My alarm goes off way too soon. As much as I want to ignore it, I must get up. Our intern is beginning today, and he's my responsibility. I groan as I get up and hear Grace's shower running. I never even heard her come into her room. On my way to my room, I smell coffee. Thank you, Grace!

After my shower, I dress in leggings and a sweater dress. I slip my booties on and run to the kitchen for my much-needed coffee. Grace is already there and hands me my coffee and a bagel.

"You, my dear sister, are a saint!" I say as I shove the bagel into my mouth.

"Spill it," Grace commands.

"Spill what?" I ask, even though I know what Grace wants to know.

"Seriously! You were out until 2:00 a.m. What the hell could you have been doing till then? Did you sleep with him?" Grace shoots questions at me.

"Whoa! Back it up, Grace. We had dinner and got lost in conversation over his project. We lost track of time. I didn't even know how late it was till you texted me, and NO, I didn't sleep with him. Not that it's any of your business!" I shot back.

It's an infrequent occasion that Grace and I exchanged heated words.

Grace's voice softens. "I don't want you to get hurt. Benson Easton is a womanizer, Faith."

"He was a total gentleman the entire evening, Grace. We're business associates and nothing else, and as far as my heart goes, it's mine to give away. There's always a risk of breaking your heart when you put it out there," I respond before I grab my purse.

"Are you ready to go? Please drive me to Lumi's to get my car?" I can see a question forming in her mind. "I was drinking saki, and Benson didn't want me to drive, so he had his limo driver drop me off."

"Of course, and Faith, don't expect me to apologize for caring about you," she says, and I stop to hug her.

"I don't expect you to apologize, Grace. Thank you for having my back." She squeezes me again, and we make our way to my car.

It isn't long until we get to the office. Liza is there with our intern, sitting in the lobby area. He's early. He stands as soon as he sees us enter.

"Good morning, Travis." I extend my hand to him, he takes it, and we shake.

"Good Morning, and thank you for this opportunity. I appreciate you taking a chance on me, and promise to do my best to represent Double Faced Advertising," Travis tells us with a severe look on his face.

"You're very welcome. Both Faith and I look forward to working together with you," Grace added when she and Travis shook hands.

"For now, we'll leave you in the capable hands of our assistant, Liza. She'll have you complete all the official paperwork and set up a video to give you insight into our company's history and how Double Faced strives to do our best for every client, no matter how small or big they are." I smile as Liza comes around her desk with a folder.

"Ready to get started?" Liza asks Travis.

"Ready," he replies and smiles.

Liza takes Travis to the conference room to get started. Her desk phone rings, and I answer it. "Double-Faced Advertising, Faith speaking, how may I help you?"

"Faith?"

Right away, I recognize that voice, "Benson?"

"Good morning; I wanted to speak with you," he says excitedly, and I smile.

"Oh yeah!" I retort, feeling a warmth rise from my neck to my cheeks.

His voice lowers seductively, "Tell me, Faith, are you blushing right now?"

The warmth I feel now is nowhere near my face. That this man can make me wet just by his words astounds me. I clear my throat and attempt to speak, but my voice gives me away as I reply breathlessly, "Yes, I am. What can I do for you, Benson?"

"Shit!" Benson blurts out. "I mean, um, is there any way we can meet sometime today?"

"I do have a full day. Our intern Travis started today, and he's training with me." I know that I sound disappointed, and I feel bad.

"After work?" he pleads.

"As long as you get me home before 2:00 a.m.," I tease.

His laugh is profound, "I promise. Can my car pick you up at 6:00?"

"Yes," I quickly respond.

"Perfect, I will see you then. Goodbye, Faith."

"Goodbye, Benson." I hang up the phone just as Grace comes out of her office.

"Who has you blushing so early this morning?" Of course, Grace notices.

"No one."

"Liar!" she shoots back.

"Fine! It was Benson. He's picking me up after work," I admit.

"Just promise me that you'll be careful." She gives me a severe look.

"Yes, ma'am," I say with a bit of sarcasm. She rolls her eyes at me and continues down to the copier room.

A few moments later, Liza returns to the front desk.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Other than the guy being full of questions about Grace and you, I would say that things are going well," she says with some apprehension.

"What kind of questions?" I asked curiously.

"He asked me how long I knew you both. He also asked how well I knew your family," Liza informs me as Grace walks up.

"What's going on?" Grace inquires.

"Nothing major. It looks like our intern is curious about our family and us," I explain, and Grace raises her eyebrows.

"I get why he might be curious about us, but what does he need to know about our family?" Grace says with irritation.

Liza and I shrug, and we hear the conference door open. Grace quickly walks off, leaving Liza and me standing there when Travis brings his paperwork to Liza.

"I'm ready for the video, Liza." he speaks to Liza, but I feel his eyes on me. I smile at him and go to my office.

I'm busy working on some things that I've been thinking about since I met with Benson last night. I want to show him what I have been thinking about when I see him tonight. Just then, I realized that I had never even talked to Grace about any of this. I buzz her office and ask her if I can have ten minutes. That should give me enough time to fill her in before Travis finishes the video. She says yes, and I head right into her office.

I quickly explained what Benson and I discussed and then showed her the project.

"This is incredible, Faith." Grace is smiling from ear to ear. "Do you think that I should join you and Benson tonight?"

Oh, hell no, that is what I'm thinking. Am I selfish because I want Benson all to myself? Yep! And I don't give a shit!

"Grace, he just invited me," I say, hoping not to upset her.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, it's just the last time Benson invited me." She says with disappointment.

Shit!

"Would you like me to call him back and ask about you coming?" Please say no. Please say no!

"No, of course not," Grace said, and I felt guilty for half a second.

"I promise to fill you in on everything," I tell her as I leave her office and am about to run right into Travis as he exits the conference room.

*****