Call Me (23 page)

“Okay, well, I agree that I am pretty brilliant,” I say, to break the lust-induced spell he’s putting me under.

“E,” he huffs, “what about the other stuff? The me and you bit.”

“Give me a minute. I’m thinking here. That was a lot to take in. It’s not everyday that a girl gets a gorgeous man giving her a speech like that. Allow process time.” I rub my hand along my chin.

“You think I’m gorgeous?” Ace smirks. The bastard knows full well I do.

“Definitely.” My eyes move over each of his facial features, noting how handsome Ace Ryan truly is, before moving back to his lips. Lips I can’t wait to get my own on. Feeling brave, I ask, “Would I get to kiss you, if we did this?” I gesture between us. “I’ve got to be honest. You’ve got the sexiest lips. I’ve imagined how’d they feel moving into mine probably a million times, wondered if the friction would be as all-consuming and hot as I imagined.”

“Christ. If we’re going to start this, we’re going to need ground rules. I can’t be walking around campus with a hard-on all day. People will think I’m weird,” he says, his hands disappearing under the table, and I burst out laughing. “First rule—” he begins, but I interrupt him.

“The first rule of
Fight Club
is…” I laugh, imitating his deep serious voice, “You’re so serious-sounding. You make it seem like what we’re talking about doing here is completely illegal or something, Ace.”

“Well, it isn’t like I can sing about liking and wanting to date you from the bleachers like I’m Heath Ledger now, can I? Not if I want to keep my job.”

“You want to date me? Like date, date?”

“Of course I do. I thought I was clear about that. Do I need to find a bleacher to perform on tomorrow, Ellie?”

“Gah…no. That would be so cool, but I imagine it might not go over very well with the other students or the chair, though, eh? But, God, that would be so hot. I’d definitely need to kiss you after that.”

“Right there, that is precisely why we need rules so we don’t get caught, at least not until after you graduate.”

“I agree. We do need a few rules and maybe some clarity.”

“Clarity. What aren’t you sure about, E?”

Looking around again, I’m suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed to ask what I need clarification about. I want to know if we’re going to be exclusive. I mean, look at the man, there’s no way he’ll limit himself to only getting to know me.
Right?

“Ellie, what is it, sweetheart?”

“Uh, er…” I pause for a beat before blurting out. “Will you be dating other people while we do this? I mean, I get that you might, but I want to be clear so I know if I should date too. Or not.” I feel my cheeks heat at the question.

“Not a chance. I’m not sharing you, I’ll barely get to see you enough as it is. Why, are you seeing someone else? Shit. I never thou—”

I stop him. “No, Ace. I only want you. I mean, to get to know you.” I offer an impish smile; again, no doubt my cheeks are like cherry tomatoes.

“Okay, now that we’ve settled that, I think we’re going to need to address some of those ground rules I was talking about. Because right about now, seeing that flush on your cheeks, all I can think about is coming over there. I’m curious to see where else I can make you flush. We’d better get back to rule-making.”

“I can’t wait to kiss you!” I blurt, but it’s true, and he’s being completely adorable right now.

“Number one. You cannot say shit like that about kissing me on campus. It’s going to be the death of me knowing I can’t.”

I try to stifle a giggle at the pained look on his face. “Right, sorry. I don’t want to kiss you.”

“Jesus, you’re going to kill me, aren’t you? I think you like driving me crazy, Ms. Hughes.”

“Whatever. I’ll be good. I promise. All right, what should our next rule be?” I ask, drumming my fingers on the sleek tabletop.

“As hard as it will be for you to resist me, there should be no touching each other while on campus, either,” he offers, that damn dimple leading the way.

“You’re right. That one’s going to kill me,” I laugh. “In all seriousness, that is an important one. I agree, we need to be careful. I’m close to graduating and you’re still new here. There’s no sense bringing on any unwanted issues for either of us. But I think our no touching rule is a bit unrealistic. Maybe we could have a no sex rule until we know we can safely be together? But we can still kiss and maybe have a little over-the-clothing foreplay? I mean, we’re going to want to fool around a bit while we get to know each other, right? In private, of course,” I add, and Ace nods, a satisfied look on his face.

“Good, that was easy,” he nods, pleased with my compromise. “Knowing I’ll get to touch you on our dates will hold me off, I hope.”

