The Billionaire Boys Club (Billionaire Romance Series Book 1)

THE BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB

CARA MILLER

The Billionaire Boys Club

Copyright © 2014, Cara Miller.

All rights reserved.

Other books in the Billionaire Romance Series:

Surrender to The Billionaire Boys Club

Billionaire Boys Club in New York (November 2014)

Kelsey leaned against the railing of the Washington State Ferry and looked up at the bluest sky she'd ever seen. Beneath the sky, the Seattle skyline shined in the distance, its forest of skyscrapers beckoning to her like a friendly waving hand. Waves lapped rhythmically against the hull of the massive ship, rocking Kelsey back and forth just like her mom used to do, just like it was when she would say
go to sleep, Kels, everything's going to be all right
.

Mom and Dad were sitting behind Kelsey several yards back, on a white bench underneath the big green-and-white smokestack.

Just beyond the array of buildings looming up on the far horizon was Kelsey's destination, the campus of Darrow Law School. A Top Ten law school, nurturer of many of the country's leading legal lights. She'd been so happy when she got the notice telling her that she'd been accepted.
 

And now she was on her way. Off to be one of the women she had only dreamed of, a lawyer fighting for her clients. As a little girl riding her bike past the Jefferson County Courthouse, she'd seen them, in their smart suits and worn briefcases. She had dreamed of becoming one and had worked hard to make her reality come true.

As she stood, cold, wet wind chilling her rosy cheeks, her hands looking for the pockets of her royal blue fleece, she thought about her future.

"Kels?" she heard her mother say behind her. She turned, her long blonde hair catching on her eyelashes. She brushed it aside. Her mother was standing, purse slung over her shoulder.

"Do you want a hot chocolate? I'm freezing,” her mother said.
 

Kelsey laughed. "You're always freezing, Mom. What kind of Northwesterner are you?"

Her mother grinned and put her hands on her only child's cheeks. "A cold one. So, do you want one?"

“Yes, please,” Kelsey replied. Her mom nodded.

"I'll have your Dad bring it up to you,” she replied. "I'm staying inside."

Kelsey nodded as her mom turned and walked toward the indoor seats. She turned back to the harbor, which was getting closer by the minute. The buildings which seemed small just moments ago, were starting to loom larger.

Although Kelsey had grown up in Port Townsend, she was no stranger to Seattle, having visited countless times with family and friends. It would be her first time living here — though frankly, she would be spending most of her time within the ivy-covered walls of the Darrow campus.
 

She could feel her nerves on edge with excitement. Who would she meet? What would she learn? Everyone whom she had spoken to about law school had said that it was a life-changing experience. Some felt it was for the better, some believed it was for the worst. But no matter whom she had spoken to, they had all agreed that being a Darrow Law School grad would put her at the top.
 

Kelsey was confident in her ability to succeed. She had been a top student at Portland State University, one of the best schools in the region. Although she hadn’t made it into the Ivy League for college, due to her lack of discipline and love of partying in high school, she had focused and excelled in college. Her fellow high school classmates wouldn’t recognize the new Kelsey.
 

She had to admit, though, she was worried. At Darrow, she would be competing with students from those same Ivy League schools, students who had been focused on excelling their entire lives. What would it be like to be in classes with them? Law school graded on a curve. The best got A’s, the worst failed. Where would Kelsey be?

She tossed her hair back, and the wind helped it stream away from her face. Grades were something to ponder later. For now, all she had to do was get to campus. Then she could face her dragons.

“Hey, Kelsey!” her Dad said as he walked up next to her. He gave her a friendly bump with the recyclable paper cup and handed it to her. Kelsey took it gratefully. The warmth felt good to her hands.
 

Kelsey’s father’s brown eyes sparkled as he looked at her.
 

“Excited?”

“Nervous.”
 

Her dad grinned. “Yeah, I can imagine. You can always come back with us and work in the store.”

Kelsey smiled back at him. She lifted the tab on the coffee lid and drank a sip of the hot chocolate.
 

“I think I’ll pass on that, Dad,” Kelsey replied.
 

“Oh, come on Kels,” her father teased. “We just got in that big shipment of fleece jackets. And you know that our tents will be coming in soon.”

“The store is your dream, not mine, Dad,” Kelsey said.
 

“I know,” her father replied, taking a sip of his own drink. “I’m going to miss having you around though.”

“No more summers in PT,” Kelsey said.
 

“Unless you get an internship there,” her father replied.
 

Kelsey shook her head. “I won’t be applying in Jefferson County, Dad.”
 

“No? Want to head to the big city?” her Dad smiled.
 

Kelsey nodded. “For now.”
 

“Maybe, one day, when you’ve started your family and you want a simpler life, you’ll head back to town and hang up your own shingle.”
 

“That sounds good,” Kelsey replied.
 

“Or maybe your mother and I will have to come to Seattle or Portland to see our only child.”

“More likely,” Kelsey grinned.
 

“I know. Try to stay on the West Coast.”
 

“No promises,” Kelsey replied.
 

Her father nodded thoughtfully. “The thanks we get for encouraging you to dream big,” he smiled, taking another sip of his coffee.

“Thank you, Dad,” Kelsey said.
 

“We’re proud of you, Kels. You’re going to do great.”
 

“I hope so.”

“Of course you will,” her father said. He gave her a one-armed hug, and they looked at the Seattle skyline, which the ferry had closed in on during their conversation.

“We are now approaching the Seattle ferry dock. Please return to your cars. Thank you,” the loudspeaker said behind them.
 

“That’s our cue,” Kelsey’s father said, kissing her forehead. “Let’s go.”
 

