by TN King
She felt awake and aware, but was unable to move. The muscles in her body had been leaden before she’d lost consciousness, now they seemed to not exist at all. She could remember going into the diner. She could remember how dark the smoke had made the familiar building. Hazily, she could remember her journey within the building in her attempt to recover her picture even, but she didn’t remember getting out. Very clearly, the last thing that she could remember was laying on that ash covered diner floor and seeing that shadow advance towards her.
That same shadow, she assumed, as the one whose arms she was now in. Her eyes fought to focus more fully on him, trying to better focus on his features but the sights and sounds around her were still clogging her brain. Everything seemed to be moving at a faster speed than she was able to comprehend, her gaze darting back to the burning building and the firefighters, watching as they aimed yet another large spray of water at the building which had been a second home to her over the past year.
“Are you all right?”
The stranger’s voice interrupted again, forcing her attention back front and center even as she fought that itching within her ribs like she needed to cough more. Her throat burned, the words held up within it like glass against the already sensitive skin. Slowly, feeling seemed to be returning to her limbs, her hands lifting as she tried to sit up, using the stranger to steady herself. At least he was nice enough to let her, encouraging her to finally choke out a, “Yeah—I’m fine.”
“That was a close one…” His voice sounded again. “I was on my way to a meeting when I saw you run into a burning building.” He chuckled, although it only half sounded as if it were actual amusement. “I’m not even gonna ask why you ran into a burning building, but I’m glad I got to you in time.”
She adjusted her eyes on the voice and took in the dark stranger as the sunlight subsided behind him. Thick, dark, hair framed a slightly tanned, masculine face with a prominent nose and deep set, bright grey eyes. His sharp jawline framed against his bronzed skin. He was gorgeous, the kind of Greek God gorgeous that filled too many pages of those books she kept hidden in her bedroom. The kind of gorgeous that made her want to stutter, even within the safety of her own thoughts.
And she was still in his arms.
Yes, the angel.
Like a wave, it all came back to her, breaking against her thought process near painfully. All of her jumbled thoughts and memories vying for the forefront of her attention within her dazed head. Had he given her CPR? Oh, my god! Were his perfectly chiseled lips on hers while she was passed out? There were too many more questions of similar vein that she didn’t want to focus on. Instead, she nervously tried to squeeze her hands shut, realizing too late that they were gripping his very muscular arms. Instead of her fingernails indenting the flesh of her palms they were pressing into the shirt covering his arms.
Ellie could feel her cheeks coloring in embarrassment. “Oh, god, that’s your arm!” she almost squeaked, her fingers immediately loosening their grip and her apologetic gaze shooting back up to his face. She didn’t need to look at his arms and how well they filled out that dress shirt, she really didn’t. She was having enough trouble attempting to speak normally with him as it was.
He grinned easily, obviously amused by her reaction, his dimples framing either side of his too bright teeth. He looked like one of the models they would use on a billboard lining the highway. Or a rockstar, maybe a movie star, certainly not the type of man to rescue lone women out of burning buildings in real life… on a movie set maybe...
“That’s okay. You must still be in shock. You got a pretty hefty dose of methane while you were in there.”
“Methane,” she repeated absentmindedly, still caught up in the sexy dimples, the word more of a question than a statement. Methane had something to do with gas, but science was never her subject when in school.
“Yeah. Looks like there was a leak. Seems to be what caused the fire. An old building, I’m guessing. Probably hasn’t been updated in a while. Someone should probably look into that.”
He seemed so knowledgeable, and she felt so stupid all of a sudden. Right at that moment, she felt lucky to remember her own name, much less anything else. Forgetting anything, especially in the state she was in, made her feel all the smaller. “Well, it really was a bad idea,” she said before she could think about it, half murmuring the sentence while looking at the still burning building and the firemen working to put it out.
