Copyright © 2019 by Tracy Lorraine
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design and formatting by Dandelion Cover Designs
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
The Mr. Billionaire Short Stories
Flirt Club
Read Falling For Daniel for FREE!
About the Author
Also by Tracy Lorraine
Sneak Peek
His Manhattan
Fearne
“Kelsey, Alyssa, my classroom isn’t a beauty salon. Please put the make-up away.” I call out to the girls at the back of the room who are too busy dolling themselves up to pay attention to a single word I’m saying. “Kelsey! Alyssa!” I snap again.
They drag their eyes up from the mirror they’re staring into.
“Yes, Miss,” Kelsey calls, thinking I’m taking the register.
“Put the make-up away.”
“Just one minute.”
“No. Now.”
It’s Friday morning. The weekend is so close I can almost taste it, but if this is a sign as to how my day’s going to go then I think I might give up now. I love my job…most days. I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember, but there are just a couple of kids each year that really get on my wick. Kelsey is definitely one of them. She wasn’t in my tutor group to start with, but after having a huge fallout with another girl she had to be moved, and being the nice person I am, I offered to have her. I should have known it was a move I’d live to regret. So, now not only is she in my GCSE English class but she’s also here every single morning.
Smiling sweetly at me, she makes a show of slowly putting every item back inside her make-up bag.
I can’t help but roll my eyes as I turn back to my computer to actually do the register.
“Miss,” she pipes up again. “You have seen who’s doing the assembly today, right?”
“Uh…no.”
“OMG. Google him right now.” She’s up off her chair and rushing towards the front of the room in seconds.
“Kelsey, sit down. We’re going to be late.”
“Miss, seriously. Just quickly. You’ll totally understand why when you see him.”
Blowing out a long breath in an attempt to not allow my frustration to bubble up, I send her back to her seat. Everyone knows all about Scott Hudson’s achievements. He’s probably the most famous person to ever leave this place, and the school likes to name-drop him as often as possible.
He’s here often, but this is my first time experiencing the enigma that is Mr. Hudson. Mega successful, hugely wealthy, and according to every female—and a few male—members of staff, drop dead gorgeous. It all sounds too good to be true if you ask me.
Rushing through the register and the daily bulletin, I’m soon ushering the kids from the room and towards the main hall to see what all the fuss is about.
Walking behind Kelsey and her friends, I watch as they fiddle with their hair and attempt to roll up their skirts.
“Don’t you think he’s a little old for you?”
Turning, the girls give me a dirty look. “I’m already sixteen,” Kelsey snaps. “Why, do you think he’d be more interested in you?”
Laughing at her question, I don’t bother coming up with a response. It doesn’t matter if he is interested in me. It’s not like I’m interested in him, no matter how God-like he might be.
We join the rest of the group in the hall and I watch as each of my students find themselves a seat at the back. There’s more excited chatter than is usually acceptable, and when I look up I understand why. Every member of staff, bar me, is currently stood in a huddle, presumably around Mr. Hudson.
What is it about this guy that has everyone tied up in knots?
Our Head of Year eventually clears his throat and begins the assembly. I’m too intent on staring at the girls, who insist on chatting and giggling through whatever it is he’s saying, to look up.
The second another voice starts talking a shiver runs down my spine. It’s deep, rough, and makes butterflies erupt in my belly. Feeling ridiculous, I continue to run my eyes along the line of students in front of me, but when I see they are all captivated by the man speaking up on the stage, I decide to follow their line of sight.
I suck in a breath the moment I see him. His light eyes are staring right at me and as much as I try, I can’t pull mine away.
My heart races and my temperature spikes as our connection holds. The room falls away and the fact there are a couple hundred students right beside me is the last thing on my mind.
“Once you decide you want something, you need to use everything in your power to make sure you succeed in getting it.” His words filter through to me, then with a slight nod of his head, he looks away.
Sucking in a huge lungful of air, I turn my back to the wall and fall down on the chair beside me.
“Miss, are you okay?” Harry, one of my students, asks when he glances over to find me panting.
“Uh…yeah. I’m fine.” The concerned look on his face proves I’m not doing a very good job of looking fine, but nonetheless, he turns back to the man on the stage.
Getting control of my racing heart, I keep my gaze on the students, but I needn’t worry about them misbehaving because every set of eyes is focused on the front of the hall.
Peeking out of the corner of my eyes, I take in the man pacing back and forth across the stage. He’s wearing a dark grey suit that looks like it’s been stitched onto his body. Christ knows how much that must have cost. His sharp jaw line is covered in the most annoyingly perfect amount of stubble, and his hair…it’s silver.
