Catching Fire: Educating Ellie (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1)

by T. N. King

  Ellie nodded and dug some keys out of her pocket. She dangled them in front of Morgan. “I have to lock up tonight.”

  Morgan glanced at his wristwatch and commented, “It’s ten ‘til. Joanna wouldn’t mind if we locked up a little early, would she?”

  Ellie shook her head. “We just won’t tell her,” she said with a laugh.

  Ellie had to work the breakfast shift today at the diner. She should have thought about that before staying out nearly all night with Morgan. She only got back to her apartment this morning at 3 a.m. They strolled through the parks and walked around looking in different shop windows. Ellie felt glad in one way that he hadn’t tried to seduce her. Then in another way, she felt disappointed. Yes, she still wanted him and she damn well knew he wanted her. Then they decided that they were both starving, so they went out for an early breakfast at the waffle house, and now, it was 6 a.m. and she needed to rush to get to work on time.

  And, she really did like Morgan. In fact, she wouldn’t be lying if she said she had actual feelings for him, and not just the kinds that revolved around sex, although, those kinds of feelings certainly helped strengthen her desire for him. Was that wrong? Sex was important. She felt sure of that. Except that this time, she had determined she would not jump right back in bed with him, not until she felt positive that he cared for her like he’d claimed at the diner.

  After getting dressed and drying her hair, Ellie walked out of her bedroom and yelled, “What the hell?”

  Morgan chuckled from where he stood near her small kitchen counter with a cup of black, freshly brewed coffee in his hand. “You should really update your security system here,” he said. “I had no problem letting myself in.”

  Ellie closed her eyes and shook her head. “How did you even figure out where I lived?”

  Morgan laughed and crossed one arm over the other. “That was easy, darling. I just looked up your Facebook page. You know there are some things you really shouldn’t put online—like your address. I’m thankful you did, though. Another impulsive decision made long ago that you have long since forgotten, I assume.” He smirked and took a sip from his mug.

  “Well…” she started and then sighed. “What are you doing here? I have to be at work to open in a little while.”

  “Yes,” he said and set his cup down on the counter and approached Ellie. “That’s why I’m here.”

  “What?”

  He kissed her when he got close enough and took her by the hand over to her couch, so they could sit and talk.

  Ellie followed, still very confused, but intrigued.

  He gazed at her and tucked a stray lock behind her ear. “I wasn’t kidding about what I said last night about you being what was missing in my life. I am crazy about you.”

  She could feel her face flush with warmth and smiled. “I’m crazy about you, too.”

  “That’s good.” He nodded., “I had a plan B before going to see you last night, just in case my apology wasn’t enough. Here.” He pulled a set of keys out from his pocket and handed them to her.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s your new car,” he announced.

  Ellie’s eyes widened. “That’s nice, but not necessary. I can’t afford the upkeep on a new car,” she said shaking her head and handing the keys back to Morgan.

  Morgan pushed them back into her hands. “The car’s paid for and already licensed and insured. All you have to do is put gas in it, okay? And if you need money for that, I’ll cover that, too.”

  “But, I don’t understand. What do I need a car for?”

  Morgan took her hand in his and looked deep into her eyes. “Ellie, you work hard. I see that. But there are so many more promising opportunities for you, and I am in the position to help you obtain them, so please let me.”

  “Okay?” She was still lost here.

  “You know, Hunt Industries offers college scholarships to hard working individuals like you. I want you to accept my offer to fund your college education with the condition that, after you graduate, you come work for me for four years. How does that sound?”

  Ellie’s jaw dropped. She needed to look at this in the right light. Impulsive remember? “I am unsure about all of this, Morgan. I have to get to work. Can we discuss this later?”

  Morgan chuckled. “No, you don’t, Ellie,” he said. “I’ve already spoken to Joanna. Since you will be attending college fulltime, you won’t have time to work and keep up with your studies, so, I’ve arranged for you to take a temporary leave of absence from the diner.”

