Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 17

We went back down to the area of the hotel where the conference was being held, and I followed Whitney to our next, and last, session for the day.

As we walked, I couldn't help but wonder how tonight was going to go with the whole bed situation. If she really wanted me to, I had no problem sleeping on the couch, but I was hoping that she'd change her mind.

I tried not to worry about it too much as we went into the room for the last speaker of the day.

"What do you think, how is this guy going to be?" I asked Whitney as we sat down near the back of the room.

"I'm not really sure about this one honestly," she said, "I don't know much about it."

"Well," I sighed, "fingers crossed then."

The session started a few minutes later, and unfortunately it became evident pretty quickly that it was going to be boring. The man had one of the most monotone voices I'd ever heard.

"This is painful," I leaned over and whispered to Whitney.

She reached over and hit my leg as she smiled, but I didn't hear her disagree.

After the long day that we'd had, there was a very real possibility of me falling asleep. I blinked rapidly, trying to keep my eyes alert and not doze off. Whitney must have noticed, because she nudged me with her leg and looked over at me.

"Don't even think about it," she whispered.

"Sorry!" I mouthed as I shrugged my shoulders.

I tapped my hand against my leg, trying to keep myself occupied long enough to survive the last part of this. It was no easy task.

Without about twenty minutes left until we were supposed to be done, Whitney leaned over so her mouth was only inches from ear.

"I'll buy you dinner if you can get us out of here," she whispered.

I gave her a confused look at first, trying to make sure I'd heard her right. When she gave me a small grin before looking back up to the front, I knew I had.

Alright, well it wasn't like this would be my first time making up an excuse to duck out of somewhere early. I thought about for a minute, and then took my phone out of my pocket.

I discretely went to the settings page, and clicked on the button that set the vibration level. I knew it would sound like my phone was ringing, and it made enough of a sound to get a few people's attention.

"Sorry," I said quietly to Whitney, "I have to take this."

I put my phone up to my ear as I talked, and I snuck out the back door of the room as I watched the confused look on Whitney's face.

I smiled to myself as I stood outside for a couple of minutes. I had to admit I was enjoying the thought of Whitney thinking that I had left her there.

I quietly slipped back into the room after enough time had passed, and I went over to Whitney and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry but we have to go," I whispered somewhat loudly.

I held up my phone to try and signal to her that my call was the reason for us needing to leave, and once she picked up on it she nodded.

"Is everything okay?" She asked quietly.

"We'll talk outside, we need to leave," I responded.

It was quiet enough to not be super distracting, but loud enough that the few people around us shouldn't question us leaving.

We got out to the hallway and both looked around to make sure it was empty.

"Okay, that was smooth, I'll admit it," Whitney grinned.

I took an over exaggerated bow before starting to walk towards the exit. Whitney laughed and playfully hit my back as she followed.

"It's not my first rodeo," I told her, "I believe you owe me dinner."

"I do," she nodded, "but only if you agree that you're not going to tell anyone that I had you do that."

"Deal," I said, "I think I've proven to be a good secret keeper so far."

I smirked at her and she shook her head, but I could tell she was trying not to smile.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked her.

"There's a nice bar that's just around the corner, we can walk there," she said.

"Deal, and then I need to change out of these damn clothes," I said.

"Yeah me too," she agreed, "I'm over it."

We walked outside and around the block to the bar that Whitney had suggested. It was still fairly early, so it wasn't too crowded yet.

We got seated at a table near the back, and I started to look over the menu. Once we ordered and were waiting for our food, we settled into a comfortable conversation.

I'm not sure that I wanted to admit how much I was enjoying the weekend so far, I knew it was going to make everything even more complicated. I had no idea if Whitney was feeling anything that I was, but she at least seemed to be having fun.

Once we were done with dinner, we walked back to the hotel and went up to the room to change.

"Did you see anyone down at the bar yet when we walked through?" I asked Whitney.

"I think I saw a few people," she said, "but I'm sure more will show up, and if not that's fine."

I smiled to myself as I got clothes out to change in to. I was probably reading too much into the comment, but I was taking what I could get.

I stood in the corner of the room and pulled on a pair of jeans and a more comfortable shirt. When I turned around, Whitney had her back to me, and her shirt was still off.

My eyes raked over the bare skin on her back, and I couldn't seem to look away. She put her shirt on over her head and turned around to face me.

I quickly looked down at the floor as I cleared my throat and fidgeted with my hands. Yeah, that wouldn't be obvious at all.

"Ready to go down?" She asked.

On you? Yeah.

Keep your shit together Bailey.

"Yup, let's go," I said, keeping my other thoughts to myself.

She grabbed her purse off of the dresser and I followed her out to the hallway as we walked down to the hotel bar.

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