Page 17 of Competing Against Thor

"You think I'm talented?" I asked.

"Everyone here is talented," she reminded me. "But I can see the way you look at the metal. It's like it speaks to you."

"You get the same look on your face while you're working," I responded.

She gave me a curious expression. "Just how much have you been watching me?"

I cleared my throat. "How much wouldn't be creepy?"

She let out an amused laugh. "It's a good thing I like you, Thor."

My heart constricted at her words, and I couldn't help but hope that she was feeling some of the things I was when it came to my attraction for her. I'd caught her staring at me a couple of times, but that was fairly common. People were normally enamoured by the muscles.

But Daisy seemed different. I was sure she liked the muscles too, but it did seem as if she saw more than that.

I certainly hoped she did.

She sighed and cracked her neck. "I know I should be used to it, but I swear these stations are making my neck hurt."

"It's not having as much space," I responded.

"And you must have it even worse than me. You fill it up so much."

I chuckled. "I'm not even sure what to say to that."

She closed her eyes and groaned. "That's not what I meant."

"I know, I'm teasing," I promised. "And I have massages booked in for the day after filming, you should try it."

"Smart." She looked over to where the coffee machine sat, with all our other competitors standing around it. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Why can't it just be right next to my workstation so I could get coffee every time I needed it?"

"You really love your coffee."

"I've wanted a machine like that for my studio for ages. It's the first thing I'd buy if I get the money from the Jinx commission."

A small kernel of guilt nestled inside me at her words. I'd been thinking about this competition as a challenge for my skills, but I hadn't considered that for others, there was more on the line. Maybe if I did win, I'd have a talk with Aine and see if she could hire one of the other competitors instead. It wasn't that I didn't want the prestige that came with winning, but it would mean more to someone like Daisy.

But I didn't think she'd like it if she discovered that she'd only gotten the commission because I turned it down. The other option I had was to throw the competition and let myself get knocked out, but that wasn't right either. I came here to prove to myself that I could win against people when the judges didn't know my name, and that was what I had to continue doing.

How I'd deal with winning would have to wait. And based on the quality of the sculptures the others were putting up against mine, it might not even be something I had to worry about.

Chapter 9

DAISY

I paced nervously back and forth, hating this part of the competition. And after the high of my flowers and toadstool sculpture last week, I had a lot riding on the new one, and I wasn't as happy with how my pond creature had turned out compared to some of my others.

I popped my earplugs out, putting them in the carry case and taking advantage of the fact it was quieter without all the equipment buzzing.

"Here," Thor said, holding out a cup of coffee to me.

I smiled at him. "Thanks."

Our fingers brushed against one another as I took it, making all kinds of feelings stir in me that I should be ignoring. And not just because of the competition either. He wasThor. If I accepted that, then I had to accept that there was nothing that could ever happen between us, despite the fact that sometimes it felt like it could.

"You've got nothing to worry about," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "There are seven talented artists in the room, I have a lot to worry about," I countered.