Pushing the Limits (15 page)

Today during class, Ellie flat out asks me if I’m getting ‘special treatment’ from Professor Hampton
outside
of the classroom. My paintbrush nearly drops from my fingers as I choke on her words. I quickly recover with a nervous laugh. Although I know it’s not funny, considering what special treatment I’d like to be getting, but I managed to play it off. I mean, what else could I do? Say, ‘not yet Ellie, but I’ve ridden his tongue repeatedly in my dreams. And that man can sure lick a pussy.’ I’m honestly just proud I didn’t choke on my tongue or die on the spot when she asked me. Thank God Morgan was on the other side of the room when she asked because that would have been more than awkward.

After class, I stay behind as usual to finish up a piece and as usual, Professor Hampton finds a reason to stay behind and watch me.

He walks out with me and to fill in the silence, I talk about the gala at the gallery that’s approaching. “So I hear you’ve been roped into helping your aunt at the gallery this week,” I say to Professor Hampton as we walk out of the classroom

I’ve known about the Spring Gala since the first year I started. It’s a huge charity event that the gallery hosts to raise money for school art programs all over the city. Art is usually one of the first courses to get dropped when a school has budget cuts, so to avoid the financial stress, the gallery hosts an event to help ease the burden as much as possible.

The gallery curator, Mr. Cross, had been in charge of these events for years, but for the past five years, Ms. Jones has taken over the majority of the planning as he gets closer to retirement. She always gets super stressed and overwhelmed with it, but ever since she’s taken over, each year has been more successful than the previous year.

The gala allows buyers to purchase and bid in the silent auction. There’s an extravagant display of food and alcohol. Everyone dresses in fancy dresses and tuxedos, making the whole thing a very big deal.

“Yup. She’s been calling my mom every day in a panic, so I was volunteered by default.” I smile at his honest words.

As soon as we turn the corner, I practically run over Professor Van Bergen. She gasps acting as if she didn’t know we were coming. We weren’t exactly quiet, so I don’t believe she’s really the aggrieved party here.

“Oh, Morgan!” She squeezes his shoulder. “I didn’t realize you were still here.” She flashes a flirty smile at him, but her tone is so sickeningly sweet, I’m tempted to puke on her knockoff shoes.

“Yeah, I’m heading out now. Aspen was just finishing up a piece and needed some help.” His reply is polite, but I can see the annoyance on his face, which makes me selfishly happy.

At least this time, it’s not a lie, he really was helping me—I couldn’t quite get the texture I was trying for on my project and he was showing me a few unconventional techniques to get what I wanted. We won’t mention the flirting and accidental touches that we both know weren’t accidental at all.

Professor Van Bergen perks up and looks at me in one of those forced smiles. “That’s Aspen for you. So driven and talented.” It’s so evident in her sickly sweet tone that Morgan spending extra time with me after class irritates her to the extreme. Her eyes shoot daggers at me as she continues. “She’s a shoe in for any graduate program she chooses. If she stays on track, of course.”

And with that, she has not only made herself look good in front of Morgan but also warned me off yet again. I’m distracted and when I finally tune back into their conversation Professor Van Bergen is asking Morgan out for drinks. Instead of waiting around to see what he says, thinking my heart can’t stand if he accepts, I quickly toss a goodbye over my shoulder and get out of there like the hounds of hell are chasing after me.

CHAPTER TWELVE

MORGAN

I clear my entire Wednesday afternoon when Aunt Mel asks for my help at the gallery. I know Aspen will be working, and I know she’s off-limits, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking about her and wondering what her lips would taste like pressed against mine. I seem to think about this often.

Her bright smile, the way she tries to act unaffected around me, and the way her eyes burn into mine tell me she’s thinking about it, too.

Christine is at the front desk and greets me as soon as I walk in. “Hey!” She suddenly sits up. “Ms. Jones just had to take a quick phone call. She said to tell you to wait down here.”

“Thanks.”

I try to avoid looking around for her, but I catch myself listening for the clicking of her shoes as I walk to my favorite part of the gallery.

The student section is the most diverse. It’s filled with paintings, drawings, abstracts, watercolor pieces, black and white photographs, and even a couple of sculptures. It’s a blend of everything you’d think of when you think of the word
art
.

I walk from painting to painting, checking out the different techniques each artist uses. I stop in front of the three Ariel Rose paintings that I first saw when Aspen gave me the tour. They’re pieces I haven’t seen on her site before, so I use the opportunity to really look at them and slightly brush my thumb over the texture of the strokes.

The three canvases are made to look like one large painting if merged together. They each capture a part of the larger picture, but with the way she separated it tells a lot about the story itself—she wanted it presented that way for a reason.

“Haven’t you ever heard of the phrase, ‘
If you have time to lean, you have time to clean’
?”

Her taunting voice takes me by surprise. I hadn’t even heard her walk in, but when I turn around, she’s not there.

