Finding YOU Finding ME (You & Me Trilogy Book 2) (3 page)

            “Um,
Derek?” he said, his voice raspy as though he had smoked way too many
cigarettes over his young years. “I’ve poured over the scripts, and sat with a
few of the counselors during their calls. I think I got the hang of it for now.
But, what I want to know, is…when do I get to sit and be trained by Susan?”

            At
the mention of my call center name Susan, my interest in this strange skater
boy with piercings increased. I was already intrigued by his appearance, but
when he brought up his eagerness to be trained by Susan, I took a closer look at
him. Did I know him? Was he one of the callers I’ve talked to as Susan? Why did
he seem so eager to be trained by me?  Why not Derek, the head trainer?

            “Hi,”
I said, extending my hand out for a shake. “I’m Susan.”

            The
boy flipped his bangs out of his face, and I could see his icy blue eyes assess
me indifferently at first, and then as his eyes went up my legs, my waist, my
breasts, and then my face, it changed from indifference to intense interest and
finally to desire.  “Hi, Susan,” he said grinning, “So you’re Susan.” He seemed
to sigh as he put his image of me along with what he expected, together.  “You
are definitely a lot prettier and younger than I expected…just your voice…” he
stammered.

            “Thank
you,” I said. “I didn’t know you know of Susan. It’s the name I use here so
everything is anonymous. They try to discourage outside contacts between
counselors and callers, and adopting a name other than your own seem to help
that cause.” I nearly wink, as though that was an inside joke. “Do you have one
already or did Derek neglect to tell you that?”

            The
pierced boy laughed, looking at Derek. “Yes, Derek did make it a point to get
me to adopt a counselor name.”

            “So,
what is it?” I smiled. Might as well make this pierced boy get used to me being
in charge of his training so he is properly trained.

            “Billy,”
the boy said. “The name’s Billy.”

            My
smile faded. As much as Susan was the trigger word for helping my
self-controlled self take over, the name Billy was enough of a word to get my
stomach turn involuntarily into a combination of strong fear, disgust, and
anger. I looked closely at Billy’s good-looking face, trying to see if he
resembled someone I knew with the same name, and couldn’t find any
similarities. However, something about Billy seemed familiar, but I couldn’t
put my hand on it quite yet.

Chapter
3

B
illy looked confused for a moment. “Did I say
something wrong or do something to upset you, Susan?”

“Um,
no,” I said. “I’m just curious why you chose the name Billy.”

We
had sat down at my desk and I was sitting where normally Derek would sit, to
the side of Billy.

“Does
it mean anything to you?” Billy asked, assessing me with his cool blue eyes.
They unnerved me, as though he knew me, knew all about what happened to me when
I was younger, all my deep dark secrets.

“No,”
I shook my head. “It means nothing to me.”

Billy looked a
little disappointed then, but he said cheerily. “So what kinds of calls do you
get Susan?”

“The
usual,” I said. “Cliques, bullying, drug use, dating, image, and abuse.”

“Anything
really different?” Billy asked.

“Like
what?” I asked, not sure where Billy was heading with his questions. 

“Guys
who just want to talk to someone, a pretty girl who they can fantasize about?”

Billy
was staring at me with a mischievous look.  If he was a character from some
fantasy book, I’d say he reminded me of a prankster fairy.

“And,
you’d think these teenage boys would be calling the center to get their high on
that? Why not call a sex line or something?”

“Because,”
Billy said smiling, as though he was hiding a funny joke from me, “it costs
them money to talk to those phone sex lines while here…you have such a sexy and
seductive voice, Susan…”

I
shot up from my seat then and pulled “Billy” out of my seat, grabbed him by his
collar and leaned into his face to look him in the eye. “I don’t know what kind
of prank you’re trying to pull here, but at Sawyer House, we take everyone’s
calls pretty seriously. If you are here to make a joke out of what we do, then
you can pack your stuff and just leave right now.”

“Oh,
don’t get so hot and bothered, Susan,” Billy laughed. “I don’t do that, but I
know of a group of guys who did, and are planning to.”