  Ellie stood up. “But I have bills to pay, Morgan! You can’t just leave me unemployed like this!”

  Morgan stood up, as well. “Shhh. Calm down. Do you really think I would do that to you?”

  “Do you expect me to just rely on you for everything?” It sounded wonderful yet horrifying at the same time. Like too good to be true. Like him...too good to be—

  “Look, you’re not relying on me for anything, okay? You will be working hard. I’ll make sure of that, and I’m only helping you attain your full potential—in everything,” he said and gave her a mischievous smile.

  Ellie sensed that he was talking about more than just studies and felt herself blush, again, but insisted. “But, Morgan, where the hell am I going to keep a car at in this dump? It’ll be stripped overnight.”

  Morgan raised a forefinger and reached inside his pants pocket with his other hand. “So that brings me to part 2 of Plan B.” He pulled out another set of keys and handed them to her. “Here’s the keys to your new apartment, just off campus.”

  “Uhh.” She took the keys and stared at them. Keys, to her heart, to her soul? Suddenly, she felt the oddest mixed feelings. Terror and joy? This was insane! “Just off what campus?”

  “Oh, yes,” Morgan said. “I got you in at the University of Pennsylvania. I looked up your old high school grades and ACT scores. You’re actually pretty smart, you know. You’ve just been dealt a shitty hand. Not that I ever thought you weren’t smart, just, I don’t know why you didn’t decide to go to college after graduating high school.”

  Ellie gave him a look. “Do you really think that I didn’t think about it?”

  “I didn’t mean it like that, I—”

  “It’s okay,” Ellie said and shook her head. She sighed and continued, “By the time I got out of high school, my dad was already sick. I knew if I went off to college, he would have to keep working to support himself. So, I decided to get a job so he could take an early retirement and I could take care of him.”

  Morgan caressed her cheek. “See, you really do deserve this.”

  Ellie shrugged. “An ivy league school? I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say yes,” Morgan urged. “You can choose from law, business, design…I hope you choose business, though, because I could use a smart woman like you at my side, and the Wharton School of Business is world renown.”

  Ellie closed her eyes and shook her head. “I just—can’t believe that this is happening.”

  Morgan drew her into his embrace. “Believe it.”

  She couldn’t hold back the tears and buried her face in Morgan’s suit jacket. “I need to think about it, though,” she sobbed.

  “Oh, no,” he said and held her away. “None of that.” He lifted her chin with his finger. “No tears, okay? You deserve this. All of this. I’m only thankful that I drove by a burning diner that day.”

  Ellie laughed. “Pulling me from the flames.” Then setting me on fire in other ways. She didn’t say this aloud though. All of this took her by storm. Hell, Morgan had taken her by storm.

  After wiping away her tears, he kissed her.

  Ellie felt her knees weaken; damn the man could kiss her into a sweet oblivion. What had they been talking about...again?

  He pulled those skilled lips from hers and rested his head against her forehead.

  Almost breathless, she blinked her eyes. Oh, yes, him handing her a new life. This was the subject they had been
discussing. “But I can’t just accept all of this,” Ellie said. “It’s too much.”

  Morgan put his hand up to his chin while wearing a thoughtful expression. “Alright then, since you have the day off, why don’t you change and you can drive your new car to check out your new apartment, okay? That might help you to decide.”

  Ellie arched a brow. “I believe the technical term for that is bribery.”

  “So it is. Let’s see if it works.” He gave her that dazzling deal signing smile of his.

  Morgan

  After Ellie changed clothes, Morgan led her down to where he’d parked her car. He hadn’t thought of it as a bribe, but more as a gift to make up for him being a jerk to her the other night. And he genuinely wanted to help her get an education. If nothing else, he could feel good about that.

  As they approached the cute little candy apple red coupe, he could tell that maybe bribery would work.

  Ellie squealed with delight. “Oh, my god! Is this it?”

  “Uh-uh.” He nodded.

  She ran towards it with the keys in her hand. “It’s so cute! What kind is it?”