Still wearing that dimpled smile, he nodded, not looking in the least judgmental as he did so. “We all have them, sometimes.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she slowly acquiesced, sounding doubtful even to herself as she attempted to smile up at him. He was being polite, more so than he needed to be, especially considering that he had very probably saved her life. She doubted that very many other people out there would run back into a burning building, especially for a picture, and no matter how important it was to her… she knew how it would sound.
After a brief pause, as if waiting to see if she might say something else, he added, “I’m Morgan.” His hand lifted between them, offering it to her in such a socially graceful manner. “Morgan Hunt.”
She only just stopped herself from giggling. As inappropriate as it was, she couldn’t help but compare the way he introduced himself to the way James Bond did. Which, she supposed was fair, considering his heroic actions so far. “Ellie White,” she said hesitantly, lifting her own hand to be encased by his much larger one. He shook it, firmly, and she tried to return the same. Just like she did in a business interview, she felt it was important to actually shake his hand back.
He held her gaze, exuding a confidence that Ellie had never felt coming from a person before. At least not in real life. The kind of aura one read about in other humans but never actually got to experience. It wasn’t enough that he was model handsome, but he had to be confident and intelligent as well…fascinating, but she couldn’t get caught up in that right now.
Again, silence lapsed for probably too long between them, her mouth apparently welded shut. She couldn’t think of anything to say to him, her brain still stumbling in order to only keep up with what he was saying and what was going on around the both of them.
After a few more seconds, he asked, “So, can I take you anywhere? Do you need to go to the hospital? You were passed out when I found you.” Concern evident in his tone.
His genuine concern took her by surprise. “I’m fine,” she immediately insisted, waving the suggestion off with her hand. She couldn’t afford the trip to the emergency room, especially not since her insurance had lapsed, but he didn’t need to know this. Not about her personal or financial life. She refused to throw random facts about herself at him, definitely not the more embarrassing ones for sure.
She looked back up at him, unaware that her gaze had dropped in the first place, staring too hard she was sure. She couldn’t help it, his grey eyes were mesmerizing, a faint green and blue hinted within the iris’ forcing her to stare at them. She’d never seen eyes like his.
The silence lapsed for another too long moment with him looking at her as if he didn’t believe her assurance that she was fine. Seeing he’d supplied a way out of the previous two silences, she felt obligated to be the one to break it this time. Her brain just wouldn’t allow her to find a neutral, safe subject to bring up in place. She’d never been one for small talk that didn’t revolve around being a server with her customers.
“I had to get this,” she finally blurted out, her hand dipping into the front of her shirt and pulling the photograph out of her father. She couldn’t help giving it a cursory look-over herself, a worried line marring her forehead as she turned it over, inspecting the edges and the picture both for any damage. “It’s the only picture I have of him,” she confided, getting caught up in the smile beaming up at her, her thumb pressing reverently to the side of the photo. “He’s my dad. He died last year and I—” She half choked on her words, shaking her head. She di
dn’t even know why she was saying all this, but once she started it seemed impossible to stop. “I keep it with me at all times.” She knew it sounded stupid, just like she knew she was offering him way too much information. “It comforts me. That’s why I went back in. I’m not an idiot or anything… well. Not normally…” She half-laughed, shoulder lifting self-consciously as she raised her eyes back up to him hesitantly.
Morgan, for his part, was just staring at the picture, some unidentifiable emotion playing behind his grey eyes. After a moment, he nodded, looking back up to her with a half-smile of his own. “I would never think that. I lost my grandfather a little while back. It was extremely emotional for me. I’m just glad that I got to you in time.”
His voice sounded so sincere that she was struck, staring at him and mentally slapping the side of her face to try and keep herself from looking too star struck. His voice was smooth and deep, resonating in her chest and sending gooseflesh along the exposed flesh of her arms despite the heat from being in such close proximity to the fire. He seemed like a really nice guy—like his concern was genuine. He didn’t know her, he didn’t even know of her. She was just a stranger. Yet, he had pulled her from a burning building, and stuck around afterwards as well to comfort her. Talk to her about things he didn’t have any business caring about. He seemed too good to be true, too close to that angel her oxygen deprived mind had compared him to.
