I wasn’t sure why, but I wasn’t feeling up for it. The lights andplex setups I usually dealt with didn’t bother me, but this felt chaotic, like I just couldn’t handle it right now.


    “You don’t trust me?” he asked.


    “It’s not that…” I trailed off, my gazending on him. His shirt was dirty, and his pants were soaked at the hem.


    Seeing him like that, I felt a pang of guilt.


    “I’ve got it handled. Go,” he said, patting me lightly on the head. “Be a good girl.”


    I froze. My scalp tingled from the touch. It was nothing like the time Philip had patted me on the head. This was… different. Warm, sweet, like something I had longed for without realizing it.


    I couldn’t put it into words, but there was a kind of missing piece that suddenly felt filled.


    The way Josh looked at me made me want to turn away, but I couldn’t. I quickly bought everything he needed and returned to find Josh cleaning the hallway with a mop.


    By the time I came back inside, the flooded floor was spotless. He hadn’t been idle while I was out.


    In that moment, seeing my house looking pristine-like nothing had ever been wrong-I felt a lump in my throat.


    “I checked downstairs. No leaks, so you don’t have to worry about paying for damages,” Josh said.


    Not only was he capable, but he also noticed the little details. My throat tightened, and I didn’t know what to say.


    Josh had already started working on the plumbing, and I just stood there, watching. His hands moved skillfully, like when he was adjusting lights.


    I leaned against the doorframe, watching him, and asked, “Josh, is there anything you can’t do?”


    “There is,” he replied, not skipping a beat as he worked.


    “What?”


    He nced back at me. “Have kids.”


    I had been feeling a little down, but his response made meugh out loud. Without thinking, I shot back, “Well, you can’t have kids, but as long as you can get someone to have them for you, it’s fine.”


    “Yeah, I can definitely handle that,” he replied easily.


    I stopped, suddenly embarrassed by how cheeky we were being. My face turned red, and I didn’t know what else to say.


    To break the tension, I added, “Josh, whoever marries you will be very lucky.”


    “Then why don’t you want to marry me?” he asked, his voice direct.


    I lowered my gaze, staying silent for a long moment before answering. “I’m tooplicated. Like you said, I have a past with an ex-fiancé, and there’s still all this ambiguity. You, on the other hand, have never even dated. You’re too pure. I’m not good enough for you.”


    Josh didn’t say anything. I stood there, watching him for a while before I turned and walked to the balcony to tend to the


    ?.


    flowers I’d bought.


    Soon, I heard Josh heading downstairs again. I looked out to see him crouching down to twist the valve open.


    Was he finished?


    I turned back to the kitchen and turned on the faucet.


    The water flowed clean and clear, and the new faucet worked perfectly, the water streaming smoothly.


    I was so lost in the moment that I didn’t notice Josh had appeared behind me.


    His long arm wrapped around me as he turned off the water, his deep voice murmuring in my ear, “Don’t you know how to conserve water?”


    My heart skipped a beat. As I tried to step away, he didn’t let me go.


    Josh…” I raised my hand to push him, but when my palm touched his chest, I found myself pressed against the hard muscle.


    It felt like touching a hot iron, the heat spreading rapidly through my hand…


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