  “It’s the latest Mini Cooper model, but I had it customized slightly.”

  She pushed the key pad to unlock the car and slid in to the driver’s seat. “This is so amazing!”

  He stepped in to the passenger’s seat and beamed a big smile at Ellie. “So, you’ll keep it?”

  “I’d be crazy not to, right? But…” Ellie turned to look at him with a serious look. “That would be an impulsive decision.”

  Morgan chuckled. “Touché. I’ll ask you again, after you’ve seen the apartment.”

  He gave her directions to her new apartment just off the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. It was in a nice area and the complex had its own covered and monitored garage.

  After parking in her own private spot, they got out and Morgan led her to the elevator. “You’re up on the eleventh floor,” he said.

  “That’s so high up,” she said a little nervous about this part.

  He shrugged. “I thought you’d enjoy the view.”

  As they rode the elevator to the eleventh floor, Morgan enjoyed seeing Ellie so happy. At this moment, he felt like his only desire in life was to always make her this happy. When the bell dinged and the doors opened, Ellie rushed out, hardly able to contain herself as Morgan led her down the hall to the last door on the left.

  “You ready?” he asked before unlocking the door.

  She took a deep breath and nodded.

  He opened the door and ushered her into her fully furnished, sleek, modern, new apartment. The entire east wall was floor to ceiling glass, allowing the early morning sun brighten up the entire living and dining area.

  Ellie gasped.

  “What do you think?”

  After a brief moment, she turned to Morgan and said, “I think this is amazing. I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

  He reached out to stroke her soft, rosy cheek. “I’d do anything for you, Ellie.”

  She leaned into his hand and reached her arm around his waist.

  “So, does that mean you’ll accept my offer?”

  She took a breath and straightened. “Yes,’ she said with a nod. “But, I have some conditions.”

  “Okay.” He crossed his arms to listen.

  “First of all, I’m going to call Joanna up and tell her I’m keeping my job.”

  “But—”

  “Morgan, I will not rely solely on you, okay? I appreciate your help and accept it to a point, but I have to keep my job. You can let me worry about how I’ll keep up with my studies and a job. Maybe I’ll only work part-time during the busy part of the semester, but I can’t be jobless.”

  Reluctantly, he nodded. “Anything else?”

  Ellie took a quick look around the apartment. “There’s no way I could afford this place, so I’m not even going to ask how much you’re paying for it.”

  Morgan shrugged. “It’s not anything that I can’t afford.”

  “I know,” Ellie said. “Which is why, in return, I’m offering to volunteer at any one of your favorite charitable organizations. You pick.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said.

  “I want to,” Ellie countered. “And it’s either that or I go back to my own apartment. It’s crap, but I know I can afford it.”

  He put a hand to his chin while he thought. “Well, actually, there is this charity ball I have to attend Wednesday night in New York. I’d almost forgotten about it, but we can go together and I’ll introduce you to a few people. They might have something in mind suitable for your talents.”

  “That sounds great,” she said.

  “Anything else?”

  “Yes,” Ellie whispered and came close. She slipped her arms around his waist again, and gazed up at him. “I think we should use this as a start over. Maybe take it slower this time? And don’t play with my heart, okay? If you only wanted to have sex with me, I’d rather have known that, so I could have made a sound decision based on the truth. Even though it all seemed like ‘let’s just have fun’…you stormed me and told me things that led me to believe…” She sighed. “I’d rather you be honest, always.”

  Morgan took a deep breath and sighed. “Okay. I can do that.” The thing was, he didn’t know what was happening. He’d never fallen for someone like this before. What could he promise? What could he say? He knew that he had to take it slow with her this time. He’d rushed it, then left her, and he’d almost lost her. The thing of it was, holding her right now? This felt right, she needed to be in his life—in his world and this was all he really knew.

  Ellie kissed him, sealing the deal.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ellie

  The next day, after helping her settle in and having her things moved to her new place, Morgan pulled out a box with a huge red ribbon on it. He pushed it towards her.