He smiled at her again.
Damn, he again caught her off guard with how much better looking the simple move made him. Again, she thought that he could easily be plastered across magazines. Only this time, after speaking to him, her own smile came easier to her lips, shaking her head slightly. Men like him didn’t exist. Heck, women like him didn’t even exist. People were far too often wrapped up deservingly or not, within their own worlds.
She almost jumped at the tap on her shoulder, unexpected and unseen, the paramedic behind her looking apologetic as she nearly gave herself whiplash in her hurry to turn and see who it was. Staring wide eyed at the obviously sorry man with his hands half held up in front of him by way of putting her at ease. Or at least attempting to show her that he meant no harm.
“Ma’am, do you need any assistance?”
Very probably, but not in the way he was probably suggesting. She was just still in shock or something, half glancing at Morgan before shaking her head. She certainly couldn’t take it after insisting to him that she was fine. Just like she couldn’t take up Morgan’s offer of going to the E.R because of her lack of insurance, she couldn’t accept help here and now for the same reason. She worked hard for her money, but no matter how hard she worked, she couldn’t afford the bills that came from hospitals. She was still paying off a visit from last spring when she’d contracted strep throat. “I think I’m okay,” she said, nodding despite the dubious look on the man’s face.
The paramedic eyed her for a long moment, glancing from her to Morgan and back again, before sighing. “At least take this brochure,” he insisted, obviously well acquainted in dealing with victims refusing their treatment. He fished around in his back pocket, handing her a pamphlet that according to the title seemed to be aftercare for victims of smoke inhalation.
She took it gratefully, meeting his gaze and nodding. “Thank you,” she professed as sincerely as she was currently able, moving the pamphlet to her own back pocket to look over later.
“But actually read it,” the paramedic insisted sternly, pointing at her as if to ensure her promise.
Ellie couldn’t help the grin that flashed across her lips. She planned to, entirely, and she hoped her facial expression promised as much.
After another second standing in front of her he nodded, seemingly satisfied, and walked off to help what she presumed were the other potential victims of the still burning building.
When she glanced back at Morgan, it was to find him looking approvingly at her. “Here, let me help you up,” he offered instead, standing up himself and getting his footing before offering her his hand again.
This time, she was less hesitant in taking it, curling her fingers around his much broader ones, and allowing him to pull her fully to her feet. It was only when he went to brush off his suit, which looked like it might cost more than the entirety of her closet, that she noticed how he was dressed.
Or was able to notice those details beyond the attractiveness of his face at all. He was… tall. Extremely tall, her neck actually having to crane back in order to see him once they were standing, her own hands lifting self-consciously to brush herself off as well. The fact that the rest of him was just as devastatingly handsome as his face didn’t at all put her at ease. Muscular, all over, somehow even his thighs seemed to boast of strength, even encased in the expensive material. Maybe it was Armani or something, although honestly that was just about the only expensive brand name she knew of.
Her too wide eyes lifted further on his frame, passing over his trim waist and broad shoulders and only being more and more amazed as she did. Of course, she’d already seen his muscular arms, but that didn’t stop her from looking at them again. She couldn’t help herself, blaming the shock still running rampant through her system for her blatant perusal of him. Her still startled gaze finally landed back on his face, taking those features in again and a breathless, “Wow,” leaving her lips accidentally.
“Excuse me?” he questioned, a smile playing about the edges of his lips as he stared back at her.
Ellie couldn’t fight the heat in her cheeks, trying desperately to think of some excuse, any excuse to explain away her checking him out so blatantly. You weren’t supposed to ogle someone you had just met, especially not in the situation they were in. She couldn’t believe she said it aloud. Gathering herself as quickly as she could, she pointed to the now just smoking diner. “It looks like they got it.” Trying desperately to detract attention from her too red face.
