Stay with Me (With Me in Seattle 9)
“Huh.” I sit back as he pulls out of the parking lot, wondering how I feel about this.
Turns out, I don’t feel half bad about it.
“Where should we go eat?” he asks.
“Do you mind if we head back toward our neighborhood and hit up Salty’s? Unless you don’t like seafood.”
“Sounds great to me.”
We’re quiet as we make our way back to Alki Beach, soaking in the sunshine and comfortable silence. He’s easy to be with.
Why did I find him annoying to begin with?
“So, tell me more about you,” Wyatt says after we’re settled at the restaurant, an iced tea sitting in front of each of us, and two salmon Caesar salads on their way.
“No way,” I reply, shaking my head. “You know a ton about me, and I don’t know anything about you.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Are you an only child?”
“No, I have two brothers, both older than me.”
“Are they married?” I ask, sipping my tea.
“Nope, both single.”
“Have you ever been married?”
“I am divorced,” he says, nodding. “How about you?”
“The same.” I sigh and squish the lemon in my tea with my straw. “I’m sorry, divorce is tough.”
“Yeah, well, it’s better than living with a cheater,” he says and sips his own tea. His lips are sexy wrapped around that straw.
Am I seriously thinking about how sexy he is while we discuss something serious?
“It’s also better than living with a jerk,” I add, and we both nod. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m an architect,” he says, his hazel eyes lighting up.
“You love your job.”
“I do,” he says. “You get to play with girly things all day, and I get to build stuff. It’s pretty cool.”
“Did you love Legos when you were young?”
“I still love Legos,” he says with a laugh. “Legos are my jam.”
“Have you designed any buildings that I would know?”
“I don’t work with a lot of commercial buildings. I mostly do private homes.”
“That’s cool. Big ones?”
He nods. “Yeah, the one I’m currently working on is a ten-thousand-square-foot home that will be built on the seaside.”
“Wow. So, big and expensive.”
“That’s right. But this particular client is a challenge.”
“How so?”
“She wants to change things every other day. By the time we get it the way she wants it, I’ll be retired.”
“She just knows what she wants.”
“That’s just it,” he replies, frustration in his voice, “I don’t think she does know what she wants, and that’s why she changes it constantly. I mean, I’m paid hourly, so it’s no big deal to me, except I have other projects to get to, and this one is taking up a lot of my time.”
“I see. Well, it’ll work out.”
“Are you always this optimistic?”
“I guess.” I shrug a shoulder. “I’m pretty blunt.”
“I noticed,” he says and squeezes my hand. “And I’m thankful.”
“Last night wasn’t typical for me,” I inform him. “Seriously, I don’t jump on random strangers.”
“Good to know.”
“In fact, I hadn’t had sex in a long time.”
“How long?”
“A long time.”
His lips twitch. “Come on, that’s subjective. It could be a week, or it could be ten years.”
“More than a week, but less than ten years.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“How long had it been for you? And if you say hours, I will leave you right now.”
He laughs now, rubbing his hand over his face, and making me laugh, too.
“More than a year,” he says. “I don’t know the exact date, but it’s been a while. My brothers were just ribbing me about it the other night.”
“So maybe we were just scratching an itch.”
His eyes sober, watching me as the waitress arrives and sets our food in front of us.
“Do you need anything else?” she asks.
Wyatt’s eyes don’t leave mine as he replies. “No, thanks.”
She walks away, and neither of us moves. “I don’t think I was just scratching an itch,” Wyatt says.
“No?”
He shakes his head slowly, and huge butterflies take flight in my stomach. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I was giddy.
“Okay.”
“What about you?”
“I’m not sure.” I tilt my head to the side as if I’m thinking it over. “Maybe we should scratch again, to see if there is an itch or if it’s just chemistry.”
“I like your smart mouth.”
I lift my fork and dig into my salad. “That’s good because it isn’t going anywhere. And it might end up wrapped around you later.”
He chokes on his tea, and I smile smugly while I chew my lettuce, waiting for him to recover.
“You okay?”
“You’re going to be the death of me.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin.
“Quite possibly.” I nod and take another bite of salad, enjoying his company and the banter.
“How long have you lived in Seattle?” Wyatt asks, clearly changing the subject.
“I technically don’t,” I reply with a frown. “I grew up here, but I’ve been living in L.A. for about five years.”
“So why are you living here now?”
“Well, there’s some last strings to tie up with my ex, and my lawyer thought it would be good for me to have a change of scenery. Plus, I haven’t been home in a long while, so it made sense.”
“Your divorce is fresh then?”
“Technically, yes, but we’ve been separated for several years, so the end of the relationship isn’t fresh at all.”
He nods. “Did he cheat?”
“No, actually. And, before you ask, I didn’t either. He didn’t like what I did for a living. He said it was stupid, that the people who followed me were ridiculous because I don’t have anything to offer them.”
“So, he’s a dick.”
“Big time,” I reply. “I think he was jealous that I was getting attention, and he definitely didn’t like that I was beginning to make a living off of the way I look. Which sounds ridiculous.”
“No, I get what you mean.”
“But, I love it. And he couldn’t support it. It turned verbally abusive, and finally, one day, I said enough. I’m out. And I never looked back.”
“Am I a jerk if I say thank God?”
“No.” I laugh and take another bite of my salad. “I say that all the time. And, frankly, I’m pretty happy that your ex was a cheater. Because I wouldn’t be sitting here with you otherwise, and I’ve laughed more today than I have in a long time.”
“Me, too,” he says, setting his plate aside and reaching for my hand again. “Do you have plans for the rest of the day?”
“I do need to edit the video and upload it, so just a little work. But other than that, I’m free until girls’ night out on Friday.”
A slow smile spreads across his handsome face. “Perfect. How about I drop you at home so you can work, and I’ll go do the same for a bit, and then I’ll cook you dinner?”