Kelsey nodded, and gripped her cup as they headed back into the interior of the ferry. Kelsey’s mom stood next to the door and smiled at them.
 

“Ready?” Kelsey’s mom asked.

“Ready,” Kelsey replied.

The family walked through the aisle and followed the crowd out of the door and down the steep, narrow staircase.
 
They walked through the small spaces left between the neatly parked cars to their own dark green Subaru Outback. They climbed in, and Kelsey placed her cup in the door holder. She put on her seat belt in the back seat, as her parents did the same in the front.

The ferry smoothly slid up to the dock, and within minutes, the ferry had docked and the motorcycles and bicycles began leaving the ferry. Kelsey’s dad started the car and they drove off past the yellow-safety-vested ferry employees and took a right onto Alaskan Way. Kelsey looked out the window. The buildings which had been a far-away skyline twenty minutes ago, now formed the downtown canyon they would drive through.
 

Kelsey’s dad expertly drove through the streets of downtown Seattle, having gone to college here and spent his first working years living downtown.
 
He drove up Yesler Way, and soon they were driving slowly up steep James Street.

“Rush hour,” her father said to no one in particular.
 

“At 3 p.m.?” Kelsey’s mom asked. Her father shrugged.

“It isn’t raining. Sometimes that’s a reason to leave work early.”
 

Kelsey held her cup carefully as they climbed up the hill. Once they reached the top of First Hill, they took a left, then a right a few blocks later, and headed up Madison Street. The road to Madison Park — her new home for the next three years.
 

“Kels, do you need anything from the store?” her father asked. “There’s a supermarket on the way.”

“No, thanks,” Kelsey said, finishing her drink and stashing the cup back in the door holder. “There’s one near campus.”

“Someone’s already doing their homework,” her mother said from the front seat.
 

“Google Maps can be useful,” Kelsey replied, looking out of the window. They drove up Madison Street, got briefly caught in a small traffic jam as they neared the Arboretum, and continued up to the edge of Madison Park.
 

“It’s cute up here,” said Kelsey’s mom. Kelsey nodded without listening. They drove past banks, a small grocery store, and the real estate offices needed in such an exclusive neighborhood.

“The Junior League offices?” Kelsey’s dad said as he drove. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Expensive area,” his wife agreed.
 

“Expensive school,” Kelsey’s dad quipped.

“Daniel!” Kelsey’s mom chided. But Kelsey didn’t hear him. She was transfixed by the view out of the window.
 

“There’s the lake.” Kelsey’s dad said soothingly. “Right on 43rd,” he continued, turning the car. “Kelly, do you have the directions?”
 
Kelsey’s mom reached into the visor and pulled out a piece of paper.
 

“Straight down 43rd. There’s a service road into the back of the campus.”
 

“Never mind,” Kelsey’s dad said. His wife looked at him, puzzled. “Look,” he said, grinning.
 

In front of them was a long line of cars, waiting for their turn to be admitted through a small stone gate. Next to a small plaque that said “Darrow Law School”, a harried-looking woman in a orange construction vest and carrying a clipboard was talking to a passenger in a car ahead of them.
 

“I wonder how long the wait is,” Kelsey’s mom said, sighing.
 

“Not too bad, I hope,” her husband replied. “Look, someone’s leaving now.” A silver Audi drove past them, back down 43rd.
 

“Probably they just let you unload the car in front of the dorm, then you’ve got to head back out,” Kelsey’s dad mused. A second car passed by them. “We’re moving,” he said.

Kelsey had been silent in the back seat for a long time. This was the moment she had been waiting for, almost her whole life. Leaving her small-town life behind to go to college in Portland had been step one, and now she had earned her way into step two. She just had to make the most of it.
 

Her mother turned her head and looked back at her. “Are you sleeping, Kels?”

Kels smiled and shook her head.
 

“Dreaming,” she replied.
 

A half hour later, their Outback pulled up in front of Kelsey’s dorm.
 

“Home for the next nine months,” her father said, as he took Kelsey’s bike down from the roof of the car.
 

“It’s nice,” her mother said, removing a laundry bin from the trunk.
 

“Fifteen minutes,” a guy in a Darrow Law sweatshirt called out to the five families scrambling to unload their cars.
 

“I like the efficiency,” Kelsey’s dad said.

“I wonder what they do if you aren’t gone in fifteen minutes,” his wife wondered as she took a large North Face duffel bag from the car.
 

“Sue you?” Kelsey’s dad quipped.
 

“Funny,” Kelsey replied, pulling out a wheeled bag.
 

“Is this really everything, Kels?” her mom asked.

“That’s all,” Kelsey replied, slinging a backpack over her shoulders.
 

“They have stores in Seattle,” Kelsey’s dad said, smiling at Kelsey’s mom.

“You just travel so light,” her mother replied.
 

“I don’t think I’ll have time to dress up,” Kelsey smiled.
 

“True,” her mother said.
 

“Let’s get these upstairs. Room eight, Kels?” her father asked.

“That’s right,” Kelsey replied.
 

“Where does the bike go?” her mother asked.

“Just leave it for now,” Kelsey said. “I’ll ask someone.”
 

The three of them took Kelsey’s bags up two flights of stairs to room eight. The door was open and a pretty, curvy Italian girl with curly auburn hair was unpacking her bags on one of the beds. She was a contrast to Kelsey’s lithe, athletic build.

“Hi, Kelsey!” she said cheerfully.
 

“Jessica, it’s great to finally see you in person,” Kelsey said. Jessica smiled a beautiful smile and extended her hand to Kelsey’s mom.
 

“Hi, I’m Jessica,” she said as Kelsey’s mom and dad shook her hand in turn.