CHAPTER 7
Benjamin
“Ninety-eight…ninety-nine…one hundred,” I say, as I strain to lock out my elbows and rack the weight.
I breathe out hard as I sit up, before quickly bending over. My hands find my knees, and it takes me a solid round of three breaths before I straighten up again. I walk over to the chalkboard and grab the eraser in one hand and the chalk in the other.
Next to “Bench Press,” I erase McKenna’s name and put my own. One hundred reps at two hundred twenty-five pounds. It’s almost twice as many reps as I’ve ever lifted before at that weight, a standard in the National Football League that we also use at the station.
I’ve lifted four hundred twenty-five pounds for twelve reps before but never two twenty five one hundred times.
What has gotten into me?
Or more accurately what did I get into today?
My shift ends at eight in the morning, and normally I’d be thinking about going home, but right now all I can think about is her. The girl from the 911 call we were dispatched to last night.
I’m on edge waiting for that report to come through so I can see her name. I’m not about to go full stalker mode and just show up at her house unannounced, but you can be damn sure I’ll make up an excuse to do just that if I have to, but I hope it doesn’t have to come to that.
I want her name and her number, so I can call her like a man and talk to her about what happened. And more importantly what can happen.
She’s a lot younger than me, so I need to give her space, but that’s sure as hell going to be difficult. Protectiveness is in my blood. It’s one of the reasons I became a fireman. And protectiveness and possessiveness often go hand in hand, and in my case I’m guilty as charged. When I’m in, I’m all in. And it’s rare that someone, or something, makes me go all in, but damn if I’m not ready to go all in on her.
I make my way to the shower, my arms and chest burning, but strangely enough it’s not as painful as I’d expect. I must be running off the adrenaline still. What happened between us was hot as hell, and unlike anything that’s ever happened to me before. I’ve never, ever, risked my career before…much less for a woman. But she’s no woman. She’s an angel. And as crazy as it seems after what happened between us, I know her behavior today was also out of the ordinary for her. I don’t even know if it was her behavior at all, actually.
I was the one who went up there to her room, knowing full well what I wanted to happen. I had to see her at the very least, and I was damn sure hoping for more. And now that I’ve had more, I can see that the more we experienced last night wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. I’m hooked and I have to have all of her.
I strip down and turn on the water. I step into the shower and feel the ice cold water hit my skin. I can see the goose bumps on my arms, but the cold doesn’t even register. I look down and see my cock is pointing due north, but I’m not about to give myself a shallow victory. Jerking off at the station is no substitute for the real thing. I want her and only her.
I shower as quickly as I can. I want to be by the fax machine when the report comes through. I want to see it first. There’s no way I’m leaving the station without getting that number of hers.
After my shift ends I’ve got ninety-six hours off. Four entire days, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure I can spend as much of it as I can with her, or at least as much of it as she’s comfortable with.
Don’t force it, Benjamin, I think to myself. I’m an intense guy, and the last thing I want to do is scare her off before we even have a chance to really spend some quality time together…outside of the bedroom.
I towel off and throw my workout clothes in the wash, and put on my proper station clothes. It’s the second shower I’ve taken since we got back from that call, and I know I’m going to need another one soon.
I’m anticipating that fax so bad I’m literally sweating.
I flip on the TV in the lounge and the waiting game continues.
Ten minutes later my foot is tapping the floor uncontrollably as some show I’m paying no attention to plays on the tube.
I hear the beep and the sliding of paper. I jump up out of my seat, causing the folding chair to fly back, sliding across the floor.
“Somebody’s anxious,” comes from the guy who’s stretched out on the cot next to the fax machine. It’s his job to watch incoming calls tonight.
“Just want to make sure everyone’s okay,” I say.
I grab the piece of paper and scan it with all the intensity in the world.
“What’s wrong?” Johnson, the cot commando asks, as I wad up the paper and throw it straight down into the trash. It hits the can so hard it bounces right out.
“Some marketer got our number. Mortgage refinancing B.S.”
“Those guys are relentless.”
“Tell me about it,” I say.
“I don’t have to. You’re about as relentless as ten pit bulls lined up together trying to protect the last T-bone steak on the planet.”
“It’s that obvious?” There’s no use fighting it at this point.
“I’m not even going to get up off this cot in fear of you possibly biting my hand off when that fax comes through. It was that g—“
The fax beeps again and the spool turns. The paper starts turning and I see the time stamp at the bottom. Page one of seven.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I say as the pages print out as slow as molasses.
“They’re not going to print any faster with you hovering over them. You’re probably scaring them for Pete’s sake.”
I look up at Johnson, who raises both palms in my direction. “My bad,” he says. “I was just going back to my nap.”
He rolls over, just as the sheet of paper I’m waiting on rolls out of the machine.
I nod my head up and down, as I smirk so hard my face about cracks. “There it is. There…it…is,” I say slapping the paper with the back of my hand.
I’ve got the number and I’m good-to-go. But now for the real question…
“Amy,” I say, reading the name of the girl listed as “daughter rescued via swimming pool.”
“What a beautiful name,” I say under my breath. “It couldn’t be more perfect.”