“Up here, Romeo.” I tilt my head and see her standing on a ladder in the next section. She’s adjusting some of the lighting that spotlights on the pieces below. The portable walls in between blocked my view of her when I first walked in, which means she’s been able to watch me the whole time, and I hadn’t even realized it.

“Ah…she speaks.” I grin and walk closer to her as she stares down at me with a smirk. “Oh, speak again, bright angel! For thou art as glorious to this night, being o’er my head, as is a winged messenger of heaven.”

She sucks in her lower lip and keeps her eyes fixated on mine. “Ah…Shakespeare fan.”

“Maybe.” I shrug unapologetically.

“What a cliché.” She laughs, stepping down. Her golden blonde hair is pulled up into a high ponytail, making it sway effortlessly in loose waves from side to side, as she climbs down. She looks flawless as usual in tight jeans and a curve-hugging shirt, but I notice her infamous heels are missing that I’m used to seeing her wear in class.

“What is?” I inquire as she walks toward me barefoot.

She takes the final step, closing the gap between us. She’s much shorter without the heels, making the top of her head just barely reach my shoulders. “Talented artist, not-bad-to-look-at professor, and Shakespeare know-it-all. It’s quite the impressive resume.”

“I never claimed to be a know-it-all, but I’ll accept the rest.” My lips spread into a wicked grin, the scent of her perfume overpowering me and making me forget I shouldn’t, in fact, be this close to a student. But at this moment, I don’t care what rules I’m breaking. I’m not backing away from her again.

“However, you’ve never even seen any of my paintings. So that’s just based on assumption.”

“Perhaps, but I always go with my intuition.”

“And what’s your intuition telling you?” I lower my face to hers, focusing on the warmth of her lips.

A sly smirk spreads over her face, feeding the anticipation I’ve been feeling at wanting to kiss her.

“That you are way over-dressed for this.” She slaps a clipboard against my gray dress shirt, and when I look down, I see it’s Aunt Mel’s to-do list before the gala this weekend. “I’m putting you to work, Professor.” She winks and takes a step back, making me groan in response.

I follow her to the front section of the gallery. The walls are bare, waiting for pieces to be displayed. The gallery and the college work closely together, so this event is important for both. The gala helps raise money for the program and provide funding for students to come to the school.

“Since the focus is to get people to buy the pieces and to bid in the silent auction, Aunt Mel wants the student pieces in the front to represent the school they’d be donating to. Normally, they’re in the back…well, you’ve gotten the tour, so you know,” she rambles. “Anyway, she wants them displayed by assignment.”

“All right…” I glance around the tables where the pieces are laying. “Do you—”

“The list is on your clipboard.”

As I flip through a couple of sheets, I begin wondering how the hell I got myself into this situation in the first place. Aunt Mel and my mom were close growing up, so I spent a lot of summer’s with Aunt Mel and her then-husband, Henry. I have another aunt and uncle, but they both live in Tennessee, so they usually flew in once a year for the holidays. So when Aunt Mel asked me to come help in between and after classes, I couldn’t say no.

“All right, Boss,” I mock. She spins around and glares. “So, what’s first?”

“You tell me.” She nods her head toward the clipboard I’m still holding.

“Landscapes.”

“Okay, so that’d be from first and second-year students. They should be on that table over there.” She points behind me. “Those can go over here.” She walks in between the portable walls.

“Sounds good, Boss.”

“Would you stop?” she snips. “We’re out of the classroom, remember?”

“Which means what?” I challenge, begging her with my eyes to say it—say we’re more than just a professor and student.

“That we’re on equal ground.” She walks toward me, her back straight with confidence, but her eyes lower with restraint. “We’re just two normal people setting up for an event.”

I can’t help the disappointment of her words, but I know she’s right. As much as I know she feels what I feel, I have to be careful about my approach. I know she battles with anxiety, but I hadn’t considered her fear of getting close to people.

I can’t say I blame her, though. Without knowing her entire back-story, I know I can relate just from my past alone.

I just have to figure out how to crack her, get her to say what she’s really feeling.

After checking the list again, I see after landscapes, it’s abstracts, and then portraits and pastels. We’re each working on a different wall when Aunt Mel comes in to check on us. She’s working with the curator and Christine on setting up everything else. Tables, booklets, silent auction pieces. She looks stressed out and a bit over-caffeinated.

“How’s everything going in here? Doing all right? Need anything? Perhaps some water? Is the temperature okay in here for you guys?”

Aspen spins around slowly, wide-eyed and pursing her lips together. “Everything is fine,” she replies sincerely. “It’s coming together.”

“Good. Great. Okay then. Holler if you need me!” She waves quickly before nearly running out.

“I’m starting to see the resemblance.” Aspen laughs.

“How so?”

“Highly energetic. A bit crazy.” Her lips tilt in a taunting grin. “Obsessive.”

“Perhaps that’s just the nature of the Hampton genes.”

“No, I’d say it’s more nurture than nature.”

