Not Another Billionaire: A Clean Second Chance Romance (Billionaire Tech Tycoons & Titans Book 2)

by Gigi Marlowe

  Not Another Billionaire

  A Clean Second Chance Romance

  Gigi Marlowe

  © Copyright 2018 - All rights reserved.

  It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter One

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Cass slammed on the brakes again and blasted the horn at the cobalt blue Hyundai proudly displaying a Lyft sticker in its rear window. “The nerve, to cut me off like that after I let him in back there.”

  “Relax, Cass.” Kylie glanced serenely out the window at the sea of cars surrounding them, then went back to examining her flight itinerary. Good thing she’d downloaded a few new books on her eReader. Her first flight was almost 15 hours.

  “I can’t believe you actually like flying. This time to the Philippines!” Cass said, rolling her eyes.

  Kylie looked at her calmly, assessing the way her best friend’s left leg drummed up and down, her fingers tapping out the same rhythm on the steering wheel. “I know. And you can hardly handle driving.”

  “What?” Cass looked down and grinned. “I was doing it again, was I? Shame on me.”

  Cass’s “itchy limb syndrome” - as Kylie had dubbed it in high school - always gave her away.

  “Just breathe. I always give myself enough time.”

  Cass’s shoulders dropped a little in relief as she inched forward in the now creeping traffic. “Good. I’d hate to be the reason you missed an important flight like this. Alex saw you off at the office, right? Offered you a limo to the airport, I’m sure.”

  “Mmmhmm,” Kylie verbalized, checking to make sure she hadn’t forgotten to charge her Kindle this time. Good. Fully charged.

  Cass cut her a sideways glance. “How are things with him?”

  Kylie frowned at her. “Fine. Why would you ask?”

  Cass shrugged, checking over her shoulder before easing into the far right lane beside the towering sign with arrows for JFK. New York traffic certainly was living up to its reputation this afternoon. Once they got into the appropriate lane for departures, Cass was able to pick up some speed.

  “What I mean is, isn’t it weird working for your ex?”

  Kylie sighed thoughtfully. “It was at first. But we broke up by mutual desire, and that was nine months ago. We’re really close friends, actually. I trust him. But I’m not interested in the billionaire scene again. I certainly don’t mind working for one, though!”

  Cass laughed in agreement, knowing how generous Kylie’s administrative assistant salary was.

  “In that case, when we get back, we need to set you up with someone.”

  Kylie waved Cass away like a fly as the car approached the surprisingly deserted departures. “Keep going. Japan Air is down there. And I think I should choose who I see, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Cass huffed as she maneuvered into a spot along the curb in front of the Japan Air banner. A pile of dirty snow crunched under her tire. The first snow of the season had fallen last week. “I would not. And we’re not at a staff meeting, okay? You don’t have to seek out my approval, here or anywhere, as you well know.”

  Kylie smiled at her. “Good. Now that we have that settled, I have to go.”

  Cass threw her two-door BMW into park and helped Kylie retrieve her bag from the trunk.

  “This is a little heavy for a one week trip!”

  “Well, you know me and fashion.” Kylie extended the handle and hauled the bag up onto the sidewalk with one gloved hand. “I go everywhere in style.” She smoothed down her Kenneth Cole bouclé coat, fingering the blush-colored wool for emphasis.

  Cass shook her head in mock despair before grabbing Kylie in a crushing bear hug. “Be safe. Contact me when you’ve made it so I don’t worry like a poor mother duck.”

  “Will do. Thanks for the ride, Cass.” Kylie started toward the terminal, pausing to wave at her friend. What would she do without Cass in her life? “You’re the best. Bye!” She turned and nearly plowed into a man headed toward the yellow cab parked behind Cass.

  “Oh, please excuse me.”

  He said nothing; just gave her an approving glance and a smile.

  The calm exterior of the terminal belied the bustling scene within as Kylie headed toward the Japan Air ticketing counter. She slowed to admire a shimmering Christmas tree that pointed upward in the center of the terminal as a jazzed-up “Jingle Bells” played overhead. Hard to believe that Christmas was a mere three weeks away. As much as she loved traveling, she would never have agreed to a long international trip at this time of year if it hadn’t been Alex who asked her. Just because she’d gone in the spring and knew the ropes. And just because she had a hard time saying no. Especially to Alex.

  The first leg of her journey was a non-stop from New York to Tokyo. She enjoyed her spacious first-class seat as she read for the first few hours. Later, thanks to wine and relaxing meditation music streaming through her earbuds, she drifted off to dreamland for the duration of the flight. She understood why people who couldn’t sleep on planes hated to travel. For her, it was a dream.

