BILLIONAIRE’S BET
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
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Chapter One
Tyler
“That was a fun night,” I said as my alarm went off and I jumped out of bed.
It was always a fun night when I had a hot girl come home with me. But the previous night had been more than just the usual sex. We tried all sorts of fun moves, and I knew I was going to be sore that day for sure.
“Should I join you?” the young woman in my bed asked.
“No, I’ll just be a minute; I’ll get some breakfast started as soon as I get out.”
Sarah was a blonde bombshell I met through Dating the Rich. After signing a marketing deal with them, I’d been roped into agreeing to be on their cover page. Initially, I found the idea deplorable—I didn’t need help finding a woman—but as I quickly learned, it was a really great way to bring top-notch women right to my front door.
Single women flocked to Dating the Rich. When women saw that my profile was active and they could connect with me, they just couldn’t resist. Therefore, I always had a woman in the wings and could easily find a date for any night of the week. I wasn’t a jerk about it, I was nice to the girls, but I wasn’t the relationship type of guy. I preferred my relationships short and sweet.
This particular young woman had messaged me a few weeks earlier and caught my attention. Sarah was in her mid-thirties with a body to die for. Literally, I almost died after a full night of making love with her. She had the energy of a twenty-something, that was for sure. Sarah knew how to do things with her tongue that very few women could successfully do.
Our night was fantastic, but that didn’t mean I planned on having another night with her. Sarah just wasn’t my type. She was good for a fun night, but not what I was looking for in the long run. In fact, after a year on Dating the Rich, I had yet to find a woman that stood out from the rest. There were fabulous women on the site, really smart, amazing women, but nothing made them different when I was with them. Even the brilliantly smart Harvard graduate I went out with the week before didn’t have that spark that I hoped for.
I warmed the shower up for only a brief moment before I jumped in. It was a Thursday, and the last day I would be working at my main office in Birmingham. I had a lot of things to finish up before handing the reins over to my chief operating officer at Market Mayhem International. Sure enough, despite telling her not to join me, Sarah came walking into the shower ready for another round of fun.
There’s one thing I’m 100 percent certain about: I cannot turn down a naked woman in my shower. As Sarah fell to her knees and started to pleasure me, I had no option but to allow her. A few minutes later and a whole heck of a lot more relaxed, I finished my shower and left it for Sarah as she cleaned up before breakfast.
Some women might think I was brash or even rude, but I preferred to consider myself an honest man. There was no use pretending as if I was going to call this girl again. No reasonable excuse for me to lead her on and make her think we were going to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. No, I was being a gentleman by telling the truth, and the truth was that I had to get to work and I wasn’t planning on spending more than 20 minutes with her for a goodbye breakfast.
Eggs, bacon, and a biscuit were my normal breakfast, and I made the same for Sarah and placed it on the counter for when she decided to come down. I checked my watch to verify the time and sipped my coffee while I waited to see if Sarah would make an appearance before I had to go.
“It smells delicious in here,” she said as she walked into the kitchen wrapped in a towel.
“I hope you enjoy it. I’m just heading off to work. Yolanda is around and can help you if you need anything. I really enjoyed our time together; you’re going to make some man a really great wife someday. Take care of yourself.”
I kissed her sweetly on the lips and grabbed my bag to head off to work. There wasn’t much left for me to say; I just wasn’t that into her. I noted her facial expression wasn’t all that pleased with me though, and I sensed this one was going to be difficult to get out the door.
“You’re leaving?” Sarah said from behind me.
“Yes, darling, I told you last night that I was heading into work early this morning. Please, feel free to take your time getting ready. There’s no rush.”
“So, that’s it? Just one night of fun and you’re not interested in getting to know me better or going out again, nothing?”
Yolanda heard the commotion and came to the living room. She was my house supervisor and managed everything that had to do with keeping the house up and running for me. Yolanda was also a great shoulder to cry on when a woman was upset. She had a level head and always calmed the women down when they got over-the-top angry with me.
