what I’d said. I was just messing with her. She had to be used to my teasing by now. Not taking things too seriously was basically my life motto.
Or that’s what I let everyone think, anyway.
I guess Layne would find out the truth soon enough. I didn’t want to hide who I was from her anymore. And this morning, I’d made my hasty decision to let her see the real me.
“I can’t believe you didn’t want any donuts after raving about them yesterday,” Layne said, her face looking casual again.
“Who said I didn’t want any?” I arched my eyebrow, glancing in the rearview at what was in the backseat as I started the engine.
Scarlet purred to life and I pulled away from Layne’s house. She turned in her seat and broke out into a fit of laughter. “Okay, you and Robby seriously have a problem. You can’t eat that many donuts, Wyatt!”
“They’re not all for me.”
Layne gave me a wary look. “Do you have a donut delivery route I don’t know about?”
I smirked. “Something like that.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Layne
I grew more and more anxious on our drive. It didn’t help that I didn’t know where we were going. I hadn’t been lying when I told Wyatt I wasn’t someone who liked surprises. What if he was going to surprise me with some sort of romantic gesture?
I cringed.
Why had I suggested watching Say Anything? That movie was way too romantic to watch with a friend. It sent the wrong message.
Lola’s words popped back into my head. ‘You need to keep your guard up. At least until you get through the competition.’
I pressed my head back against my seat and closed my eyes, hating Wyatt’s stupid reputation. It made my confusing feelings even harder to interpret. But he had his reputation for a reason. He was notorious for being the loving and leaving kind.
I opened my eyes and peeked at him. Was that what was happening here? Was he about to make his move and then leave me high and dry?
Ugh! Why did I have to let my stupid heart go falling for him?
Lola was right. I needed to nip this in the bud while I still could and keep this relationship strictly professional. Because no matter what my screaming hormones told me when I was with Wyatt, music was more important than anything I thought I felt for him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, catching me staring.
I swallowed hard, realizing I’d better just blurt it out now and save us both the embarrassment if this was some sort of surprise date. “Um, I need to tell you something.”
“O-kaaay,” he drawled.
“It’s serious.”
“Like I need to pull over, serious, or you finally realized I have better taste in music than you, serious?”
“No, I think you should keep driving. It’ll make it easier for me to say if you’re not staring at me.”
That wiped the smirk right off Wyatt’s face. “I’m listening,” he said, all traces of sarcasm gone from his voice.
“So, I had a really, really great time last night . . .”
“But,” he said cautiously.
“But I think it would be smart if we just kept our relationship strictly business.”
He glanced at me, a sincerely wounded look in his eyes. “Is that so?”
“Yes, I mean,” I wrung my hands in my lap, my heart pounding in my ears.
I could do this. Just tell him you’re not interested in him that way.
Except that I was!
Before I knew it, the next sentence was out of my mouth. “I think that’s best, at least until after the competition’s over. It’s only one more week. After that we can reevaluate things.”
I laughed nervously even though I wanted to crawl under the seat. Wyatt would have to be blind not to see how easily his sexiness flustered me. Why had I just humiliated myself? There was no way he’d want a girl like me.
His slow smirk slid back into place and he stretched his arm across the seatback like he hadn’t a care in the world. He rolled to a stop at the next stop sign and turned toward me, hitting me with the full power of his gorgeous green eyes.
My breath caught.
“You’re right. It’s only a week, Penny Layne. If you’re asking me to wait, I can wait.” And then he winked, driving again like he hadn’t just left my heart on the side of the road back there with his astonishing declaration.
I melted into my seat, warmth spreading through me from head to toe.