engaged to Brian