  The next day when Kylie woke up, it took a few minutes to realize where she was. Definitely not her Staten Island apartment. Not Tokyo, where she’d spent a lengthy layover yesterday. No, she was at her hotel in the Philippines and she was aware she had better get going if she wanted to make it to the ferry on time. Jet lag made her clumsy as she darted around her hotel room, throwing items into her bag with one hand and running a comb through her dark brown waves with the other. The first thing she’d done last night when she’d arrived from the Manila airport was shower. Travel grunge was the only thing she didn’t like about long trips. But it had always been worth it.

  A private car carried her several hours until she could see ocean ahead. The driver kindly directed her to the correct terminal where she would board the ferry to Orphan’s Island. It wasn’t the real name of the island, but since she nor Alex could pronounce the official island name and the only thing they really knew about it was the orphaned girls’ home Alex funded, the name stuck around the office.

  She looked around at the general sea-weathered appearance of the boat landing and compared it to its New York counterparts. There really was no comparison, she thought as she carefully boarded the ferry, laughing internally at the thought of Alex getting on with her. He refused even the Staten Island Ferry that she took every day. She could only imagine the look on his face if she offered him a seat on this one. When they’d been dating, he had insisted on a limo picking her up every day and battling t
he rush-hour traffic across Brooklyn and into Manhattan to avoid her riding the ferry. She wouldn’t lie to herself that she didn’t miss the pampering just a little. But it hadn’t been worth the price of having a billionaire beau. No, life was just simpler as friends. Even if she had to take the ferry, at home and abroad.

  The ferry this time around was even cruder than last time; open air on all sides and no padding on the seats. Perhaps she should have hired a private boat? But no, that was thinking too much like Alex. Even though Kylie definitely enjoyed fine things and had expensive taste, she also liked to experience life as authentically as she could. And boy, it couldn’t get much more authentic than the fish-scented air that was currently trickling down into her lungs and infesting her clothes as she stood in the line of passengers boarding the nondescript ferry that rocked back and forth on the choppy water. If Cass could see her now!

  An hour into the swaying ride, Kylie stood up to stretch her legs. Shouldn’t we be almost to the island? She decided to go take a look out the front of the boat, trusting that no one would mess with the lock on her suitcase. As she trod carefully down the narrow aisle, the ferry suddenly lurched on a large wave, throwing Kylie off balance‒and right into the lap of a passenger. Before she could right herself and apologize, she was surrounded by a multitude of small crashing sounds, followed by the dismayed exclamation of the person on whom she was sitting.

  “Oh my, I am so sorry!” She pulled herself away, willing her cheeks not to redden. She prided herself on her calm demeanor no matter what the situation might be. But nothing could keep the warmth from her cheeks when she saw whose lap she had just occupied. Possibly the only other foreigner on a boat full of locals, he was also the best-looking man she’d seen on her trip. His sky-blue eyes laughed at her, although his lips remained in a firm straight line.

  “No harm done,” he said, nodding his head at her forgivingly. “I hope.” His eyebrows arched then, and Kylie realized what all the crashing sounds had been when she looked at the ferry floor. It was littered with cheerily wrapped Christmas packages that she had caused to spill from the bag on the seat beside the man.

  She bent down as quickly as she could and began gathering them up, wondering what this man was doing on a ferry in a third-world country with a huge bag full of Christmas presents. As he joined her in the search for more gifts that had rolled far under the seats in front of him, she decided she could live without finding out - if only she could get away from this embarrassing scene.

  When the last gift was safely deposited back into the man’s bag, which looked like a classic Santa sack, Kylie bowed her head and smiled sheepishly. “Again, my apologies. Enjoy your trip.” She turned and headed back to her seat before he could reply. Another thing she could live without knowing was how soon the ferry would arrive. Because to continue to the front of the ferry to ask would mean passing by Mr. Christmas Presents again on the way back to her seat. And if there was one thing she hoped to avoid until she set foot on solid ground again, it was him!

  Chapter Two

  Kylie smiled at the row of dark-eyed girls singing “You Are My Sunshine,” some unabashedly staring at “the beautiful American” as they called her when they didn’t think she was listening. She was thoroughly enjoying her stay at St. Anne’s Home for Girls, and in the short time since her arrival yesterday mid-afternoon, it was clear the place was thriving under Alex’s funding. He would be happy with her report. It would be comprehensive if her already-started powerpoint presentation gave an honest indication.

  “Miss?” She broke out of her reverie when one of the girls stepped out of the performance line and approached her. “We have prepared a special song for your enjoyment.”

  Kylie couldn’t cover her surprise when the same girl began a solo of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” with the other girls adding backup vocals. It appeared they truly had gone to great lengths to impress her. And it was working. Before she could begin her applause at the end of her nation’s anthem, loud and hearty claps flooded from somewhere behind her.

  Kylie swiveled around to find the source just as a man’s voice boomed across the room, “Beautifully done, girls! You’re really improving.”