“‘Dates’?”

He all-out laughs at this point. “Yeah, E. I do plan on taking you out from time to time; the point here is to get to know each other. We’ll have to be creative, and find some safe places for us to be with each other. Thankfully, Toronto is huge; it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Glad you’ve thought of everything.”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, E. I needed to have it figured out. There was no way I could let you tell me no.” He reaches across the table and squeezes my hand.

Smiling, I bring up the one thing that still weighs on my mind about this arrangement. “No favouritism. You can’t show me any kind. I don’t expect an A grade, unless I deserve it. This is a non-negotiable.” I meet his eyes, hoping he sees how serious I am.

“Trust me, E. I don’t give out easy A’s. I’ll probably be harder on you, anyway. I have high expectations for that paper of yours.”

“No pressure, of course.” I shake my head, “As long as you’re fair, I think I’ll meet your expectations. The last thing I want is an A because I rode your casting couch.”

“Casting couch, that’s new.” His shoulders shake with laughter.

“I need your Red Pen of Sorrow to give me detailed notes about my hits and misses on all my work.”

“‘Red Pen of Sorrow’, eh? I like it. I’m that tough of a grader? Does my red pen offend?” he asks in jest.

“You do realize we all hand in our work on white paper, yes? Have you noticed that once you’re finished marking them, they tend to take on a pinkish hue?”

“Can’t say I’ve ever paid attention.”

“Court’s papers from Jax never come back looking that way. Maybe I should have him as my TA?” My shoulders shake at the mock look of hurt on his face.

“Not a chance. You’re stuck with me,” he jokes, taking a sip of his coffee.

After a few moments of silence, Ace looks at me with sincerity and asks if I think I need a new advisor now. All joking aside, he said he could ask Sam to take me on, since Sam was the one with the least amount of people in his group. The fact that Ace offered made me fall that much more.

Of course, being the teasing shit I am, I pushed his buttons with my reply: “Why don’t we wait and see how things go between us, then decide? We might not even like each other that much.”

“Oh no, Ellie. Make no mistake: we definitely like each other.” His eyes trail down to my chest where my nipples had been vying for his attention since we sat down. “If anything, I bet we only like one another more as time goes on.”

“Hmm. What do you do in your spare time, Doctor Ryan?” I ask, trying to ignore the heat in his eyes.

“I’m actually in the middle of wrapping up a documentary I’m entering in TIFF this year. It’s why I don’t have a lot of free time in my personal life at the moment and the main reason why I won’t always be free. You’ll have to be patient with me for a few more months.”

Unable to contain myself, I more or less freak out with excitement like a fangirl. “Holy crap! That’s huge, TIFF! Ace. Congrats. It’s amazing! Tell me all about it. Can I help?” I clap my hands excitedly. “Are you getting grad students to assist? You need to let me help! What’s it about? Please tell me everything.” I move my chair closer to the table, showing him that he has my full attention (not that he’s ever lost it, really).

I freeze as the words “sex trade” and “phone sex lines” fall from his lips.

I begin to panic, my bad knee aching from the pressure of my feet digging into the floor.
Does he know what I do? Holy shit, this has to be simply some insane coincidence. He can’t know, he’d say something, I’m sure. Wouldn’t he? Nah, there’s no way he could know.
With that, I begin to relax, but remain guarded as he talks.

“It’s been an amazing adventure, to say the least. I’m happy with where it’s going.” Ace’s voice helps to bring me back from panic mode.

“That’s incredible, I can’t wait to see it,” I say honestly, because it does sound like it will be one of those documentaries that is going to have a definite impact.

We spend the next few hours discussing Ace’s project, how he’s investigating the intrusion of the digital age into the sex industry. I was completely fascinated and literally smitten listening to him exude passion for his film. At one point, however, I have to admit I felt a little guilty for not telling him that I would be a perfect subject for his documentary. But, seeing as I’d never agree to be filmed and the fact that he sounds like he’s almost finished, I decided to let the guilt go and to keep my secret, especially since I’ll be quitting soon. Besides, it’s not like we’re a couple or anything, really—not yet, anyway. I’m hoping we will be soon, but in the meantime, I can still keep a few secrets, right?

