It would have been infinitely easier if he hadn’t set every cell in her body on fire. Like an addict, every time she heard his voice, she wanted more. Wanted to hear those dirty nothings purred in her ear. Wanted to feel his hard body against hers.
She needed to stop this before it got out of hand. Before they were both too invested, because a man on the road—no matter how much she felt for him—was the wrong man.
She vowed to say exactly that the next time they spoke.
After filling one of the coolers with Heineken, she grabbed the next résumé off the top of the pile, slipped her earbud in, and dialed the number for Dale Goldstein.
The phone rang in her ear, and Gypsy glanced at Cooper before she headed into the back room again. He was lying on his side now on the floor, one arm under his head and the other pushing the car back and forth. He’d be asleep soon, no doubt.
She hefted the case of liquor and carried it back out to the bar.
“Yo,” a deep voice came over the line. “Pinky’s pornoporium, what’s your pleasure?”
Gypsy rolled her eyes and hoped she wasn’t talking to the Dale Goldstein whose application she was skimming. “You get points for impressive alliteration.”
“Impressive what?” His voice went high on the last word.
“Never mind. Can I speak to Dale, please?”
“This is Dale, and I love your voice. Say something dirty.”
Gypsy braced both hands on the edge of the bar. She was starting to believe that the odds of her finding a decent manager were right up there with seeing Bigfoot in the parking lot. “I’m calling about your résumé? That dirty enough for you?”
The sound of someone sucking air came over the line, followed by a stuttered and apologetic “Oh my God, I’m really sorry. I seriously was expecting my buddy to call, this is just a sick joke between us, I’m really sorry you got caught in that…”
Gypsy let out a long breath and tuned out the rest of his apology. Normally, she would just hang up, but she was getting down to the bottom of her résumé stack and feeling a little desperate. So she brushed aside the bad beginning and wandered through a few of her first-phase questions.
His experience didn’t sound bad, but it didn’t sound like what she was hoping for either. In three questions, she’d ascertained that he’d embellished his résumé and didn’t have near the background she needed. She was beginning to think she was going to have to train someone, and that felt like it would take longer than just doing the work herself.
Since she was on the fence with this guy, she asked a telling question. “So tell me about your criminal record.”
He’d put an X in the box indicating no criminal background, but she’d gotten this trick from another local bar owner, and it had proved useful countless times. The guilty always felt guilty.
Silence hung on the other end of the line before Dale sputtered an uncertain “Criminal—? I didn’t think— Look, that was all a big misunderstanding.”
Gypsy’s eyes closed. She might as well just fucking forget hiring a manager altogether. She opened her eyes and pulled in a breath to end the call and found herself staring at Wyatt as he entered the bar.
“I’ll give you a call back if I want to schedule an interview.” She disconnected.
Wyatt was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and an old ballcap. And damn, without that flannel overshirt, his muscular torso stretched that cotton tee in all sorts of amazing ways.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Her body was definitely not connecting with her mind’s agenda of taking things between them down a notch.
His gaze scanned the bar and locked on her. A smile whipped across his face, his spine straightened, and he picked up his pace in long strides across the floor, coming at Gypsy with purpose. Her heart skittered around in a circle but couldn’t find any place to hide. Thankfully, he crossed paths with Cooper first, giving Gypsy a chance to find her emotional footing.
He stopped short and chuckled as he bent at the waist to look into Cooper’s eyes. “Hey there, buddy. Looks like all this racing wore you out.”
“Hi, Wyatt. I go to the doctor soon, then to my superhero camp.”
“That’s right,” he said, smiling. “That’s coming up, isn’t it?”
“Play cars with me?”
Wyatt eased into a crouch and smiled at Cooper while running his hand over Cooper’s head and giving his back a reassuring pat. The gesture was so sweet and so warm, it swelled Gypsy’s heart until it hurt.
“Maybe after I talk with your mama, okay?”
“‘K.”
But before Wyatt even reached the bar, Cooper had fallen asleep. Gypsy pulled out her earbud. “How did you get out of the child-rearing cage?”
Instead of stopping at the bar, his momentum picked up. He planted one hand on the bar one foot on the stool, and bolted the bar, landing right beside her. Gypsy took a step back and laughed. But Wyatt wrapped her in his arms and kissed her quiet.
His lips were warm and solid, his kiss full of the passion they’d shared several nights ago, threatening to shatter all Gypsy’s good intentions. He felt amazing. Warm and strong. Like someone to lean on. Like someone who cared about her.
And with his mouth on hers, Gypsy couldn’t remember why she kept telling herself to push back.
She broke the kiss and leaned back to look into his eyes. “What’s got you so excited?”
“Seeing you, for starters.” He brushed her hair back. “Is it just me, or does it feel like a year since we’ve seen each other?”
She smiled but didn’t answer, and pushed away to put some space between them. “Where’s Belle?”
“She’s at school.” He beamed as if he’d just performed the impossible. “I don’t know who you talked to or what you said, but that awesome school opened a spot for Belle.”
Gypsy crossed her arms and leaned back against a cooler. “That’s great. How did she do?”
“Pretty good.” He sobered. “I took her to lunch and told her about her mom.”
Gypsy winced. “How’d that go?”
He tilted his head and pressed a hand to the edge of the bar. “It went fine. A little too fine, I think. I mean, she was sad, for sure, but I expected more of a meltdown, you know? I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“I get the feeling her mom has been emotionally absent for a while,” Gypsy told him. “Maybe it wasn’t as much of a shock as we expected.”
He shrugged. “All I know is that she wanted to go back for the afternoon, which I took as a good sign.”
“That’s a great sign.”
He nodded. “Paisley Jessip’s boy goes there. She and I have been talking about a duet. She’s going to be in town for a few days, so I think we’re going to see if we can get together and work on it.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah. Feels good to think about work again.”
Wyatt moved in and slid his arms around her waist. “I’ve missed you.”
She wanted to say the same, but self-preservation won out.
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he told her with a sexy little smile.
Gypsy grinned. “Let me guess—it’s in your pants.”