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 unleashed on him.
Wyatt dug in his pocket and pulled out a shiny black phone. “Let me give him a call and make sure.”
“That’s really not necess–”
“Alpha. I’m here with Callie. Should I bring her home too, or did you have plans to come downtown?”
I heard my traitorous brother tell Wyatt what a good idea it was for him to stay and bring me home as well and vowed to pay him back for this.
The two men exchanged a few more pleasantries before Wyatt hung up and shoved his phone back in his pocket. “It’s all set then. I’ll wait out in the parking lot and you can come get me when you’re ready.”
“Really, Wyatt. You don’t need to wait in the parking lot.”
He looked around the room. “Why? You want me to wait in here?”
“NO.” I snapped my mouth shut and cleared my throat before trying again. “I mean, no, that wouldn’t be a good idea. You don’t have the proper… um… training to be in a lab like this. It could be dangerous.”
Wyatt arched a brow like he didn’t believe me. “Okay then. I’ll be out in the truck when you’re ready.”
Little did he know, I didn’t think I’d ever be ready for Wyatt Carter.
Chapter 7
Wyatt
My eyes flitted from the screen of my phone to the laboratory door more times than I cared to admit. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure what I was looking at on my cell because most of my attention was focused on waiting to see Callie again.
My lips curled into a smile as I remembered I got to call her Callie now.
It was clear she wasn’t looking to get closer to me, but I wasn’t going to back down. There was something between us and I knew she had to feel it. It was way too strong to be one-sided.
With another glance at my phone, I realized I was looking at an article about free agent deals in the NFL, but I hardly cared. They could have traded Elvis to my team and I wouldn’t have noticed.
When I looked back up, she was there. Her curly brown hair seemed to have become even more unruly and she now wore a white lab coat over her t-shirt, but she was just as beautiful. Just as captivating.
Wasting no time, I hopped out of Wes’ truck and hurried over to her. “You done already?”
She twisted her pretty lips to the side. “Yeah, I ran out of time.” With a heavy sigh, she shook her head. “I didn’t even get through a quarter of my samples. I’ll have to come back next week and try again.”
“Okay, that’s no problem. I’ve got nothin’ going on.”
Her head whipped up so fast I thought I heard her neck crack. “Huh?”
I shrugged. “You’ll need a way to transport all this stuff back here, right? It’s still not gonna fit in that toy car of yours.”
She narrowed her eyes that never seemed to quite meet mine. “It’s not a toy car.”
I had to bite my lip to hide my smile. She was so much fun to rile up. “That’s right. It’s a hybrid. My mistake.”
She didn’t look pacified, but I didn’t care. Having Callie pissed off at me was way better than having Callie try to ignore me. There was only so much of that shit I could take.
“I’m sure Abey can take me next week. I don’t need to put you out again.”
I just barely held back a laugh.
Put me out? If she only knew this little trip downtown had been the highlight of my month.
I pulled my phone out and hit the speed dial to connect to Abraham. He answered on the second ring.
“Alpha, do you need me next Wednesday afternoon for anything? Callie needs a ride back to the lab and I thought I could take care of that for you.”
He breathed a loud sigh of relief through the phone and Callie narrowed her eyes further. “That would be great, Wyatt. Thanks. I’ll see you two when you get back.”
I ended the call and worked like hell to get the stupid, smug smile off my face, but I knew I wasn’t doing that good of a job. When I looked back at Callie, she was even more irritated than before, and my grin grew. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”
“Yay,” she muttered before spinning around and heading back toward the building.
I followed without being told to, because I knew if I didn’t, the stubborn woman would try to bring all those racks out by herself again and I wasn’t having that. I knew she was strong, but a real man never makes a lady work harder than him. That was a lesson my dad taught me, and I’d never forgotten it.
“So, how’d things go?” I asked as I followed her and tried desperately not to catch a peek of her ass beneath her baggy lab coat.
She sighed and shook her head, curly hair flying. “Not great. Like I said, I didn’t get enough done, and what I did get through needs further testing.” She pushed the lab room’s door open harder than necessary and winced when it crashed into the cement wall. “Dang it,” she muttered.