His eyebrows half pinched, turning to follow the direction of her finger. “Oh, yeah. It sure does.” His eyebrows lifting as he surveyed the remnants of what had been the diner, smoke spiraling from the ashen mounds of debris that were now left of it.
She was more than happy her distraction had worked, but she couldn’t stifle the pain filling her chest at surveying the devastation herself. There would be no functional part of that space left available for her to return to work, or for anyone to for that matter… and likely wouldn’t be for the coming months. What had been a quaint, if older diner was now a pile of steaming bricks and burnt drywall. Her mouth worked for a moment, but nothing came out, ignoring his questioning glance and trying to keep the sadness from her features. “I worked there, but it looks like I’ll have some time off, now,” she explained, shrugging with a half hearted laugh.
Morgan chuckled in return, shaking his head and looking back from the building to Ellie again. “Well, we all can use a little time off, right? I’m so busy all the time going to meetings and making deals that sometimes, I forget to relax.”
He seemed to be joking in the same vein, but she couldn’t quite connect with it. That wasn’t what she’d meant, but it was better than the alternative pity party she could allow herself to slip into. Instead, she focused on his words, trying to force herself to concentrate on him and him alone instead of that destroyed building behind him. Or any of the implications that came with that building being destroyed in the first place. “Business deals?”
“Yeah. I’m actually the CEO of the Hunt Group. It’s a subsidiary of the illustrious Hunt Industries. Maybe you’ve heard of it?” Somehow, he managed to sound humble, despite the name dropping he was doing.
Ellie hadn’t heard of them, but that wasn’t surprising. She didn’t keep up with Wall Street or big business. She barely knew what stocks were hot or not at that moment, and what she did know was from overhearing other conversations in passing. She worked all the time, even those conversations she’d overheard had been while waiting on the people talking. She didn’t want to stop the conversation tho
ugh, or have him think he couldn’t speak to about it her because her lack of knowledge. So instead of admitting to it, she nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes, of course!”
“Oh, good. Well, I’m actually here in Philadelphia on business from Lake Placid. I could take more time off if I wanted to, but, you know how it is.” He seemed relieved he wasn’t having to explain anything further to her, flashing another charming smile at her when he shrugged. He was speaking to her as if she was of the same world, as if in her waitress uniform she would ever understand the kind of lifestyle where one would travel to different cities on business.
“Yeah,” she blandly agreed, trying to seem as blasé about the whole thing. Of course, she didn’t know how it was, not in the slightest. She’d been struggling to make ends meet for the past three years. She’d spent every month playing a balancing act of what bill was getting paid on time and which one would be a month late, so she could eke out a living. The diner that had smoke curling up from what had once been the rafters had been her one and only source of income, and even then she was nearly two months behind on all of her bills. Taking a vacation at this point in her life wouldn’t be a good thing. A vacation right now could mean her electricity shut off… or her water… or her trash. She had bills to pay. But none of that was Morgan’s problem. He’d been kind enough ‒ and brave enough ‒ to save her. She didn’t need to throw a guilt trip his way. She’d figure something out. She always did.
“Okay, well, I’ve got this meeting to get to. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked giving her a last look over. He brushed his suit off once more, looking from the building to her and back again, the watch on his wrist beeping out some form of a tune like an alarm.
“Thanks to you? Yes,” Ellie assured, grinning affably up at him and trying to seem like her world wasn’t circling the drain as they spoke. He had a meeting, and for her part, she didn’t want to fall into a hopeless mess of tears in front of him after everything else. “I’m just going to start my vacation a little early… maybe have a Pina colada to offset the nerves and kick it off,” she joked, forcing the brightness to stay on her face. She didn’t need to worry him and he needed to leave, it was like a mantra running through her head as she forced a larger grin.
