He shook his head. “Nope. Not for me.”
“Why not?” I asked, my voice bordering on whining.
He turned to face me, and I quickly averted my gaze before it could get caught in his. “Because I want more.”
His voice was so deep and sincere, I felt it all the way to the marrow of my bones. I had no doubt he meant what he said and could only hope a friendship was all he was looking for. I didn’t have time or room for anything more.
“How can we be friends when I barely know you?”
Wyatt pursed his lips and nodded slowly as he navigated the winding back roads of Asheville. “Good point. I guess that means we’ll have to get to know each other.”
Dang it.
That was not the direction I was hoping this was going to go in. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I opened my mouth to argue, but closed it before any half-cocked excuse could fall from my lips. What would I say anyway?
I’ve got enough friends?
I’m too busy for friends?
I couldn’t possibly be your friend because you do something to my insides that drives me to distraction?
Each excuse was as poor and ridiculous as the last. So, with that realization, I slumped against the gray leather seat beneath me and sighed. “Fine. We can get to know each other.”
He shot me a sideways glance that I resolutely avoided. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you didn’t want to be my friend.”
That’s because I don’t.
“No, no,” I lied, “that’s not it at all. Don’t mind me, I’m just… busy.”
He cocked an eyebrow in my direction. “It looks to me like you’re just sitting there getting chauffeured downtown.”
I narrowed my eyes at his profile and sat up straighter. “Just because I’m getting a ride somewhere doesn’t mean I’m not busy. I’ve got a million things to think or worry about at any given time and they’re all fighting for attention.”
He nodded slowly. “Like the contamination left behind by fracking?”
I blew out a deep breath. “Exactly.”
“What happens if you find contamination?”
“We document the findings, inform the proper authorities, then we contact the fracking company and try to get them to stop.”
“Does that usually work?”
I bit my bottom lip and turned to stare out my window. “Not usually.”
Silence stretched between us as the futility of my efforts crept around the recesses of my mind, reminding me that I was just one small fish trying to take on a whole ocean of corruption.
“Then why do you do it?” he finally asked.
The reasons for my crusade sped through my mind as I sat up straighter, squared my shoulders and gave him the mantra that kept me going. “If I don’t, then who will?”
We were quiet for another extended period of time while I put the pity party to rest and worked to remind myself of all the good I’d already done. But more importantly, all the causes that still needed my attention. There was an endless amount of damage being done to our planet every day and I was one of few who got to stand in the way.
“That’s pretty amazing, Callie.”
It didn’t escape my notice that this was the first time he’d used my nickname. The simple two syllable name was said with a kind of reverence I’d never heard before. It made the hairs on my arms stand on end and the words dry up in my parched throat.
Not only had he said my name like a prayer, he’d also called me amazing. He barely knew me, and he thought so highly of me. Like I was someone important. Someone worthy of praise and admiration.
Most people who heard about what I did thought I was just some hippy who burned sage and danced around a bonfire all day. No one in my pack understood the importance of what I did or even why I did it. They just dismissed me as the bored sister of a powerful alpha, wasting her time doing something frivolous simply because she could.
But I was so much more.
And it seemed after just one simple conversation, Wyatt understood that. Understood me.
Which was a huge problem.
I was having enough difficulty trying to ignore his good looks, his masculine scent, and that powerful tug in his direction. Now I had to add onto that how understanding he was and the fact that he thought I was amazing.
I was in trouble.
I needed to steer this conversation back on course before I totally lost my way.
“Anyway, I’ve got all these water samples to test and no laboratory to do it in, so I’ve booked this time with some equipment downtown. One day I’ll have my own lab and can do this stuff on my own time but until then, I have to make it work somehow. I’d normally just take my Prius, but as you can see, there’s way more than I can fit in my car and–”
“You drive a Prius?”
I narrowed my eyes and turned to glare at his profile. Half of me was irritated he interrupted, while the other half was grateful. I’d been rambling like an idiot and it was unlikely I would have been able to stop myself. “Yes. Why?”
His lips twisted with a grin as he stared through the windshield. “No reason.”
I watched him for another minute, sure there was more to it than that. Turned out I was right.
“I just think it’s cute is all.”
My spine straightened as my heart fluttered. “What’s cute?”
“You drivin’ a little toy car. It fits you.”
“My Prius is not a toy car,” I sputtered.
His smile grew. “Of course not.”
“I’m serious. Just because it’s a hybrid doesn’t make it any less of a car than your
