Discovering Truths by B. Benfield (book series to read .TXT) 📗

clock to see it was seven. I had fallen asleep without setting an alarm, thankful that I woke up on my own. I rushed to the shower, anxious to get myself ready. I wanted to look good for our video chat. I wanted to make him miss me more.

I opened the app on my phone and waited for Gage’s call to come through. Positioning the device in front of me, I was careful to angle it in a way that showed my best features. On the outside, I knew I looked stupid, but I wanted to look good for him. Soon, the phone was ringing and I touched the green button to answer. Butterflies danced in my stomach when his face appeared on the screen. When our eyes met, he smiled, giving me all the feels. It was like this every time we saw each other. At least, it was for me.

“Hey.” I said shyly. I shouldn’t have been nervous, but we’d never video chatted before. New things made me anxious.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said.

“How are you?” I asked.

“A little blinded from the sun,” he said. He was in his truck and I assumed on his way to work. “But other than that, I’m good. How are you?”

“I’m good…just getting ready to go to class.”

“You look gorgeous.” He said.

“So do you.”

“I miss you.”

I sighed, hoping I could hold my emotions together. I felt like a cannon, ready to explode at any minute. He didn’t truly know how much I missed him…or needed him.

“I miss you too. A lot.” I finally said. “Think you’ll be able to get away this weekend? Even if only for a little while?”

“Doubtful,” he said. “Have a football game on Saturday and probably won’t be able to get away Sunday.”

I knew that, but still hoped for a different answer. “I understand.”

“We’ll figure it out.” He said.

“Yeah, we will.”

It was refreshing to hear him say that. When I first mentioned my training, his reaction wasn’t too promising. Maybe he had come around…maybe he finally believed me when I said that we could make it through anything.

We talked his entire ride to work and when he pulled in the parking lot, I didn’t want to hang up. Before ending the call, he told me he loved me, and that made everything better. I’d have a good day now for sure.

I had fifteen minutes before my class started, and I liked to be early, so with one last glance in the mirror, I grabbed my things and headed off. It was a five-minute walk, giving me plenty of time to arrive ahead of schedule.

When I made it to class, I sat in a chair in the middle of the room and pulled out my phone, aimlessly scrolling as I waited for instruction to begin. The trainer hadn’t even made it in yet. I was lost in the zone when a deep voice startled me from my trance.

“Morning.”

It was the guy who asked me about dinner last night. I really hoped he wasn’t going to be a thorn in my side.

“Good morning.” I replied.

“I didn’t catch your name last night.” He said.

“Abby.”

“Nice to meet you, Abby, I’m Damien.”

“Nice to meet you too…Damien.” I said, emphasizing his name. I’d admit, it was a sexy name and it fit him. He was tall, with dark hair and eyes. His skin was tan and smooth, and you could tell he was built, even wearing his dress clothes. He carried himself like he knew his presence affected women, and I definitely didn’t want that to show, so I kept my replies short.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked.

“Not bad. You?”

“Eh…so, so.” He said.

“Yeah. Hotels aren’t the greatest, but at least they put us in a nice one.”

Unless I was with Gage, then hotels were pretty freaking great.

“True,” he said.

“What office do you work at?” he asked.

Just then, the trainer walked into the room, making his presence known when he addressed the class with his bellowing voice.

I pulled out my notebook, ready to work. He dived right into our first topic which was how to handle HR related situations. Soon, we were moving on to new employee onboarding, and other managerial tasks. When we broke for lunch at twelve o’ clock, my brain was on overload.

“Lunch plans?” Damien asked. Wow, he was persistent.

“Um, not really.” I said. My brain was turning quickly, trying to think of a way to brush him off yet again. I couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough, so I thought surely lunch couldn’t hurt anything. He was nice enough.

“Want to grab something across the street?”

“Sure.” I said.

We crossed the busy street, and then stood in line to order. By the time we made it to the table with our lunch, we didn’t have much time before we’d have to be back to class. That meant less conversation, it all worked in my favor.

“So, like I was asking before we got interrupted by the trainer…who does that guy think he is?” he smiled and I let out a small laugh at his joke. “What office do you work at?”

“I’m in Melbourne.” I said.

He narrowed his eyes. “Australia?”

This time, I let out a real laugh. “No. Melbourne, Florida.”

“I know I’m just messing with you.” He said. “I’m in Miami.”

“Oh, nice. Another Floridian.”

“Not sure how nice it is. I always say I’m going to move, yet I stay.”

“Miami is more exciting than Melbourne.” I said.

“You have a point there.” He grinned.

My phone dinged and I dug through my purse to pull it out. I didn’t want to miss a message from Gage. Unfortunately, the text on the other end wasn’t one I had been hoping for.

Marcus: How’s it going?

Me: It’s good. It’s a