Scott
This school is a huge part of who I am. People might not believe it when they look at me now, but my beginnings were pretty humble. I lived in a two-bedroom flat with my parents and attended this inner-city school. By some miracle, a couple of teachers saw something good in me and I managed to leave with some half decent results. What’s more important than those few letters though, was the advice from those teachers. I don’t think they knew that what they were saying stuck with me, but they gave me the confidence to take risks, to put everything I have on the line for a gut feeling that it would pay off. I owe those teachers who believed in me all those years ago everything. I wouldn’t be the man I am now without them. It’s the reason why I’m stood here, watching the hall fill with teenagers getting close to making their own marks on the world. If I can reach just one of them with some of my advice, then I’ll feel like I’ve given something back to a place where everything started for me.
I know my speech off by heart. It’s one I give often. But the moment I step up on stage and look out over the rows and rows of students and staff before me, my mind goes blank as I pick out a teacher I’ve not seen before staring daggers into the kids in front of her.
She’s dressed exactly as I’d expect a stereotypical teacher to be, wearing a baby pink knitted twin set and an A-line skirt. It shouldn’t be sexy, but the curves the fabric wraps around gives it a whole other look. My cock twitches and my mouth waters as I run my eyes over the contours of her body.
When the silence
has stretched on for a second too long, the words I know so well thankfully start falling from my lips, but my eyes don’t stray from her.
I expect her to at least look over, but it seems she’s completely immune to my stare. It’s refreshing, seeing as every other member of staff who’ve seen me this morning have tripped over themselves to come and say hello…especially the women. That might make me sound a little—or a lot—arrogant, but I’m aware of the reputation I have. Fucking hell, I use it to my advantage to get what I want most of the time. But something’s telling me my name and reputation aren’t going to get me very far with this one.
“Once you decide you want something, you need to use everything in your power to make sure you succeed in getting it.” Something in those words makes her turn her head my way, and fuck if I’m not a little winded when her eyes lock with mine. I’ve no idea what colour they are from here, but I’m already captivated.
She holds my gaze for just a little too long. She might not be aware of it, but it’s just enough to tell me she’s interested. I stand by what I just said—once I decide I want something, there really is no stopping me.
This curvy redhead is going to be mine before the end of the day.
The pull that has me looking over at her every few seconds only gets worse the longer the assembly goes on. I’m either wrong and she isn’t having the same reaction to me or she’s just playing a very good game. I’d put a lot of money on the latter of those two options.
No sooner has the bell for the first class of the day rang has she quickly followed her students from the room. Any thoughts I had about following her are squashed when the head teacher comes over to praise my speech. Anyone would think he doesn’t hear it at least once a year.
“Thank you so much, Scott. As always, your assemblies are truly motivating. I’ve no doubt those students will take a lot from it.”
“Thank you. If I make a difference to just one of them, it’s worth it.”
I end up spending hours with him, discussing the school extension I’m sponsoring along with other issues. He’s only a few years older than me and he seems to think we’re friends. He’s a nice enough guy, but I’m not sure our relationship will ever leave the school grounds. I’m more than happy to humour him as it benefits us both in the long run. Plus, I’ve got an ulterior motive today…I need to find the redheaded teacher. I’ll walk to every classroom if I have to, but I hope it doesn’t come to that.
“I see you had a few members of staff I didn’t recognise this morning. Have you been on a recruiting drive?”
“Some of our older staff members retired. A couple of them probably taught you,” he adds with a laugh. He truly loves his job, the school, and his students, so I know asking a question like that will always get me the results I’m looking for. He’s too keen to talk about what he’s trying to achieve. “Mr. Richardson, the man in the checked jacket, is new to the IT department. He’s a coding genius, apparently, although I’m not entirely sure what that really means. Mr. Ashcroft teaches science, and Miss Walsh is a newly qualified English teacher. She’s lovely and so good with the students. They’re responding to her really well.”
I shift slightly in my seat. Yeah, they’re not the only ones responding well to her, I think as I try to come up with a way of getting her location out of him.
Fearne
After thinking this day was only going to get worse, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. My four classes today have gone fairly smoothly, and bar a couple of students not handing in homework I’ve not had any issues. That doesn’t mean I can focus on what I’m trying to mark, though.
Assembly might have been hours ago now, but I can still vividly remember the shock of electricity that raced through me when he looked at me. I can still feel the tingling in my belly when I think about the eye contact that held between us, even with the distance across the vast hall.
When someone knocks on my classroom door, I think nothing of it. Kids are always poking their heads in, asking for board markers or to borrow a textbook.
“Yeah,” I call without looking up from the essay I’m desperately trying to read.
