His head cocked to the side as his lips turned into a frown. “How’d you know I drive a Jeep?”
Oh, crap.
“Oh. Um. I’ve seen you in it.”
There. That didn’t sound too dumb. Or stalker-ish. Right?
“Really? I didn’t see you.”
My heart raced as my mind tried to outrun it. I needed to find a reasonable excuse for knowing what he drove without making it seem like I’d been watching him for weeks. But nothing was coming to mind.
Finally, I decided a diversion was the best course of action.
“I’m not surprised you didn’t see me from the seat of your massive oil-eating monster truck.”
My words rang out between us for what felt like hours before Wyatt’s head fell back and he laughed loudly. The knots in my stomach tightened as I watched his Adam’s apple bob in his throat and listened to the joyful chuckles falling from his lips.
I knew in that moment I’d never seen or heard anything more beautiful than Wyatt Carter laughing.
He pulled the car to a stop at a red light and turned to me. “You’re something else, Callie.”
I did my best to wipe the dazed look from my face and turned to stare out the windshield. “What? It’s true,” I mumbled.
He laughed again and shook his head before continuing our drive. The streets were becoming more populated as we drove closer to the lab and the end of this exhausting encounter. It was more work than I thought it would be keeping my distance from Wyatt, and I honestly didn’t know how much longer I could do it.
“Where is this place anyway?”
I blew out a breath of relief and gave him the final directions to the lab. Thankfully, we spent the rest of the ride in a comfortable silence as I internally berated myself for getting lost in him like that.
I needed to be stronger. More distant. More aloof than that. If I was going to keep my way of life safe from Wyatt’s charms, I needed to be better at keeping him at least an arm’s length away.
I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye, noticing he still had that panty-melting smile on his face and decided then and there I’d need two arm’s lengths away from him.
When he finally pulled into the lab’s parking lot, I shot out a silent thanks into the universe that I’d made it relatively unscathed. I stuffed my notebooks in my bag and exited the vehicle, thankful I’d only have a few more minutes with Wyatt before I’d be free to watch him from afar again. Where it was safer, and I didn’t have to dodge his warm eyes or steel myself against his devastating laugh.
“Where do you want this stuff?” he asked from the back of the SUV.
I waved to the side of the building. “You can just leave all that over there. I’ll bring them in myself.”
He shot me an exasperated look as he loaded his thick arms with a mountain of sample racks. “Callie, I’m not leaving this stuff outside for you to take in. Just tell me where to bring it.”
I closed my eyes for a second as I reined in my annoyance. Not at him, of course, but myself.
Why couldn’t I just treat him like everyone else?
Why did he get to me like this?
Why couldn’t I ignore this tugging in the pit of my stomach that begged me to get closer to him when all I wanted to do was run in the opposite direction?
He must have noticed my reluctance because he sidled up next to me, bringing with him that intoxicatingly warm smell. “Callie, you can’t carry in giant loads like you did at the lodge. People will notice you’re carryin’ more than you should be able to. Just let me help you so you can get started on savin’ the world.”
My stomach tightened at his words as I tried to remember how to speak. But it was so hard to get my body to act right when he was this close and saying such sweet things. I’d never had anyone say anything like that to me before.
It made me feel powerful in a way I’d never felt. Like I really could make a difference. Like I wasn’t wasting my time. Like someone believed in me.
“Besides, you’re already late, aren’t you?” he added, breaking me out of my thoughts.
Dang it, he was right. I didn’t have time to waste arguing about this and if I had to carry all these samples in like a human, it would cut my remaining time by half. With a nod, I pulled a modest pile into my own arms and led him into the lab where I’d be working.
When we had all the samples inside, I turned to find Wyatt’s eyes wide as they wandered around the bright white room and all its equipment.
“This place is pretty cool.”
I shrugged and followed his gaze for a moment. “Yeah. It’s good enough for now.”
He turned to me and I resolutely kept my eyes on the wall in front of me. “For now?”
“Until I get my own lab.”
I watched his lips twist into a smile out of the corner of my eye. “Of course you’ve got your sights set higher. I shoulda known.”
My stomach tightened again at his familiarity, but I shook it off. “Anyway, thanks for the ride, Wyatt. And please tell your brother I said thanks too.”
He nodded and took a step backward. “What time should I pick you up?”
My eyes widened slightly. “Oh. Um. That’s okay. Abey can come get me.”
“You sure? He’s pretty busy today.”
I grit my teeth and shook my head. “I’m sure he’ll make time to come pick me up.”
Unless he wants the full wrath of Callista McCoy
