“It’s cliché, but the best thing you can do is practice and practice and practice, until it’s the easiest thing in the world. And then practice it a couple more times.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “It’s also important you dive right in. Don’t overthink it, just do it.” She leaned her hip against the counter and waved her hand over the supplies. Dan took a deep breath and nodded.
He measured out the alginate into the mixing bowl and added the water. He stirred it vigorously like he’d watched Alex do, trying to look like any of it felt natural. He slowly and carefully scooped the goo into the impression tray, making sure to fill it edge to edge.
Positioning himself behind the mannequin, he paused to carefully align the tray then pushed the putty against the upper teeth.
And nothing happened.
Pathetic. His father’s voice snapped like a whip across his psyche.
Dan closed his eyes and blew out a breath. He’d done it wrong. Again. What should have been an oozy mixture was a solid block in the tray, not budging against the plastic teeth. He’d moved too slowly, the alginate setting before he even had a chance to use it.
It was a rerun of every other lab experience. He would sit and watch his classmates pick up techniques and perfect procedures while he fumbled his way through the lab manual, botching every assignment in an endless parade of frustration and failure with just enough embarrassment for it to physically hurt. But suffocating guilt and familial duty always stopped him from quitting.
“Try again.”
Dan opened his eyes. Harper was looking at him, her deep brown eyes warm and crinkled at the corners with a gentle smile. She touched his wrist, making the hair on his arm stand up straight. He felt the warmth of her fingers through her gloves, and the sensation coursed up his arm in a golden buzz.
He nodded, flicking the rubbery material out of the tray, and started again.
CHAPTER 4
HARPER
Harper held her breath as she watched Dan mix the alginate for the sixth—no, seventh—time.
Brow furrowed in concentration, he scooped it out and filled the impression tray, moving with a new, fragile confidence that made a balloon of pride float into her chest. He stood behind the dummy and slid the tray into place. His eyes met hers, and she felt almost as desperate as he looked for this try to work.
The defeat bruising his face after that first attempt had fissured through her heart so deeply, she actively resisted the urge to push his hands away and do it for him while simultaneously cradling his troubled, gorgeous face against her chest and whispering that it would all be okay.
She’d settled on gentle encouragement, thinking face cradling was slightly in the realm of inappropriate lab behavior. She ducked her head to look into the mannequin’s mouth, taking careful note of the angle of his hands holding it in place. She nodded at him and smiled.
“I have a good feeling about this one.”
His eyes lifted to hers for an anxious moment before returning to bore into the dummy as though glaring at it hard enough would force it to cooperate. She took a moment to observe the tight clench of Dan’s chiseled jaw, the tension in his broad shoulders as he held his fingers against the tray in the dummy’s mouth, small knots of muscle rising gently along his forearms in focus and frustration.
“Here, just…” She pressed against Dan’s side, sliding one arm along his and moving the other beneath his chest to meet his long fingers on the other side. She gently moved to relax the angle and pressure of his fingers, twining theirs together in a way that felt far too familiar while they waited for the alginate to settle.
The proximity slapped her senses, every nerve ending bubbling up in a golden pop of excitement where her body pressed against his side. Harper could feel Dan’s eyes on her, but she kept her gaze fixed on the dummy. Dan shifted on his feet, and her heart pounded against the side of his broad chest. Her palms were clammy in the latex gloves, and she felt her fingers buzzing and humming where they twisted with Dan’s.
She heard him swallow and couldn’t help but glance up. His eyes were hot and bright as they roamed her face.
It was overwhelming and intense—far too intimate while not being intimate enough. It didn’t feel possible to look away.
“This is probably set,” she whispered.
“Okay.” He didn’t move.
They stared at each other for another moment before Harper sucked in a deep breath and dropped her arms, stepping away. She felt the immediate loss of the closeness and wanted it back. Dan looked at her for a second longer before straightening up and rolling his shoulders.