Joanna greeted Ellie with a smile and a warm embrace when she walked into the diner.
“Want some extra hours tonight?” she immediately asked. “I have a date and can’t afford to close early.”
“A date. Wow.” Ellie smiled. “But Morgan and I made plans.”
Joanna’s red cheeks puffed up with a smile from ear to ear. “The lead contractor that remodeled the diner asked me out.” She paused to put her hand up to her mouth as if telling a secret to a high school friend. “I said yes,” she spoke from behind her hand.
Ellie put her hands on her hips and said, “The lead contractor, huh? That’s great, but…”
“I’ll pay you overtime,” Joanna added with a pleading look.
Ellie chewed on her lower lip while she turned the situation over in her head. Morgan was expecting to come by later, so they could go out to dinner, but now…
Joanna’s puffy smile began to dip to a frown.
This did tug at her heartstrings. Ellie had a soft spot for Joanna and just couldn’t say no to her. “So, I’ll be closing tonight?”
“If you don’t mind,” Joanna replied with a smile.
Ellie smiled back. “Sure. I could always use the money.”
Joanna squealed with delight and embraced Ellie with a generous hug. “I owe you one, kiddo. Thanks.” Joanna stepped back into her office and closed the door.
Ellie could hear her make a phone call to let her date know that she was on for tonight. No going back now.
As she went back to her locker to put her chemistry book and purse away, she pulled out her cell phone and sent Morgan a quick text.
Have to close tonight. Maybe we can eat here for dinner?
She inserted a cheesy smiling emoticon to convey her acknowledgement that this was her bad. Morgan had just gotten back to Philadelphia and she was working overtime. The awesome morning sex was a comfort, at least. She hit send and waited. He usually replied fairly quickly because, as the businessman that he was, he prioritized incoming communications over most things, including sex, sometimes.
In less than a minute, she got his reply.
A night alone at the diner? I'll order the best Ellie meal available. Should be interesting.
His text was capped off with a sinister-looking winky-face emoticon.
Ellie giggled out loud and replied simply with her favorite smoochy-face emoticon. Slipping her phone in her back pocket, she tied her apron around her waist before heading out front to start her long shift.
The morning rush was in full swing when she took her place at the coffee bar. This was only her second weekend as barista, but she had already mastered her own barista style which allowed her to catch up fairly easily. One of her most notable talents seemed to be doing her best work under pressure.
After the rush, she noticed a familiar face walk through the diner door. Professor Hillborn? What was he doing here? She’d never seen him at the diner before and while it struck her odd that he would be here to have breakfast, of all places, she was curious to see what had brought him here.
He took a seat at one end of the coffee bar and seemed not to notice Ellie.
Weary of butting heads with him since their first encounter, she hesitated before finally approaching him with a forced smile. “Professor Hillborn! What brings you to the Liberty Bell Diner?”
“Ms. White. I had no idea you worked here,” he said glancing past the menu.
Ellie raised a brow and placed her hands on the counter. “Can I get you some coffee?” she asked.
Hillborn set down the menu and gave her his order. “You know, Ellie, it’s a good thing I ran into to you today because I have been meaning to talk to you about your grade in my class.” He gave her a stern look over the rim of his glasses. “You’re failing,” he said.
Ellie felt like a ton of bricks had just hit her. She knew she was having trouble, but failing? She could not afford to fail—not with the Hunt Industries Scholarship that she depended on. One of the stipulations of keeping that scholarship was that she not fail any classes. Failing would be catastrophic and most importantly, it would make her feel like she failed Morgan, who got her that scholarship.
“Failing?” she managed to say after pulling herself together.
“I’m afraid so.” Hillborn nodded solemnly. He set his briefcase on the counter and opened it to pull out an exam sheet with her name on it. “This is the last exam I gave.” He pointed to the big red F on the front and then proceeded to point to all the red checkmarks and notes on the paper.
She let out a deep breath. “I can’t fail,” she said with determination.
“Yes. I know,” Hillborn replied with a sad smile. “You depend on that Hunt Scholarship, correct?”
Ellie furrowed her brows and nodded. “I know Morgan Hunt, he is very generous, and I looked up how many scholarships Hunt Industries had given just this year. It is amazing. Plus, he helped get this diner back up after it burned down. He made it one of his charity projects. The man is more than he seems.” She felt her cheeks heat as she realized the professor here could probably care less.
“Failing my class would cost you the scholarship.” He raised a brow at her with an understanding look in his eyes.
“What can I do to bring my grade up?” Ellie asked.
Hillborn leaned back and seemed to think about it. “There’s extra credit work. In addition, there will be an extra class for those who need to catch up their grade. It is on the school website under my class heading.”
Ellie felt hopeful. “Thank you so much.”
He nodded. “The extra class will be on Monday. I hope that fits in with your class and wok schedule?”
Ellie took her phone out and scrolled through to her schedule. “Umm, yes. But even if it wasn’t, I would still be there.”
He smiled at her and took a sip of his coffee.
His order was up and she went to get it for him.
The man sitting in the diner was already hooked up to Ellie’s phone and her apartment. He also had cameras in various places so he could catch sight of her wherever she might be. It had taken a couple of weeks to do, but he was determined to get all he could of her.
Still, it would never be enough. No woman had ever affected him like this. It was all her fault too. Look at the way she dresses, at the way she moves. The woman was sex on wheels. Having followed her for two weeks now, he’d watched Ellie closely.
She was delivering a food order and her phone must have buzzed.
Seeing her pull out her phone, he immediately went to her texts and read the thread between her and Morgan. Inwardly, he grinned as he realized that he had stumbled across very useful information. She would be closing tonight, and Morgan would be here, as well. The flirty emoticons clearly spelled out that they would be indulging in some perversion. Luckily, he came prepared for that possibility.
His work had always been interesting, then he saw her. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this at all, but he couldn’t seem to help it. No wonder Morgan Hunt wanted her so badly. He himself wanted her just as badly. He would bide his time, get the information he wanted and then have what he needed to blackmail her into doing as he wanted.
His dreams about her were getting more intense. He would jack off to the video clips he had of her. To her image on Fb, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted her up close. He wanted to feel her skin, make her gasp. He knew he could give her more than Hunt did. He was the man for her, not this playboy that would probably drop her soon. The man always dropped his women and moved on to another. He lived the high life without a care. Poor Ellie, she had no idea how cruel these rich men could be. He would be there for Ellie when it happened, as he knew it would.
His love for her knew no bounds. He hated Morgan Hunt with a passion. Morgan had her fooled and he would hurt her eventually.
Maybe I could move that along, so I can have her to myself, as it should be.