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 gas-guzzling Jeep.”
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.