The Billionaire’s True Love

 

Chapter 1

 

Today was one of those days that just felt lucky. And it was a day when Kelly Wilson needed luck. She was currently settled at a Harrah’s blackjack table. Eagerly, she watched the dealer as he began to reach for the cards. She’d already placed her bet. This was going to be her moment.

It seems Kelly had known about gambling her entire life. And of course, she had heard the good and the bad. Her native Georgia did not allow casinos, so she would travel to South Carolina and take her pick of casinos seated at the base of the mountains. Part of her wished that her home state would embrace casinos and the revenue they brought. Part of her enjoyed having an excuse to get away whenever she was home from college.

Kelly found gambling to be extremely glamorous. She watched all the movies growing up. Gorgeous, sexy women, gangsters, and the glamourous lifestyle—what wasn’t to love? The women were always decked out in jewels and expensive clothes. She idolized it and wanted to be that. Reality, of course, is much different.

Like she had never seen any gangsters or glamourous gorgeous women here in Cherokee. Once she was good enough, she would get to Vegas, experience the real deal. Hopefully hit it big.

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville had really stood out to her as a high school senior. Not only was it only a three-hour drive from her home in Atlanta, the Indian casinos in Cherokee were only a couple of hours away by bus. So she applied and got accepted.

Kelly’s obsession with the gangster lifestyle continued. The fantasies of money and men swirled happily in her mind from her very first trip. She had told herself on that trip that she was on her way to being a big-time gambler. She thought back on that day a lot lately.

The first time that she had made the trip was right after her twenty-first birthday, and her heart had leapt at the sights and sounds of the casino. Granted, it was smaller than she had seen on television, but still incredible. The rush that Kelly felt as she put her first coin into the penny slot, the thrill at watching the screen spin and the images pop up, it was all unforgettable. She did not care that her winnings were minuscule; she was having fun and that was what mattered.

Actually, she had not won much at all that first trip. In fact, she had lost a lot—a thousand dollars, to be exact. She had left feeling disheartened, but it was okay. No one was perfect their first time, right?

Today it was going to be different. Actually, she had said that every other time, but this time she felt it. It would be different.

Or maybe it was just that she needed this trip to be different. This time, she really needed to win some money.

At the table in front of her, the dealer flipped over the cards. Instantly, Kelly’s eyes widened in horror. She did not need to listen to what he said, or pay any further attention. She knew from what she had seen in the cards what had happened: she had just lost everything.

It was all the blackjack table’s fault. Her preferred method was slot machines. They were simple. You could just sit back, feed coins in, have a conversation with a friend, maybe have a drink, and watch your money add up. But today, after just a few coins, she had realized that this was not her day on the slot machines. She had decided to try her luck on table games. Those were more glamorous anyway.

The only game that she was familiar with was blackjack. Craps looked too hard, and it made her nervous. But anyone could count to twenty-one. Yes, blackjack was a good start.

An electric jolt seemed to rush through her body as she watched her chips disappear. Her hands started to tremble and she felt sick. This could not be real. This could not be happening. She was a college student. She did not have any income. The only money that she had was supposed to be for her tuition. Her mother—an Atlanta hairdresser—had saved up everything so that Kelly could go to school. She had turned it over to Kelly, believing that she would be responsible. And now, she had just lost every penny of that twenty-five thousand dollars.

“What am I going to do?” she finally spoke the words aloud to her friend, Beth. They were on the bus, heading back to Knoxville. Kelly was shell-shocked since everything had happened. Beth looked over at her. She seemed sympathetic. Kelly was glad for that. If Beth had been the “I told you so” kind of friend, she might have left her in Cherokee.

“Call your mom as soon as you get back.” Kelly instantly shook her head.

“I can’t. That’s the one thing that I absolutely cannot do.” Calling her mother would do her no good. Her mother had no more money to give. Besides that, she would be devastated that Kelly had done something so foolish. She could only imagine the lecture. The last thing she wanted was to tell her mother what a disappointment that she had become.

“But what else can you do?” Beth tried.

“I don’t know,” Kelly answered honestly. She did not. She honestly could not come up with an idea of what to do to get herself out of this mess. Loans and work study were out of the question. It was entirely too late in the year to try. She would be turned down immediately

She supposed that she could get a job somewhere, but with her class schedule, she knew that she could not work a ton of hours. Besides, could she really make enough waiting tables to pay for an entire college semester? Internships were also out. It was not like any of them actually paid, anyway.

“I’ll tell you what you need.” Beth winked slyly. Kelly waited. She could only imagine where this was going.

“What?”

“A sugar daddy.” Beth giggled. Kelly bit back a sigh. This was serious, and Beth was screwing around.

“Beth.”

“Oh come on!” The other girl shoved her shoulder. Okay, so Beth was not screwing around; she was trying to get a laugh out of her friend. Now that Kelly could appreciate. At least she understood the seriousness of the situation. “All you need is one hot, older guy with a fortune and he’ll pay for everything. Your mom will never know!”

Kelly had to laugh. If only it were that simple. Hell, if it were that simple she may never have tried college at all.

The bus headed back to Knoxville. The two girls fell silent. Beth put in her earbuds and settled back into the bus seat. Kelly knew that she would fall asleep. While it was not a bad idea, Kelly was too nervous to sleep. Instead, she grabbed a magazine that someone had left in the pocket of the seat back in front of her. Kelly began flipping through it. She was about halfway through when she stumbled across the advertisement.

It was a neatly placed ad in the center of the magazine, in a spread about children and families. Kelly realized that it was an ad for surrogacy. That was something that she did not know much about. She read further.

Well-established couple seeking healthy, young woman to help us add to our family.

While we may seem to have everything, a baby is the one thing that we are lacking. Won’t you help us in completing our family?

All expenses paid.

Kelly’s eyes lit up. She could do that! She could have a baby for a couple! She had never gone home for breaks during the year, so her mother would never have to know.

Kelly slipped the magazine into her bag. Yes, this was the answer to all of her problems.