  Kylie almost laughed out loud at the man dressed up as Santa Clause, his red felt costume flapping about a bit too loosely to be convincing, but his efforts were endearing just the same. As he approached, thronged by masses of small girls, Kylie stood up to greet him, happy that the orphanage had arranged someone to bring such Christmas cheer for the girls. When she faced Santa Clause, recognition dawned in his laughing blue eyes. The blood drained from Kylie’s face.

  What was Mr. Christmas Presents doing here at St. Anne’s?

  As if in answer to her silent question, Santa swung a large bag from his shoulder and pulled out one of the packages Kylie had retrieved from the ferry floor yesterday, holding it out with a throaty, “Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas!”

  Kylie was efficiently shuffled to the sidelines as the children clamored about him with giggles and grins. She watched as he handed out the gifts, calling the girls by name. Somehow she wasn’t surprised when he reached the last girl with only one gift remaining. He’d obviously come prepared.

  “Mr. Scott Ryan.” The orphanage manager had stopped beside Kylie and watched approvingly. “He comes three times a year and brings gifts every time. He emails me for a list of names before each visit.”

  Kylie was impressed. Obviously, Mr. Ryan was a kind man, and he had to be wealthy to be such a benefactor. Wait. What was his first name?

  “Did you say, Scott Ryan?”

  The manager nodded. “He is from America, like you.”

  Kylie’s mind whirled. The anonymous donor for Alex’s charities always signed off as S.R. They had scratched their brains endlessly to solve the riddle and thank the generous donor to no avail. Now here, on a remote island in the Philippines, Kylie was positive she had identified their mystery patron.

  When the children were cleared from the room by an assistant, Kylie approached Mr. Ryan, who had removed the Santa hat from his head and was working on the false beard.

  “Mr. Ryan?”

  He looked up from his seat with a small smile. “You must be Kylie Mitchell, Alex Dunne’s assistant. I recognized you on the ferry yesterday and intended to introduce myself, but you disappeared too fast. I figured I would see you here.”

  Kylie stared at him curiously. “Have we met before?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I saw you at Mr. Dunne’s fundraising gala last year.”

  He’d probably seen her on Alex’s arm, then. They had still been dating, and he’d been eager to show her off after all her hard work pulling together the fundraiser. It had been an amazing success, especially thanks to the mystery donor who left a no-name check in an envelope on the punch table. It was all coming together now.

  “You’re S.R.” She raised her chin a little to indicate her certainty. He dipped his head to the side, feigning bashfulness.

  “My cover’s blown, I see. Yes. Please call me Scott.”

  Kylie shook his hand enthusiastically. “I want to thank you for your generosity. We’ve been trying to track you down for months, and even with additional donations, you remained elusive. Alex will be so happy!”

  “He’ll probably strangle me,” Scott said with a wry smile.

  “Oh, you know him personally?”

  “Quite well, yes. We used to be business partners on several ventures before my interests took a, shall we say, more spacious turn.”

  Kylie drew her eyebrows together at his words. “And what are your current interests?”

  His face took on an eager look, like a child ready to discuss his Christmas list. “New technology, especially space tech.”

  Kylie was fascinated. “You will have to teach me. I know little about space technology.”

  “Well, you are in luck. It happens to be my favorite topic.” He flashed her a smile that charmed her almost as much as his gifts had charmed
the orphans. He was undoubtedly very wealthy if the size of his donations was any indicator. But he was a regular visitor at the very orphanage he helped fund, dressed in a frumpy Santa costume, no less. Not your typical billionaire to be sure.

  “If you’ll excuse me for the time being, I need to get out of this thing. It’s not as comfortable as it looks.” He winked at his joke and left the room, leaving Kylie intrigued.

  When the orphanage served dinner that evening, Kylie was more than just a little surprised to see Scott in line. While she had no complaints about the quality of the food she’d been offered, eating in a third-world country always came with some risk, no matter which foreign billionaires were funding the establishment. She’d learned the hard way last time, and with more precaution and an awful lot of store-bought water bottles, she hadn’t had so much as a queasy stomach so far.

  “You’re a bit of an anomaly, you know,” she said as she put her plate down next to Scott’s five minutes later. He looked up with a wide smile, one that didn’t quite reach his striking eyes, but a nice smile nonetheless.

  “How’s that?”

  She sank down beside him and pointed at his plate. “A billionaire eating a plate of rice, unspecified meat, and mangoes in an orphanage?”

  Now his grin made his eyes shine, and he chuckled, a throaty sound that warmed Kylie’s insides. “I guess I’m not your typical tycoon, am I?”

  He didn’t dodge the wealth question, nor did he tout it. That was a nice change.

  “So if I may ask, what does bring you here? With regularity, I’m told.”

  He tilted his head in consideration. He had a nice jawline, Kylie thought absently.