Chapter Fourteen
Bekah held out Charlotte’s phone, looking at her with a kind impatience that for some reason reminded her of Michelle. “Okay. You’ve made rounds calls. You’ve checked in on the night photographer. No more stalling. Call him.”
The reporter had changed into jeans and a blouse that showed more cleavage than Charlotte had ever seen. Apparently, she had plans to meet up with one of her admirers after work. She was making him wait, to help Charlotte.
“This is silly. I’m sure he’ll call. He probably is just busy. I mean, he has friends and family, and I know he does lots of charity work.” Charlotte stared unseeingly at her computer screen, trying to focus in on her work. “There could be a million reasons he hasn’t called.”
“True. But can you think of any logical reason you shouldn’t call him?” Bekah tilted her head and leaned over, forcing Charlotte to acknowledge her.
“Yeah. There are a million reasons I shouldn’t call him. He could avoid my calls. He could think I’m being pushy. I won’t know what to say. I’m not the one that pushed this whole thing in the first place, he was.” The unease in her stomach grew with each new reason, and a million more whirled in her head that she refused to give voice to.
Bekah shook her head, her ponytail whipping back and forth. “None of those are logical reasons. They are fears based on zero evidence. Call. Him.”
It sucked that Bekah was right. But also undeniable. Charlotte’s fingers shook as she took the cell phone from Bekah’s hand and called up Trey’s number. “It’s after midnight. What if I wake him up?”
“Then you wake him up. Apologize, and ask what he’s doing next weekend.” Reaching over the phone, Bekah pressed send on the call.
Nodding, Charlotte placed the phone next to her ear, the delicate skin there immediately heating uncomfortably with her anxiety. Apologize. Ask him out. I can do that. If he says no, then I’ll know.
The pep talk did nothing for her.
The phone rang once. Twice. The third ring was cut short by Trey answering. “Sugar. Damn, I’ve never been so happy to get a phone call in all my life.” His voice had a rough edge to it, so different than his usual smooth bass.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?” Charlotte avoided glancing at Bekah’s face at all costs, afraid the woman’s witnessing of Charlotte’s ineptitude would send her over the emotional edge.
“Nah, I just laid down for what feels like the first time since I left you at the door the other night.” Trey groaned, the sound vibrating through her phone and straight down to her clit. “I’ve been rocking the worst case of blue balls since that kiss. I had planned to go home and call you up to help relieve that pressure. But I got called in for help with the arson investigation. Then I had to deal with a former friend that is going through some rough times right now. Every time I went to call you, something else happened. It’s been the most frustrating couple days.”
“I’m sorry all that happened.” Charlotte didn’t know what else to say. Relief eased through her limbs, allowing her to unclench her grip on the phone. He’d been thinking about her.
“Thanks, Charlotte. Your voice in my ear makes it all fade away. When can I see you again?” His tone of urgency took her by surprise. “I need to touch you again. But this time, I’m not going to stop at a kiss. And I’m not going to meet you someplace. I want to come to your apartment. Knock on your door. Take you to get some amazing food. Maybe do something fun after dinner. Then I’m going to bring you home and do even more things to your body.”
“Oh.” The small sound came out breathy and filled with so much desire, Charlotte was sure her panties would go up in flames. Which might not be so bad because then her big strong fireman would have to come put them out for her. “Um, this weekend maybe?”
“Shit, that long? Maybe I need to get put on night watch so we can have the same schedule.” A long yawn clued her into exactly how tired the man on the other end of the line must have been. “But if I have to wait until this weekend to have some unfettered access to you, then so be it.”
After a promise that he would call the next day, they reluctantly hung up. Charlotte stared down at the phone for a minute, disbelief that this was her life coursing through her like poison threatening to kill the newly acquired optimism. Whose life was this? It couldn’t be hers. Charlotte had never in her life sat across from a girlfriend, calling a boy she liked, and setting up a date with him.
But a high-pitched squeal from Bekah let her know it was indeed real. And Bekah really was a friend, wasn’t she? There was no other way to explain why she would hang around to force Charlotte into gathering her courage and calling Trey. And she’d stayed through the whole call as well.
“What did I tell you? Nothing to worry about. That man has it bad for you.” Bekah leaned in and whispered conspiratorially even though no one else was in the newsroom at that time of night. “And holy shit, I could hear that booming voice all the way over here. Only a man with a big dick could have a voice that full of testosterone.”
Bekah raised her hand above her head, stretching it out in the universal sign for give me a high-five, and Charlotte obliged with a giggle tripping over the tip of tongue.
“Okay, now that we have that sorted, I’m going to go put my booty call out of his misery and grace him with my presence.” The curvy woman stood for her chair and skipped down the stairs to the main newsroom floor. “I want details on this date. Don’t make me come badger it out of you again. Got it girl?”
Charlotte nodded, her cheeks flaming red and her heart still stampeding inside her chest. Once again, the newsroom plunged into silence as the door swung shut behind Bekah. And once again, what was once a comfortingly empty newsroom just felt sad to her.
The unease stayed with her throughout the night. It didn’t help things that absolutely zero was happening news wise, and the next day’s coverage had been predetermined with scheduled press conferences. For the first time that she could remember, Charlotte felt bored at work. The energy that had possessed her body and soul the day of the fire made an impression.
At seven the next morning, Michelle breezed through the door, her tight dress showing off the very slight bump forming. “How is everything going this morning?”
Charlotte looked up from her desk. “Slow.”
Michelle’s perfected sculpted eyebrow arched up in curiosity. Charlotte had never said anything close to that negative before.
“Actually, do you mind if we talk in your office for a moment?” After her boss nodded, Charlotte called the morning production assistant over to cover phones for her, and they made their way into the News Director’s office.
“So, what’s up?” Michelle sat in the chair across from Charlotte, the exact position they’d been in when the promotion had first come up.
