The Boy Who Has No Belief - Victoria Quinn Page 0,19

together. And then I’ll pick her up. You don’t need to come to our apartment.”

I studied her face to make sure she was being genuine. “I’m nervous…”

She nodded. “It’s okay to be nervous.”

“I usually know what I’m doing in any given situation, but I have no idea what I’m doing now.”

“You’re just tutoring her, Derek. That’s it. And you know how to tutor someone. So that’s not true.”

I gave a nod.

She moved her hand across the table and placed it on mine, her fingers giving me a light squeeze.

I stared at our joined fingers and felt less scared, less terrified.

“Lizzie has no idea that we’re seeing each other. So, I’ll tell her you offered to tutor her as a favor to me. She’ll have absolutely no expectation at all. She won’t see you as someone coming into our lives. So, there’s no pressure or commitment whatsoever. You can always back out later if it’s not working, and she’ll have no emotional attachment at all.”

6

Emerson

Any time I tried to get Derek to do something out of his norm, it was like pulling teeth.

Interestingly, he seemed to dread the book signing more than meeting my daughter. Maybe because she was only one person and he was doing something he was comfortable doing, it was different. But the idea of meeting stranger after stranger was terrifying.

He sat across the table from me, his eyes brooding, his attitude festering.

I picked up a couple copies of his book from the bookstore and set them in a stack beside him. There were pens for him to use too.

“So, let’s pretend—”

“How about we go into the bedroom instead?” He was in just his sweatpants and no shirt, so his bare chest was right in my line of sight, his pecs hard like two pieces of solid wood. His fair skin was unblemished, and he didn’t have dark hair on his body like he did on his jawline.

That offer was very difficult to reject. “Afterward.”

He deflated even further, having a silent tantrum. He was so handsome that he was even sexier when he was angry, his brown eyes becoming more intense and authoritative. His bedroom look was similar. That was probably why I liked it.

We were supposed to do this days ago, but when he offered to tutor Lizzie, our plans went out the window. “Derek, we only have a few days before this signing. We need to focus.”

He gave me that cold stare.

I ignored how sexy he looked when he did that. Even when he yelled at me, he was still hot. I got out of my chair, pushed it in, and grabbed a book. My name was on a sticky note, so I approached the table, beaming. “Oh my god, I love your books. It’s so amazing to meet you in person.” I extended my book to him.

He just stared at me.

I waved the book slightly, still smiling.

“This is weird.”

“Just pretend—”

“I don’t have an imagination.”

“Derek, how would you be able to build rockets and rovers without an imagination? Now, come on.” I waved the book again. “Derek Hamilton, it’s so nice to meet you.”

One hand rested on his thigh, so his elbow was bent, and he continued to look at me like this was the dumbest thing in the world. He eventually released a loud sigh then took the book. He ripped off the sticky note then opened the cover so he could quickly sign. All he wrote was Derek Hamilton before he slid it back to me.

Now all I did was stare.

He dropped the pen and continued to look pissed off.

“Okay…that was just…terrible.”

He gave a loud sigh. “I signed the book—”

“You said you don’t want to disappoint people, so if you act like a fucking asshole, they’ll definitely be disappointed.”

“I’m not trying to be an asshole. That’s just how I am.”

“You are so not.” I set the book aside and grabbed another. I ripped out a page from my notebook and made notes before I set it beside him. “Those are the steps. Just do the steps, and it’ll go well.”

He glanced at the paper before he looked at me. “Step one, say hello.”

“Very good.” I held out the book out to him. “I’m so excited to meet you, Derek. I’ve read all of your books, and you’re my favorite author.”

He stared at me for a while before he responded. “Hello…”

This was still terrible, but I let it go. I handed him the book.

He took it then looked at step two. “Write down their name