“Oh,” I say with a laugh. “I didn’t realize this turned into a psychoanalysis review.”

“Well, Professor Hampton…” she drawls out slowly, seducing me with her voice, “just because you’re the teacher doesn’t mean I can’t teach you a thing or two.”

I’m two seconds away from rounding the table in front of me and pushing her up against the wall, demanding that she
show me
when another visitor interrupts my thoughts.

“Oh my God, A! You’ll never believe—”

I turn and meet Aspen’s friend, Kendall, as she freezes mid-sentence when she notices me. “Oh, hi, Morgan.”

“Hi, Kendall.”

“Sorry to interrupt, but Ms. Jones just flew up the stairs screaming…in Spanish.” Her eyes light up and she starts giggling. “Shane fucked something up in security real bad. You should go save your boyfriend before Ms. Jones bursts of an aneurysm.” She nudges her with her elbow.

My brows rise at the mention of the word
boyfriend
. I turn my back and continue working to avoid looking interested in their conversation. The last thing I need is her friend to get suspicious of my feelings for her.

“Shane doesn’t even speak Spanish.” Aspen deadpans.

“I know. That’s just how mad she is.” Kendall giggles.

“It’s so unhealthy how crazy she gets before these events.” I hear Aspen setting things back down on the table.

“She needs a valium,” Kendall adds.

“Well, I’ll go see if I can do anything although I doubt it. Ms. Jones can be stubborn.”

“Stubborn?” Kendall asks in a mock tone. “That’s putting it lightly.”

I hear the clacking of shoes as Kendall walks away, leaving Aspen and me alone again. “I can go talk to her if you’d like.” I turn and face her already facing me. “See if I can help your boyfriend out.”

An amused expression flashes over her face as she bounces her feet from left to right. “No, it’s fine. I’m kind of used to it. After three years, you kind of learn to get out of Ms. Jones’ way during times like these.”

“Ah…high-stressed.”

“Just a bit.” She smiles. The awkward tension in the air is killing me, and so I suggest taking a break.

“Yeah, sure. I could use a drink anyway.”

“Great, I’ll meet you back in like ten minutes.”

“Perfect.” She smiles, but it’s forced. I flash one back at her and walk away, defeated and feeling hopeless.

I walk upstairs and find Aunt Mel in her office. Her brows are furrowed and her body tense. “Everything okay?”

“Jesus, Morgan. You scared the living daylights out of me.” She places a hand on her chest.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I just heard you were having some issues and wanted to see if I could help.”

“Oh, you sweet boy.” Her lips spread into a genuine smile at the mention of the nickname she used to call me as a child. “It’s nothing. Just some of my idiot security team ordered the wrong part, and now I have to rush ship it here in time for the gala. Big event means more surveillance.”

I step inside her office and stand in front of her desk across from her. “Well, if you need anything, let me know. I have my mom taking Natalia to her therapy tonight.”

“Oh, how is she doing?”

“She’s…making some progress.” I shrug. “Baby steps.”

She frowns. “That poor child. She’s lucky she has you, Morgan.” Her lips curl back up into a sweet, sympathetic smile. “You’re good for her.”

My lips turn up. “No…I think she’s the one who’s good for me.” I wink before walking out and head back down the hallway.

Three guys in security shirts are standing in the hallway, and I find myself eyeing them up, wondering which one of them is Shane. I know it’s stupid to even compare, but I can’t help wanting to know considering I’d even asked her if she had a boyfriend and she’d told me no.

Perhaps she lied.

As I round the corner toward the staircase, I hear one of the guys yell out Shane’s name. “You’re in so much shit, dude.” One laughs.

“Ms. Jones is going to skin your ass and hang it up on display.” The other joins in.

I turn around just in time to hear his response. “Fuck you, guys. Ms. Jones should order her own shit then.”

My jaw ticks at the sound of his disrespectful tone toward my aunt. I’m tempted to turn around and beat the guy’s face in when I spot Kendall coming up the stairs toward me. “Hey! Did you see where Aspen went?”

I brush a hand through my hair to calm my nerves. “Uh, no. She mentioned getting a drink or something.”

“Oh, okay. Probably went to go straighten Shane’s ass out then.” She laughs and my fists tighten. “If you see her before I do, let her know I’m leaving early.”

“Sure, will do.” She walks past me and heads up the stairs.

My head is a mess, but I know I have to get my shit together. Aspen isn’t mine, and technically, she’s off-limits. Ever since the first tour, Aunt Mel hasn’t stopped talking to me about her. About how she’s like a daughter to her. How she’s come from a rough past. How she’s one of the hardest working employees she’s had and how she feels protective over her well-being.

I exhale a frustrated breath as I walk back toward the front of the gallery.

“Oh, hey!” Aspen calls out as soon as she sees me walk in. “I think we’re almost done with organizing in here. We just need to reposition the lighting above yet.”

“Sure,” I mutter out a short response. “I’m surprised you’re back already.”