“This is Yolanda,” I said as I introduced the two. “Yolanda, this is my friend, Sarah. She’s going to eat breakfast and then head out. Please keep her company.”
This served two purposes. First, she was an emotional shoulder that Sarah could unload on. Second, Yolanda being there limited the likelihood that Sarah would trash my house out of anger toward me. Not that I thought Sarah was that type of woman, but I’d learned the hard way that I really couldn’t measure the level of anger a woman could have toward me.
“Wow, you are just as much of an ass as people say you are.”
“It was nice meeting you, Sarah, and I did have a fantastic evening with you. You’re smart, funny, and smoking hot; I just don’t think you and I were meant to be. I certainly don’t mean any disrespect; I just don’t like wasting your time or mine.”
“That sounded like the most rehearsed pile of bullshit I’ve ever heard.”
She wasn’t wrong. I’d said pretty much the same thing to every woman I’d spent the night with. Of course, I meant every word of it, and I did change the compliments up to fit the woman I was with. To me, I wasn’t being a jerk; I was just being kind enough not to mislead her. If I had played along and pretended like I was going to call her, but never called her, well, that seemed much crueler to me.
“I’m going to get going. I wish you all the best,” I said in my most upbeat voice as I left the house.
Before I had even left my driveway, I dialed into work to talk with Marcus about the day. I was pretty much a figurehead in most of our interactions, but there were still some figurehead duties we had to get straightened out before my trip. Marcus had transitioned into doing a lot of the negotiating and even worked closely with the other department heads. I still had plenty of day-to-day work, but nothing that I felt was essential for me to handle. It was exciting to give Marcus a chance to take over for longer than a week, and it would give us the ability to see if I even needed to be around much more. I loved the idea of an early retirement so I could move onto my next big business adventure.
“Yeah, boss. What’s up?”
“Do we have the Wilsons at nine o’clock or the Hendersons?”
“Neither, it’s the Kodak account. The Wilsons are coming in at 10, and the Hendersons pushed back until three.”
“So, these are the last of the accounts that requested to meet with me before I left?”
“Yep. Well, there were others, but I talked them out of bothering you. You know you didn’t even have to tell anyone that you’d be going away for a few months. Most of the clients wouldn’t have noticed; no offense to you and your brilliant personality.”
“None taken. I know you and the other team leads could have handled things just fine. But with the tabloids reporting on my life and the marketing campaign with Dating the Rich, I didn’t want any of our big clients to feel like I had abandoned them.”
“Tyler, you’re going home to spend time with your father at the end of his life. I doubt anyone would consider that abandonment. You probably should have gone home months ago.”
“I know, but once I get out there, I’m not going to leave until I’ve helped my mother and sister with transferring the farm and all the legal stuff. It could be several weeks before I’m back in the office, and you know how much I believe in the commitments we have.”
Marcus laughed a little, and it was only because we were friends that I understood why he had laughed at me. Only a true friend could understand how I could be so committed to my work, yet struggle horribly in any sort of commitment outside of work.
“Yeah, you are committed to your clients, I’ll give you that,” he continued to snicker.
“All right, I know. But hey, I’m on the dating site. I’m going out. At least I’m not a hermit or a recluse. It’s harder than you might think to find a good woman.”
“I’m not a recluse!” Marcus argued.
“Yeah, when was the last time you and your wife went out on a date?”
The truth was Marcus and his wife had a better relationship than I had ever experienced in my life. They met in high school and had been together ever since. It was a sweet story and exactly the opposite of what my high school romances had been like.
“We go out. Don’t you worry about us. Are you almost here? I’ve got a stack of papers for you to sign giving me full legal authority over the decisions for the company.”
“It’s a good thing I trust you.”
“Yeah, it is. See you soon.”
I made it into the office just before the first meeting of the day. After dropping off my bag, I grabbed a fresh coffee from my secretary and strolled into the conference room to meet with one of our million-dollar clients.
“Boris, how are you?”
“Not nearly as good as you are, my friend,” he said as he threw down the local paper with a picture of me and Monica, a smoking hot brunette I had dated a few days before. “If I weren’t married, I’d be on that rich guy dating site, too.”
