Call Me! by Dani Ripper Read Free Book Online

catch him looking down my blouse. We both look away, embarrassed. Then we look back at each other and pretend it never happened.
     
    “Were you planning to have dinner here at the hotel?” he says.
     
    I glance at the entrance to Simon Claire’s.
     
    “Too expensive,” I say.
     
    “And yet you were sitting here.”
     
    “I was actually searching for nearby restaurants on my cell phone.”
     
    “Find any?”
     
    “A few. But I was still trying to decide.”
     
    “Would you consider having dinner with me? It’ll be my treat.”
     
    “Where?”
     
    “Here.”
     
    “Are you alone?”
     
    “I had plans, but I’m willing to cancel them.”
     
    I pretend I’m thinking about it. “I don’t even know your name.”
     
    “Jim,” he lies. “Jim Davenport.” He extends his hand, and we shake.
     
    “I’m Marcie Lane.”
     
    “Marcie, I can honestly say you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in person.”
     
    I leave his compliment hanging in the air to show I’m not impressed by flattery. I purse my lips and say, “I’m probably dressed too casual for this place.”
     
    “Nonsense!” he says. “Your outfit’s perfect!”
     
    “Are you sure?”
     
    “Come,” he says. “It’s just dinner, and we’re both stranded in Louisville.”
     
    I pause a moment, catch his eye, and say, “Well, why not?”
     

THE MAITRE D’ SEATS us, and Joe orders the same drinks he brought me a few minutes ago.
    “What brings you to Louisville?” Joe asks.
     
    “My job interview ran late, so the company offered to put me up at the hotel. I could’ve driven back, but it sounded like an adventure.”
     
    “Because?”
     
    I laugh. “I don’t normally get to stay in such a fancy place.”
     
    “They’re probably going to hire you.”
     
    “You think?”
     
    “Otherwise, they wouldn’t have offered the room. What type of job is it?”
     
    “I’m an illustrator for children’s books.”
     
    He pretends to be amazed, and says he has “zero artistic skills.” I expect him to ask me to draw him a picture while we’re waiting to order, and I’m artistic enough to do it. But he doesn’t. Instead, he asks to be excused.
     
    I know what he’s doing. Cancelling his dinner plans. I see him taking out his cell phone while walking out the front door. I take this opportunity to make my signature move. I whip out my lipstick and write the words, Call Me ! on a napkin, along with my phone number. I remove another napkin from my purse, one I’d prepared earlier, and place it under the table.
     
    Then I sneak into the kitchen, and tell one of the waiters I’m playing a trick on my boyfriend, and get him to escort me to the service elevator. He does, and I take it to the third floor. Then I backtrack down the hall till I’m looking down onto the parlor, where Joe’s finishing his call. He looks from side to side, then goes back in the restaurant. When he does, I go to the elevator and press the button. When it arrives, I climb on and wait.
     
    I’ve done this a dozen times, so I know exactly what’s happening. As Joe makes his way back to the table, he’ll see I’m not there. He’ll assume I’ve gone to the ladies’ room. He might look around to see where it’s located, might even decide to stand outside the ladies’ room to escort me back to the table. But Simon Claire’s doesn’t have restrooms inside the restaurant, so Joe will reclaim his seat at the table, at which point he’ll notice the lipstick note on the napkin. At first he’ll be pissed, thinking I’ve ditched him. He’ll assume the phone number’s a fake, and won’t want to call. But he’ll call. And when he does…
     
    My phone rings.
     
    It’s Joe.
     
    “Hi handsome!” I say, with great enthusiasm.
     
    “Is everything okay?” I can hear the relief in his voice. He’s unsure what’s happening, but likes the fact I gave him my real number. And he’s got to feel good that I called him