I stopped so abruptly that Jemma bumped into me.
Wyatt stood in the middle of the lobby, looking dangerously hot in jeans, a T-shirt, and that darned military-style jacket that fit him like a bespoke glove.
Why, oh, why did the universe hate me so much?
Chapter
Forty-Four
“Look who’s here, Auntie Em!” Livy called out.
She spun in circles, a big smile on her face.
I warily met Wyatt’s gaze.
Yep, as I’d feared, those freaking butterflies woke up and fluttered around inside me.
“I need a number for a good pest control company,” I said to Jemma out of the corner of my mouth.
She glanced around fearfully, as if expecting to see cockroaches skittering across the floor. “What kind of pests are we talking about?”
“Butterflies,” I whispered. “Unwanted, very active butterflies.”
The fear left her eyes as she caught on. “Ooh, but you know what follows butterflies.”
“Heartbreak,” I said, my voice flat as I tried but failed to avert my gaze from Wyatt’s.
“Fireworks,” she countered.
I shook my head and approached Wyatt.
“Hey,” he said. “Thanks for the text about Bitty’s godson. I get the feeling you left out some details, though.”
“Almost all of them, actually.” I’d provided only the bare minimum information, with no reference to the crazy shenanigans.
“And you definitely want to hear the whole story,” Jemma said with a smile.
Wyatt turned his gaze back to me. “Maybe you can fill me in? Then we can come up with a plan of action.”
I wished his obsidian eyes didn’t hold such sway over me. They sent my heart thudding in a way that couldn’t be healthy. “I’ve already had more than enough action, thank you.”
A spurt of laughter burst out of Jemma before she stifled the rest of it.
I shot a glare in her direction.
She transformed her expression into a mask of innocence.
Wyatt waited for a further response from me.
I sighed, realizing that he wasn’t about to walk away and disappear from my life. “I might need a stiff drink before I tell you about Vinny. And anyway, I think it’s time to focus on Hoffman again.”
Doing that would not only help the investigation—hopefully—but it would also serve as a good reminder that romantic liaisons did not lead to happily ever after. Not for me, anyway. Clearly, I needed that reminder, because my heart was still galloping and my fingertips itched to run down his T-shirt-covered pecs. Well, uncovered pecs would be even better, though maybe not in the middle of the lobby.
Focus!I scolded myself silently.
“If you need a drink, we should raid the speakeasy,” Jemma suggested with an excited gleam in her eyes.
“Too late,” Wyatt said. “I just took a look in there. The cops must have cleared out all the booze.”