The door clicks and squeaks open, and I’m just about to look up, wondering why the person hasn’t asked anything, when I hear that voice.
“Miss Walsh?”
My heart races and my body trembles. Shit, why’s he in my classroom?
“Yeah…uh…hi.” My chair goes crashing back into the wall behind me as I rush to stand and awkwardly stick my hand out for him to shake.
A smile twitches at his lips as he looks from my face and down to my outstretched hand.
Slowly, he lifts his arm and his fingers slide against mine. Sparks shoot up my arm the second we touch, and my eyes fly up to his in surprise.
His gaze widens very slightly, but if he’s surprised by the reaction, he doesn’t really show it.
His warm fingers wrap around my tiny hand and a little squeal passes my lips when I’m suddenly pulled forward. His body heat burns my front. I keep my eyes focused on his silver tie in front of me. Lowering his head, his breath tickles my ear.
“Tell me you’re single,” he demands.
Disgusted that he’s only come here with one thing in mind, my body moves before my brain jumps into action. My hand pulls away and the next thing I know my palm stings like a mother and he’s holding his cheek. Fire fills his eyes, and if I thought for one minute that was going to put him off, I was very, very wrong.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Take it however you like. I’m sorry, but I’m quite busy.”
“No problem.” I watch as his wide strides eat up the distance between us. “I’ve got all day.”
My mouth drops at his arrogance. “You want to watch me mark these essays?”
“No, I’m going to wait for you to mark those essays and then I’m taking you out for dinner.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
“You will.”
“Will I?” I’m not sure whether to be offended or impressed by the fact he clearly thinks so highly of himself. “I’m sure there are plenty of women out there who’ll hang off your every word, Mr. Hudson. But I can assure you, I am not one of them.”
“Thank fuck for that. Those women bore the shit out of me.”
I stand and stare at him, completely gobsmacked by this whole conversation.
“Come on. I missed lunch so I’d rather not eat too late.”
“I’m not having dinner with you,” I argue, but the determined look on his face tells me this man always gets what he wants, and that includes me.
He watches my every move as I walk back over to my desk and retrieve my chair. Pulling the paper I was previously attempting to read back to the front of my desk, I try to concentrate on the words. They all blur into one, and the only things I can focus on are his masculine scent filling the room and the gentle thrum of awareness coursing through my body knowing he’s staring at me.
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I place my hands flat on the desk and risk looking up at him. The words that were about to come out of my mouth disappear as he winds me once again with the intensity of his stare. Ripping my eyes from his, I take him in, his unique silver hair that makes him look much older from a distance than he really is, his pale blue eyes, his strong cheekbones and sharp jaw line.
I don’t get any farther because he clears his throat, dragging my gaze back up to his. “Can we go yet?” Amusement fills his features, showing me a different side to this arrogant businessman.
I consider my options—sit here pretending to mark these essays while he stares at me, or just go out and eat. One sounds much more appealing, even if I’m not interested in him.
“Fine, but you need to take me home first to change.” Standing once again, I pull my coat from the back of the chair and go to put it on. But the second I move, I find him right beside me.
“Why? The innocent teacher look is so fucking hot.” The intensity of
the blush that hits my cheeks doesn’t stop until my neck and chest are glowing red. “Allow me,” he says, taking my coat from me and holding it out. The gentlemanly move is at total odds with his words just moments ago.
Scott
With my hand at the small of her back, I guide Miss Walsh towards the staff car park and to my car. “I can arrange for someone to take your car home for you.”
“Of course you can,” she says with a laugh, although I’m not sure if it’s not more of a groan. “Which one’s yours?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Oh.”
“I usually get the tube to work. Not all of us can afford cars like that to get places.” She nods towards my Porsche and looks anything but impressed by it.
I knew she was different from that first moment our eyes connected this morning, but I wasn’t expecting to have to put quite this much effort into getting her to have dinner with me. It’s not like I’m asking her to marry me.
After helping her inside, I march around to the driver’s side, ready to get this date started. What I’m not prepared for is the smell of her perfume filling the inside of my car. Vanilla mixed with something floral hits my nose and every single one of my nerves tingle with awareness. There’s something about this woman that speaks to me on every level. It’s a shame I don’t have a fucking clue what it is. All I do know is that I’m powerless to walk away from her.
I forget about most women after a quick, hard fuck. But Miss Walsh is very different. I don’t even know her first name and she’s already deep under my skin.
“This is ridiculous,” she sulks as the car creeps along at a snail’s pace through the afternoon city traffic. “I’d be halfway home by now on the tube. What the hell are you doing?” she asks when I pull off the nose-to-bumper road, onto a side road and park up.
Mr. Silver: A Mr. Billionaire Short Story Page 1