“What
do you mean?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at his twinkling blue ones. I wanted
to slap that mirth out of him and set him straight.

“You’re
quite a hottie, Susan,” Billy said, licking his lips and looking me up and
down.

Now
I was seething mad. “I don’t know who put you up to this, but I want no part of
it. Tell your friends to go fuck off, and if I find any one of them trying to
pull a prank on me or anyone from Sawyer House, believe me, you’ll find more
than the police on your tail.” I grabbed his backpack, his jacket, and him, and
pushed him towards the exit of the building. “Go before I tell Gail why you’re
really here!”

“Slut,”
he said.

“Charming,”
I said. “Bet that gets you the girls all the time.” He turned towards me to
face me again right before I slammed the door in his face.

I
wasn’t finished yet and walked over to Derek’s desk where he was talking to one
of the new peer counselors. I pulled him aside and crossed my arms.

“Derek,
your instinct was right on about Billy.”

Derek’s
face immediately became concerned. “Where is he? What happened?”

I
sighed, not wanting to bring up this heavy topic, but said, “I kicked him out.”

“What?”
Derek exclaimed. “What did he do?”

I
shook my head. “He’s not here to become a peer counselor, Derek.”

“I
don’t understand,” Derek said. “He came highly-recommended. A friend of Gail’s
recommended him, and said he would make a great peer counselor. Been through a
lot of things himself, even went through therapy, so he can relate well with
anyone who calls in.”

“Derek,”
I said firmly. “Billy may seem like a great candidate for a peer counselor, but
he wasn’t here for that apparently. He made everything we do here sound
trivial, like it was a big joke!”

“Why
would he do that?” Derek asked.

“Beats
me,” I said. “He said my voice was seductive and guys would be calling Sawyer
House just to get phone sex from me or any of the girls who volunteered as
counselors here. He also called me ‘slut’,” when I kicked him out the door.”

Derek
was fuming mad now. “That jerk,” he said. “I don’t care if he’s Gail’s best
friend or relative, but that is no way to talk to you.” Derek bunched his fists
together and looked like he wanted to head straight out to confront Billy. “Stay
here,” Derek said, while starting to head out to the parking lot. “I’ve got
some words for him that…”

“Derek,”
I said, wanting this whole incident to be over. “I think he’s gone already.
Just let it go.”

“But,”
Derek said, “how dare he talk to you like that? How dare he tried to put you
down. I should have listened to my instincts about him first before unleashing
him on you.” He shook his head. “He was going to be the perfect recruit, a peer
counselor close in age to our callers, yet experienced enough to have gone
through the same experiences as the callers. I’ll just have to let Gail know it
didn’t work out.”

“I’ll
do it instead,” I said. “If you don’t want to face her on this. I’m the one who
discovered what Billy was up to. Witnessed it, too, so it makes sense for me to
tell Gail.”

“If
you’re up for it,” Derek said. “I’ll go in to talk to Gail with you, if you
want.”

I
smiled then. “I’d like that, Derek, but I think it’s probably better for me to
talk to her alone.” With that, I turned around away from Derek and was about to
head over to Gail’s office when I felt a light but firm tap on the shoulder
from behind.

I
thought it was Derek, turning around to tell him I’ll be fine. “Like I said,
Derek…” I began, but realized the large muscular man dressed in black who stood
imposingly right behind me was not Derek.

It
was Vincent, the loyal and reliable driver who worked for Collins.

I
couldn’t help giving him a welcome back hug and then pulling back. “If you’ll
come with me, Miss Sullivan,” he said, “Mr. McGregor wants to see you now.”

Chapter
4

           
I
turned to go grab my purse from my desk when
Vincent gently placed his gigantic right hand on my shoulders, stopping me in
place.

            “But
I have to get my purse and clock out and…”

            “Already
taken care of,” Vincent said, handing me my purse and soft pink sweater.

            “I
still have to talk to Gail about something and to let Derek know I’m leaving
early,” I said.