“How’s Marina doing? I’m sure she is more beautiful than ever.”
“Now I know you’re just sucking up to me,” Boris joked. “She’s good. The kids are good. Everyone is good. I don’t have any business to discuss; I think Marcus and the rest of the team will handle our account just fine. I wanted to stop by and give my condolences regarding your father. I heard he is very ill.”
“Yes, thank you. He’s in hospice care now. It won’t be much longer. He’s suffered for a very long time with his lung cancer, though; he just kept it to himself until it was too far along to fix. I think it might be a relief when he can get some peace. I hate that my mother and sister have had to watch him suffer so much.”
“Death is never a pretty thing,” Marcus added.
“I know our account will be in good hands. Marina and I send all our best to you and your family. Please reach out if there is anything we can do for you,” Boris said as he started to tear up a little.
“Thank you, Boris; you’re a good friend. Not just a client. I appreciate your heartfelt visit.”
“I’m going to get going before this old man starts crying like a lady. Marcus, you keep up on the new print ad for me and get the previews to me each week. You know Tyler has never missed a Sunday paper ad section; I expect that to go the same when he’s gone.”
“Yes, sir. We have a great team and will make sure everything with your account continues to run like clockwork,” Marcus said as he shook hands with Boris.
Boris shook hands with me too, but then pulled me in for a hug. He was one of my very first corporate clients, and we had grown close over the years. It was touching that he had thought of me during the difficult time of my father’s illness. I’d worked hard over the last few years to build up a company that was like family, and it made me happy to see that Boris thought of me that way.
“That was nice of him,” Marcus said as we sat down and looked over the schedule of visitors for the rest of the day.
“Do you think all of these clients are only coming in to say their condolences?”
“What do you mean all? We should only have two others.”
“Nope, looks like the calendar has been filled up.” I laughed as I looked out at my secretary. I had told her she could schedule any clients who wanted to check up on their accounts. “Maybe they do just want to check in, but that’s all right. I’m not too concerned about the time. I’ll stay as long is necessary to wrap up the meetings and make sure all our paperwork is in order. You do know I’m still going to be the CEO while I’m gone, though. Don’t let all this power go to your head.”
“Hell, I thought I was going to get to buy a jet and fly to Europe while you were gone.”
“I know you’re joking, but if you and Tina ever want to take the kids on a trip, I’d be happy to let you use the jet. I’ll pay for it out of my own pocket. After taking over for the next few weeks, you’re going to need a vacation.”
“I just might take you up on that offer. I know Tina has been dying to go to Europe and now that the kids are all teenagers, I think it might be a fun time.”
“It’s a plan; you tell me when and I’ll make sure it happens.”
“Thanks, Tyler. You are a good guy, don’t let anyone tell you differently.”
“Very funny.”
The rest of my day ended up being meeting after meeting with our loyal clients coming to check in and give their condolences for what I was going through with my father. It was awesome how much the clients supported us and really made me realize I had done something right in my relationships at work at least. Business relationships I could do; it was the personal relationships that I sucked at.
By five o’clock, I’d finished my meetings but still had hours and hours of paperwork to go through before I could officially hand over the company to Marcus for my time off. Since my original plan had been to fly into Texas that night, I wasn’t going to make my flight and had to rearrange things with my friends.
“Bryce,” I said as I called my best friend. “I’m not going to be out there until tomorrow.”
“I was really hoping you’d say that. I’m exhausted. Turning 33 has really kicked my ass. I swear I can hardly move without some anti-inflammatory medication.”
“Still think your four years of hard farming labor has been worth it?” I joked.
“Yep, best time of my life. So, you’ll be in town for the party tomorrow?” Bryce asked.
“The reunion thing? Are we really going to that? I didn’t go to the 10-year; why on earth would I show up for the 15-year? Isn’t this sort of a given that no one will be coming?”
“Dude, it’s free booze. I’m going whether you’re coming or not. I’ve already arranged the night away from the family; there’s no turning back now.”
