But today, I was running late and clearly not paying close enough attention. If I’d been more aware of the deep pulling in the pit of my stomach, I never would have come in here. I never would have put myself in the same room as him. I was entirely too close for comfort and I was suppressing the urge to run out of there as fast as I’d barged in.
So, my two-month long streak of successfully avoiding him had come to an end.
Unfortunately for me and my peace of mind, I was equal parts upset and excited to see him again. Which was irritating to say the least.
Of course, I’d done my best to stay away, but that in no way meant I hadn’t kept tabs on him. As it turned out, my bedroom window overlooked the part of the backyard that Bea and Abey used for training the enforcers. Every day for weeks, I sat up there with my nose practically pressed against the windowpane, watching him work out. Sometimes it was as a wolf, but my favorite was when he stayed in his human form. When I could let my eyes trace every dip and groove of his body. When I could memorize everything about him without the fear of him seeing me too.
Now he’d passed all his training and was a full-fledged enforcer, he only attended the weekly sessions, but I made sure to catch every one of those too.
Was my obsession a little unhealthy? Sure was. But it was almost like a compulsion at this point. I couldn’t have stopped myself from watching him every week even if I tried. Which I admittedly hadn’t really done.
“Callie?”
I jerked my eyes away from Wyatt’s broad chest where I’d been staring for the past couple of minutes while my brain went haywire. “Huh?”
Abraham frowned. “What’s going on?”
I shook my head, my traitorous eyes darting toward Wyatt once more. I made sure to keep them away from his gaze though. I’d made that mistake once and was in no hurry to repeat it. “Oh. Uh. Are you ready to leave? We’re already running late.”
Abey’s frown deepened. “Leave?”
I narrowed my eyes at my older brother. “Yes. You promised to give me a ride downtown to the lab. Remember?”
His deep blue eyes widened as realization seemed to sink in. Just as quickly though, he winced and looked down at his desk. “I totally forgot about that.”
I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Abey.”
He held up a hand. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, Callie. I know I promised, but I have an important conference call in about ten minutes that I can’t miss. Can I take you after?”
“No. I only booked an hour at the lab and I’m already only going to get about forty-five minutes of that time because I’m so late.”
“I’m sorry, Callie. I just can’t do it. I promise to make this up to you next week.”
I blew out a deep breath, my shoulders slumping. Not only would I be wasting money on an hour of lab time I’d already paid for, but this would set my research back by a whole week. Which was something I could afford even less.
“I can take you.”
My eyes whipped in Wyatt’s direction. “Huh?”
I was staring at his mouth instead of his eyes, so when his lips curled into a smile, my stomach hollowed inside me. “I said I can take you.”
My head was shaking back and forth before I’d even thought it all the way through. “No, that’s okay.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Yeah, why not?” my traitor brother piped up.
I shot my sibling a glare before focusing on Wyatt’s mouth again. “I don’t want to trouble you. Clearly, you’re busy with Abraham here. I’ll just book two hours for next week.”
Wyatt turned toward Abey. “We’re about done here, aren’t we, Alpha?”
Abey shrugged. “Yeah, we’re good.”
Wyatt faced me again, his lips tipped into a smile. “See? No worries. I’ll go pull around to the front.”
“It’s not big enough,” I blurted.
Wyatt, who was halfway out of his seat already, paused, his mouth curling with a frown. “How do you know it’s not big enough?”
Because I stalk you and I already know your Jeep won’t be big enough for everything I need to bring to the lab.
“Oh. Uh. I’m just assuming. I have a lot of samples I need to transport and that’s why Abey was taking me in his truck. Do you drive a pickup?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
Wyatt shook his head. “No.”
I pursed my lips and shrugged. “Well, thanks anyway.”
I turned to leave when his voice stopped me. “I can borrow Wes’ Suburban. That has to be big enough.”
I winced at the office door before slowly spinning around again. “A Suburban?”
Wyatt smiled at me again and, darn it, that made the butterflies in my stomach sit up and take notice. “Yeah.” He turned to his brother who was in the next chair over. Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed him sitting there. That’s how all-encompassing Wyatt’s presence was. And that’s exactly why I needed to find a way out of this.
“No, that’s not neces–”
“You don’t mind, do you, Wes?” Wyatt asked, completely ignoring my weak protests.
Wes shrugged before digging in his pocket and tossing a set of keys toward his brother. “Knock yourself out.”
Wyatt turned to me, keys dangling from one of his fingers and another grin on his face. “Looks like it’s all settled.”
I pulled my lips into the best smile I could manage. “Looks like it.”
Unless I can come up with some other excuse in the next thirty seconds that