            Vincent
didn’t blink, but touched my shoulders again, turning me around to face the
direction of Gail’s office. I blinked, not believing what I was seeing.

            Walking
out of her office, in deep conversation with Gail, in contrast to her dark
blunt bobbed haircut, small frame and soft grey sweater dress, was a tall,
long-legged and lean, but muscular young man in his mid-twenties. Blond with
icy blue eyes, sculpted cheekbones and full sensual lips, Collins McGregor
looked as beautifully flawless as the day I bumped headfirst into him at
school.

            He
was dressed in a black Armani suit with a silk grey and red striped tie.
Impeccable, but sexy at the same time, as the first button of his shirt was
unbuttoned, revealing a hint of his smooth golden tanned skin underneath. Immediately
my mind turned to the delicious image of Collins without his shirt on as I
remembered all too fondly.

            My
breath almost catch when he stopped talking to Gail, turned, and faced me. It
was as though the world stood still as his icy blue eyes fringed with dark
lashes cut clear across the room to focus on mine. It’s been months since I’ve
seen him, touched him. Months since we’ve tasted each other.

            But
as soon as we’ve laid eyes on one another, it was as though we’ve never left
each other. I saw him take a breath as we stared at each other, his eyes never
leaving mine. I must have inhaled deeply at the same time because I didn’t
realize I was holding my breath until Collins appeared before me, taking me
into his arms and enfolded me tightly to his chest.

            “Sam,”
he whispered into my ears. He held me for a while more before he abruptly
pulled away from me. “Thank God you look alright.” He looked me up and down,
his eyes burning as he perused every inch of me. “Now, if we can get you out of
here and to someplace where we can be alone, I’ll be able to check you out
further to see how you really are.”

            I
could see the worry in his face give way to another feeling immediately as his
lips curled slightly at the corners into a wicked sexy smile. “Let’s start with
dinner, and then we can have dessert. But first…” he led me to where Gail stood
at her door, watching us.

            “Gail,”
he said respectfully, “I’m taking Sam out for dinner, and if you need her
tonight…”

            Gail
shook her head. “Nah, you go and take the night off. Sam deserves a break once
in a while, and I’m just glad to see how happy she looks right now.”

            I
looked happy? I wasn’t sure about that, as confused as I was looking into
Collins’ beautiful blue eyes, and filled with reservations.

            “It’ll
do Mr. McGregor some good, too,” Gail said before she nodded and headed back
into her office.

            My
eyes followed her retreating back until she was out of sight, and then I looked
questioningly at Collins. What did Gail know about Collins to make her say
that?

            Collins
smiled a big Cheshire Cat smile that made my heart thump loudly in my ears. It
was boyish, sexy, and adorable at the same time. He took my hand and brought it
up to his lips, kissing the knuckles. “Whatever Gail recommends, I won’t refute
her,” he said with a grin.

            I
cocked my eyebrows and tilted my head to look at Collins more carefully. There
was nothing there on him…no substance, no magic, nothing but just Collins’ sexy
charm. Even if he just met Gail, I was sure he would have charmed the pants off
of her, but something told me he and Gail did not just meet. Maybe they knew
each other and Gail was so encouraging and nice to him because of the
scholarship he donated to Sawyer House a while back. Maybe Gail knew of Collins
because he was in all the society magazines as the most eligible bachelor, and
she used to know people in that circle because of her private practice as a
psychiatrist. Whatever it was, I was curious, but I didn’t have the time to get
into it as Vincent swept Collins and me quickly out of Sawyer House and into
Collins’ long black limo with the privacy panel separating Vincent from the
backseat where Collins sat next to me.

            As
soon as we were seated and Vincent had started the limo, moving it smoothly
through traffic, Collins pulled me into his lap, reaching out to cup my face in
his large hands before his mouth crushed down onto mine in a searingly hungry
kiss. My mouth responded to his, kiss for kiss, starving to taste every inch of
his mouth.

            When
our tongues touched, I felt myself moan and press closer to him, wanting to
shift my position so that my rear end wasn’t bumping up and rubbing against his
hard arousal.