“I’ll buy your drinks at the bar. There’s no one I want to see at the high school reunion.”
“No one?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Ty, you might run into Kelsi. I’ve seen her around. You know, my little brother Robert is dating her little sister, Kendall. Wouldn’t it be nice to see her again?”
“First of all, that’s really confusing who is your brother dating. Second of all, even if I wanted to see Kelsi, she wouldn’t want to see me. Have you forgotten the torture you and Mike put us through senior year?”
“Oh, come on, she’s over that. Who still thinks about stupid high school crap?”
“I don’t need to see anyone from high school except you and Mike, but I’ll go to the reunion if it will make you happy. I know there’s so little that you will actually get up off the couch for nowadays.” I laughed.
“That’s good enough for me. I’ll see you tomorrow. I think Mike was stuck in Los Angeles or something. Probably ran up his credit cards and couldn’t buy his plane ticket. Will you give him a call and make sure he’s coming?”
“Why can’t you?”
Neither of us really liked Mike, yet we were both friends with him. Mike was the kind of friend who picked on everyone around and was pretty much a total ass. I would have thought he had gotten over it, but he was still just as much of a jerk as he was back in high school. I felt sorry for him, though; he’d been in football and had his chance to date any woman he wanted, yet he was still single.
“It’s your turn. I called him at Christmas.” Bryce laughed. “See you tomorrow,” he said quickly and then hung up before I could argue with him.
It probably was my turn to call Mike; I’d tried to get out of it every chance I got. He was the kind of friend who people accidently forgot to call and invite to things, but on purpose. Even in high school, he had been a bit annoying, but he was our friend, and we weren’t going to give up on him. Somewhere, deep down, I was convinced he needed us.
“Tyler, my man. The hot stud of Birmingham, Alabama. How the hell are you?” Mike yelled into my ear as he picked up the phone.
“Just checking in on you for the high school reunion. Are you still coming? I know Bryce and I were looking forward to getting the old band together and playing some tunes in his garage,” I lied. Bryce and I had no desire to play in the band again, but it had been really important to Mike so I thought I’d throw it out there.
“Oh, yeah, man, I was totally coming. I’ve just got this physical therapy thing for my knee and then I was going to come out tomorrow. I’ll probably drive since it’s easier on me. You know, being a big guy, it’s hard to fly and fit in those seats with all this muscle.”
“Do you need me to get you a ticket, Mike?”
Mike had played football for the University of Southern California and then a couple years for the San Diego Chargers. He had made at least $10 million over the course of his career, but now subsisted on small commercials and speaking engagements. He threw a lot of his money away in Vegas; I’d talked to him a few times when he’d literally spent all of his money and couldn’t get back home. But he was my friend, for better or worse, and I’d always help him out if I could.
“Wow, man, that’s cool of you. Could you make it first class? You know, it’s just easier for me to fit into the seats. These big arms don’t sit well in coach.”
The truth was that Mike was primarily fat and not muscle nowadays, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. In the last few years, he seemed more and more out of control with everything he was doing: eating, gambling, drinking, and even some drugs.
“Of course, I’ll have my secretary send you the e-ticket this evening, and I’ll see you back in Texas tomorrow. Bring something nice; I think it’s a formal event.”
“Okay, man. Thanks, man…I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow. Take care of yourself and get some sleep tonight. No staying out all night if you want to be fresh and on your toes for all the girls tomorrow.”
“Hey, good call. I’ll get some sleep. See ya tomorrow.”
It was exhausting talking to Mike. He was like a child who had never really grown up. I attributed it to his head injuries from playing football all his life, but I wasn’t sure he would have ended up much different if he had avoided football.
Giving up control over the day-to-day operations of my company was bittersweet. I’d done it before when I had extended vacations, but even then, I stayed fairly involved in the big decision making. This time, I had chosen to concentrate solely on my father and giving him as much of my time before he passed away. For the first time in my life, I was putting my family ahead of my business.