Lying in bed later, I can’t keep the smile from returning to my lips when I think about how Ace took the elevator up with me and walked me to my apartment door. I knew he wanted to kiss me, and Holy Mother Hubbard in Her Cupboard did I want him to. Instead, he walked away, leaving me disappointed. Well, until I’d put the key in the lock and then felt him at my back. A quiet “fuck it” made me turn to find Ace in front of me, an “I’ll take my chances” falling from his lips before they brushed against mine. A touch so soft I barely had time to register it before he whispered a sweet “see you ’round, E,” as he gave my hands a squeeze and walked away.

“Rules schmules,” I mutter, brimming with happiness and reaching to shut off my bedside light.

Ellie

“B
reathless Whispers, this
is Chanel.”

“Hey, babe. How’s it going tonight?” a deep voice greets.

“I’m good, really good.” I reply softly. “You’ve got a very sexy voice, sugar. It makes me tingly in all the right places. What’s your name?” I ask, while expertly matching five candies in a row, which has now created a colour bomb, heck, yes! This is sure to earn me a high score for this level in Candy Crush.

“Oh yeah? You’re sounding pretty sexy yourself. Name’s Hale. What are you up to tonight?” Pausing my game of Candy Crush, I take a deep breath, trying to think of a good scenario to share with Hale. I hate to say it but sometimes this job is boring. As much as the calls differentiate, in the end they’re all pretty much the same. Trying to think of original stories and fantasies is trying sometimes, more so because if I recycled the same material I’d surely go batshit crazy from boredom. For me, the challenge of thinking up new material keeps the job fun and me on my toes. Looking back on the last few months, it’s funny how comfortable I’ve become. Greta and Destiny were right; it’s definitely easy money. I can pretty much get a caller off in under four minutes if I want, but of course I always go until I guarantee the customer their “happy ending”. Who’d have thought I would have lasted this long, or that I’d come to like my job? Not me, that’s for sure.

“What are you doing tonight, Chanel?”

“You want to know the truth? Do you think you can handle hearing how bad a girl I am?” I ask him, deciding on the perfect story for Hale.

“Yeah. Tell me. You know a real man can handle—and only ever wants—the truth. Right? And we all love a dirty girl,” he drawls.

Oh please!
“
You can’t
haaandle
the truth”;
Jack Nicholson’s voice as Colonel Jessup from
A Few Good Men
pops into my mind. Imagine if I could tell some of these callers what I really thought of their fetishes or insane penchants, or better yet, how I think they really need to go out and get a life, to stop paying for my made-up stories? But, then again, I wouldn’t have a job now, would I?
And we all know I need this job.

“Okay, don’t judge me. It really is kind of naughty. I’ve been a bit of a dirty girl, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah? Tell me. I’d never judge, sweetheart.”

Giggling, I gear up to give Hale my tall tale, one I hope leaves him satisfied and allows me to get back to my game within five minutes. Having built up my call list, I’m not as worried about trying to keep callers on the line for a long time, now I’m more worried about getting to all of the calls in my queue. It turns out that I, Chanel69, have developed quite the knack for this job.

“As long as you promise, I guess I can share this with you, big boy.”

“I can’t fucking wait, sweetheart.”

“I’ve been lying here, in nothing but my baby blue boy shorts and tank top. My nipples are so hard because I’ve been sitting here getting myself incredibly horny.”

“I’m getting pretty fucking excited too, doll. Just your sexy voice hitching like that is making me hard. What’s got you all excited?”

“I’m reminiscing about the amazing threesome I had last night. It was sexy as hell. Who knew fucking your best friend and her boyfriend could be so crazy hot? You ever have a threesome, Hale?” I ask, my voice laced with seduction.

“No, can’t say I’ve had the pleasure, but I’d love to hear about it. Love to hear you tell me everything,” he says, his voice cracking, and I know I’ve piqued his interest.

“Okay, but remember, you promised you wouldn’t judge me, or tell anyone. It’s got to be our little secret, Hale.”

“My lips are sealed, doll. Go on.”

“Well, my friend Lettie and I had been drinking this super-strong concoction called Mermaid Juice all afternoon, and after the fifth or sixth drink, we started playing ‘Truth or Dare’. Have you ever played that game, Hale?”

“Yeah, it can be fun.” I hear a sharp intake of breath.