Page 16 of The Truths We Find

“Yep. I want to keep the momentum going. Dani, have one of the other producers take over your responsibilities for the rest of the week. And Alexa, reassign any time-sensitive stories. I want you two only focused on this. You only have a few days to put this together.”

“Well, if that’s the case, Mr. White, I think Alexa and I need to get to work,” I stress, trying to lift myself from my chair.

“Yes, go!”

The three of us stand up and quickly walk out of the room. As soon as the door shuts behind us, all the air comes rushing out of me. “Is he nuts? It’s Tuesday. We can’t do this in less than four days!”

Alexa grabs my shoulders and glares at me. “We can and we will.” She’s so confident. I could really use some of that right now. “I’ll go grab every piece of video I have on Tate and my notes while you go get the coffee. Meet me in the editing suite in twenty minutes and we’ll figure this out.”

Before I can respond, Alexa disappears towards the newsroom. I turn to Gavin and give him a little smile. “You really didn’t have to take all the blame.”

“Yes, I did. I didn’t listen to you. You were right and I let my ego get in the way.”

Hearing those words lifts a weight off my chest. “Well, I appreciate you saying that.”

“Come on. I’ll buy your coffee. Do you want to go to the shop next door?”

“Sounds great.”

As we make our way through the parking lot, a loud motorcycle rips through the open front gate, stopping right in front of us. The rider stretches his leg over the red and black bike to dismount, and his wide, muscular frame hovers in front of me. He says something, but it’s muffled from the sound of the helmet. I tap my head to signal he needs to take it off, and when he does, instant recognition of the man with the brown crew cut hits me.

“Sam,” I manage to get out, despite my mouth suddenly going dry. “What’re you doing here?” I shift my gaze between him and the very expensive Ducati behind him. “Wait, whose bike is that?” It’s about three times the price of the bike he’s been riding for the last few years.

“Hey, babe!” He leans over to give me a quick kiss on the lips. “It’s mine. You like?”

I’m not quite sure how to respond. I’ve known Sam practically my entire life, meaning I’ve grown up around motorcycles, so I know there’s no way we can afford this.

“How the hell did you pay for that?”

He shrugs and flashes me one of his thousand-watt smiles, as he likes to call it. He could get away with murder with that thing. “I got a good deal. Don’t worry about it.”

I’m just about to rip into him about making big purchases without talking to me when I hear an awkward laugh come from Gavin. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Sam Lincoln is your boyfriend?”

Sam takes a second to look at Gavin, and his eyes go wide. “Fucking Baker? What the hell are you doing here? Did you track my girl down or something? Didn’t you do enough damage all those years ago?”

Sam lunges towards Gavin, and I jump in the middle of them, raising my arms to separate them.

“Whoa! So, clearly, we need to have a little catch-up.” I turn towards Sam. “I was planning to tell you last night, but you didn’t give me the chance. Gavin is the new news director. Surprise! Total random coincidence. It’s awkward as hell but we’re working through it.” I turn my head towards Gavin. “Yes, Sam is my boyfriend. I kind of avoided telling you his name when I mentioned I was with someone, considering you know each other.” I swivel my head between both of them. “Now that we’re all caught up, am I safe to move out of the way, and ask that no one dismember anyone please?”

Both Gavin and Sam nod. I lower my arms and move to stand next to Sam. The anger on Gavin’s face grows as I pull Sam aside so we’re out of earshot.

“What are you doing here?” I rub my hand up and down his arm, and can feel the tension pulsing through him.

“I wanted to see you since I was gone last night,” he grits out. After a brief moment, he shakes it off, and it’s like an entirely new person is in front of me. “I know this is usually when you take your lunch, so I thought I would treat you.”

“That’s really sweet, but Mr. White just gave Alexa and me an almost impossible task. Gavin and I were heading next door for coffee before getting started.”

“Oh, okay. That’s cool. How about dinner? I’ll make reservations.”

“I think I’m going to be working late every night this week. I’ll explain more later when I have the time, but for now, I really need to grab these coffees and get back.”

“Dani, I’ve barely seen you the last few weeks. I was hoping we could finally get some time together. I even told the guys I couldn’t do extra training tonight so that I could be home with you. Just start this thing tomorrow.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “I appreciate the gesture, Sam, but I won’t be made to feel guilty because you finally took a night off and now, I need to work. I sit alone almost every night while you’re out. Maybe you should try it for a change.”

I didn’t mean for the words to come out so harshly, but it’s how I feel. Sam’s face morphs back into frustration. “You just want to hang out with him, right?”

“Are you kidding me? I had no idea Gavin was going to be here, let alone even working in this industry. I haven’t heard from him since Pennsylvania. You know that. We’re work colleagues. That’s it.”