By morning, I was rested and had moved into my vacation mindset. My company was in good hands, and this time off might be just what I needed to finally step away from all of the day-to-day tasks and reduce the stress of operating the company. I’d be happy to continue on with more time off and more time to do the things I enjoyed in life.
“Mr. Pace, good morning,” my pilot said as he greeted me at the airport.
“Morning, sir. How’s the plane doing?”
“Wonderful. We will have two and a half hours in flight and Rosemary is here to take care of you. I’ve also got a co-pilot who is already onboard checking the gauges.”
“Sounds great. Thank you so much.”
As I boarded the plane, it quickly became apparent that Rosemary was there to take care of me in more ways than just serving me with some drinks and a meal. She was a petite blonde with her fake boobs exploding out of her uniform and the hemline barely covering her ass. It was nice to work with a private jet company that could understand my needs so well, although I wasn’t sure I was going to take Rosemary up on her offer for this flight.
My mind was on my family, and this trip wasn’t going to be fun. This trip would end up being the most heartbreaking of trips home. My father was my hero, the man I had looked up to my entire life. His decline into lung cancer had taken us all by storm. He wasn’t a smoker any longer and hadn’t smoked in more than 20 years, but the disease didn’t discriminate based on the time a person had been free from cigarettes.
My sister and my mother were the ones I worried about the most. Dad handled all the day-to-day business for our small ranch. He did the hiring, the working in the field, even the financial books for the family. My sister and mother ran a small store in town that sold their homemade goodies like jams, jellies, and candies. The ranching business was my Dad’s baby, and I wasn’t even sure my mother and sister wanted to keep running it after he was gone; that was why I had to be there. If they wanted to keep running things, we’d need to set up a new way for them to operate with the two of them in the lead; if they wanted to sell off the ranch, I’d have to help them with that as well.
I’d spent most of my life away from my hometown and opted to fly my family to see me more than I had ever gone home to see them. We did family Christmas at my house; even my parents’ birthdays were usually celebrated at some fun location that I flew them out to. Of the times I had come home, this would be my first time coming home that coordinated with my high school reunion. The only one of my friends who still lived in Rainbow, Texas was Bryce, and he technically lived a little outside of town. If my friends and family were willing to come out and see me, I had no need to visit the tiny town where I was raised.
“Is there anything else you would like?” Rosemary asked as she leaned over my table to show off her perky body.
“That’s it for right now; thank you, though,” I said.
The disappointment flashed across her face for a brief moment before she smiled again and went back to her area of the cabin. I wasn’t in the habit of turning down beautiful women who wanted to sleep with me, but I had too much on my mind for that day.
After calling Mike to confirm he received his ticket, I called Bryce to confirm I’d be arriving in a few hours. He offered to come get me from the airport and take me out to my parents’ house since my mother and sister were still at the hospice facility. It was going to be a shock seeing my father like that after talking to him only a few weeks before.
“Thanks, Bryce; you’re a good friend.”
“Nah, I have ulterior motives. I want to make sure you come to the reunion with me tonight, and it will be easier to get you there if I keep my eyes on you.”
“I’m going to go see my father today; maybe you could just take me over there first? I don’t know how much I’m going to feel like going to the reunion after I’ve visited with my father.”
“You’re not getting out of this reunion, but yes, I think that’s a good idea to go see him first. Your sister didn’t think he knew when people were there or not, but I bet he will know it’s you. The two of you were so close. He’s probably waiting to let go until he sees you.”
His words pulled at my heart. I really wasn’t ready to let my father go. I probably hadn’t been the best of sons in recent years and felt horrible for always saying I was busy with work when he invited me to come see what he was doing with the ranch. The guilt over brushing him off was eating me alive, and I really did need to see him and talk to him before he passed away.
“Thanks, man,” I said as I felt myself getting choked up. “See you in a bit. Don’t bring Ashley or the kids, though; I hear he’s not doing all that well, and it might frighten them.”
“Just you and me today, bud; I’ve got the whole night to myself.”
“How’d you manage that?” I joked.
“Oh, I did a honey-do list that was a mile long.” He laughed.
“See you soon.”