4. Chapter 4
Chapter four
“ H ey, sleepy head, wake up, it’s time to get you home.”
My eyes flutter open at the gentle words spoken into my ear and focus on the light gray sweater that softens the hard muscle of an arm. I jerk back, realization dawning on me that I fell asleep against Wyatt’s shoulder. I look up and meet his gaze, a smile bringing the dimples out in his cheeks.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, or turn you into my pillow. Dammit, did I snore? This is so embarrassing.” I drop my head into my hands and hope he answers no.
Wyatt laughs, the vibration running through my arm that is pressed tightly against his. I spread my fingers and cautiously look back at him. I drop my hands completely and look around the room. It’s empty and the TV is off. We’re the last two left on the couch. And yet I stayed glued to his side like it was the only spot left .
“Where did everyone go? Have I kept you here long? I’m so sorry.” I rush to stand up, looking around for my purse and Ryan to take me home.
Wyatt stands too, stretching his arms up above his head. He steadies me with his hands on my shoulders when I nearly trip over my feet after seeing a strip of his toned stomach peek from beneath his sweater. “Relax, people just left about ten minutes ago. You were totally passed out, so I let you sleep a little more.”
“Where’s Ryan? How am I getting home?” I look around wildly, sleep clouding my brain and leaving me incredibly confused.
“He headed out, too. I told him I’d get you home, since you made me a part of your nap.” He reaches out and traces a path along my cheek. “Sorry my sweater left a mark. Hope it was comfy at least.”
I cover my cheek with my palm, feeling the indentation he just pointed out. “You should have woken me up. I didn’t mean to keep you here longer than you wanted to be. I’ll grab my stuff and we can go. Thank you for the ride.” I find my purse and sling it over my shoulder and turn back to him.
“Hey, I’ll volunteer for pillow duty any day. You are too cute. You mumble in your sleep, you know?” Wyatt takes my hand and pulls me toward the door before I can hide my face again.
“I didn’t know. Shouldn’t I say goodbye to Marny and Paul first?” I let him guide me through the house, now darkened except for a few lights left on.
“They went to bed. Early day tomorrow. Marny said she’ll bring lunch by the shop and see you then.” He closes the front door behind us and I shiver in the cool air after leaving the warmth of the couch. Wyatt notices and pulls me under his arm, tucking me against his side.
For not having been formally introduced and only having met me a few hours ago, he’s awfully comfortable. It must be because I drooled on him. I place my hand tentatively against his chest as I huddle in his warmth. He tightens his grip around me, but has to let me go to unlock the older model BMW M3 parked across the street from the house. He holds the door open for me and hands me the seat belt once I settle into the cold leather seat. He shuts the door and runs around to his side, sliding in and cranking the car quickly as he fiddles with the heater. The vents blast me with cold air, so I flip the ones near me away and shiver as I wait for the car to heat up.
Wyatt turns around and hunts in the backseat, dropping a Carhartt jacket on my lap. I smile at him and shrug my arms into the sleeves, pulling the collar up to my chin. “Thanks.”
Those damn adorable dimples pop as he returns my smile. He pulls away from the curb. “Where to?”
I give him the address of my apartment and tell him it’s near Smoke and Mirrors. He laughs, but doesn’t say anything. The heat finally comes on, making me even more snuggly in Wyatt’s warm jacket. I fight a yawn as he pulls up to the snazzy little twelve unit, two-story apartment complex Paul put me up in. I’m so ready to crawl into my bed and pass out. I didn’t realize how tired I was. I guess a few days of shoots and playing around at the shop wore me out more than I imagined.
“This is me,” I say with a flourish of my hand toward the complex. “Number six, the grand suite. ”
“I’m number five, neighbor. We all live here.” Wyatt laughs as he unbuckles and hops out of the car. I follow suit in confusion, leaving his cozy jacket on the seat.
“What do you mean you live here? I haven’t seen you around at all.”
I stop outside my door on the first floor and shiver again. Wyatt takes the key from my hand and opens the door for me, pushing me inside and turning on a light as he follows. He looks around for a minute and I cringe for not putting my clothes away this morning. I have a few bras—who doesn’t take those uncomfortable things off as soon as they get home?—and panties—clean from washing, I swear—hanging off the desk chair. My hooker heels are scattered across the floor where I dropped them. I shift in front of the desk, swiping my hand over the lingerie to send it into a box that I close with my toe. I blow out a breath and hope he didn’t get an eyeful of my lace and satin.
Wyatt pretends to not have noticed. “Paul owns this whole apartment complex, so we all live here. It’s like Melrose Place for drift junkies. He gives us cheap rent because he knows we put all of our money into cars and have shitty jobs that don’t pay nearly as well as we need. At least they offer schedules that are flexible enough to take time off to compete.”
“That’s what Marny meant when she said the shop wasn’t their sole source of income,” I say, more to myself than Wyatt.
“Yeah, and it’s good they have that. Now, get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow at the shop.” Wyatt pulls me in for a hug, constricting me in his arms before he steps away.
“Thanks for the ride,” I say as he turns to leave. “Oh, what did I say? ”
Wyatt stops with his hand on the door handle and turns back to me with a confused look. “What did you say, when?”
“When I mumbled in my sleep, what did I say? No one has ever told me I talk in my sleep. I want to know what I said now.”
Wyatt laughs. “Um, you said ‘he’s an asshole. Stupid buttface. Damn tattoos’ or something like that. It was kind of hard to hear. You were mumbling more incoherently than saying anything I could make sense of. Hopefully you weren’t talking about me.”
I smile at Wyatt and am rewarded by his dimples flashing with his grin. “I don’t know, do you have tattoos?”
“A few, but nothing you would have seen today. Maybe you can see them another time.” With that Wyatt steps outside and leaves me in my apartment, alone.