  “Morgan!” She put her hands on her hips. “You have given me enough already. I mean how will I ever pay it all back?”

  He lifted a brow at her as his gaze intensified. “I can think of many, sorted, naughty ways.”

  Her body flushed at his stare and his expression. “I am not a call girl.” She feigned a serious tone, as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an offended look.

  He tilted his head and studied her face as if to figure out what she meant.

  She couldn’t keep the pretend anger up, even if they had this tentative agreement to take it slower. She was just teasing him anyway. The man was just too sexy even when caught off guard. She swallowed heavily at the way he made her feel, especially when she did not expect it and took the box with sigh. She sat on her new leather couch and undid the bow.

  Pulling the delicate tissue paper back, she peered in at the contents. It was a beautiful evening gown, a cobalt blue, floor length. The bodice had tiny studded rhinestones lining it. She gasped and turned the dress around. It had a beautiful V-dip that would show her back almost to the dimpled part above her ass. “OHH!” she gasped out as she bolted up from the couch.

  “Does that mean you like it?” Morgan asked looking slightly nervous.

  Her eyes shot up from the dress.” I-I…never owned anything like this! It must have cost—”

  “No, no. We are not going to discuss how much it cost.”

  Confused, she stared at him. “Why are you buying me a dress?”

  He smiled that dazzling smile. “For the ball, Cinderella, for the ball.”

  Batting her eyes at him, she was stunned. “Oh, that ball in New York?”

  “That very one.”

  She bit at her lip.

  “And do not do that, sweet Ellie.” He stepped close and raised his finger to remove her lip from her teeth. “You will look mesmerizing in it.”

  “B-but…” she paused to think about what all this would mean.

  “You will look so lovely and I would be proud to arrive there with you on my arm,” he stated solemnly
.

  Ellie still did not know what to say. Would she fit in? What would she do there? Then what about shoes, her hair and she had no jewelry. She knew these fancy women wore that and—

  Morgan chuckled. “I can see that brain of your racing a mile a minute.” He tilted his head at her. “Tonight, we will fly out there. You, my sweetness, will have your own suite at the Hunt Hotel, New York. Then after you settle in, there will be a fashion consultant who will arrive and she will help you with all the accessories.”

  Silent, Ellie stared down at the dress as she barely heard what he just said. “Just look at the pretty bodice. With the rhinestones all dotted along it, like a magical—”

  “What?” Morgan drew his dark brows together.

  She raised the dress. Damn, he could be such a man. “The bodice, you know the place that will cover my—breasts?”

  He paused momentarily as if he were imaging her breasts, then he shook his head as if to bat away the images. He then looked down at the dress in her hands. “Oh, yes. You mean the diamonds?”

  Her gaze snapped down to the dress. “T-the d-diamonds?” she stuttered.

  Morgan laughed hardily. “Yes, that is what you are referring to, right?”

  REAL DIAMONDS? Her mind screamed as her throat had closed in shock.

  He kept chuckling. “Well, I already chose a few pair of heels, also diamond studded. I mean I am a man, yes. But I know the world I live and play in and I matched a few pairs for you to choose from. However…” He raised the dress up to her.

  She grabbed it and held it up in place.

  “Yes, when I saw it…I knew it was the dress for you. Dammit, it even matches your eyes.” His gaze had darkened to a steely gray as he stared at her.

  Gulping, she didn’t know what to say.

  He sighed and took a step back as if her were restraining himself somehow. “So, we fly there tonight. Then check in to the suites. Then have a…” he paused and gazed into her startled eyes. “…dinner. And I promise it will be a chaste dinner.”

  Swallowing heavily, Ellie knew what he was referring to. Their dinner in the nude and the dessert. Her whole body flushed. She wanted him again right now, and by the look in those magnificent eyes, he was remembering it too. She took a deep breath and let it out. Now she was trying to restrain herself. “Oh, okay. So you have tickets on the airlines, right? I know there are a couple of airlines that I feel nervous about flying—”