by Jenna Brandt
Waiting on the Billionaire
Billionaires of Manhattan Series
Jenna Brandt
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Locale and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events, or actual locations is purely coincidental. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email [email protected].
Text copyright © Jenna Brandt 2018.
Cover design by Josephine Blake
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
A Note from the Author
Also by Jenna Brandt
Join My Mailing List and Reader’s Group
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Praise for Jenna Brandt
I am always excited when I see a new book by Jenna Brandt.
Lori Dykes, Amazon Customer
Jenna Brandt is, in my estimation, the most gifted author of Christian fiction in this generation!
Paula Rose Michelson, Fellow Author
Ms. Brandt writes from the heart and you can feel it in every page turned.
Sandra Sewell White, Longtime Reader
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To all those who love modern day fairytales.
Let’s dream together.
1
Bryce Montgomery stood on the edge of the grassy field and glanced around with apprehension. Over three weeks had passed since the release of The Top 10 Most Eligible Bachelors of New York list, yet the droves of women who hounded him hadn’t subsided.
He had reluctantly agreed to attend the Saturday afternoon polo match since it was for a good cause, not to mention he often made powerful business contacts at such events.
“Relax, Bryce, I’ll fend off the ladies for you if they get too close,” Roger Boswell, Bryce’s best friend and heir to a tech tycoon, offered.
“Oh, I bet you will,” Bryce stated with a roll of his eyes. “You’d be only too happy, I’m sure.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault I barely missed the list. I still can’t believe the reporter told me I got the eleventh spot.”
“Should we head to the spectator area?” Bryce inquired, opting to change the subject rather than focus on the blasted list for one more minute.
"I guess," Roger shrugged. "I don’t understand how you can despise all this attention."
Roger wouldn’t understand. Bryce was a naturally private person. He didn’t enjoy attention of any sort, preferring to live his life in the shadows of their social set. Roger, on the other hand, was an extrovert of the highest order. His favorite pastimes were attending or throwing an over-the-top party and making sure the paparazzi was there to catch every moment.
In the beginning, it attracted Bryce to Roger. He opened a lot of doors for Bryce when he was first starting out in the tech business. When his first app was a massive hit, Bryce needed to find the right connections to turn the app into a company and the company into an empire. Roger was more than happy to introduce him to the right people as long as Bryce played the diligent wingman. It was the reason that the role reversal was so difficult for Roger to handle. He despised being the runner-up with the women they met.
Before they could make their way to the viewing area, a hand on Bryce’s arm stopped him in his tracks.
“Why if it isn’t Bryce Montgomery, #1 hottest bachelor in Manhattan. Fancy meeting you here,” the platinum blonde woman cooed as she batted her fake eyelashes at him. “You want company?”
Bryce flinched under the woman’s unwanted advances. He wished he had put more thought into the ramifications of letting Roger talk him into letting the magazine publish the puff piece on him. They believed both of them would make the list, but a last-minute addition of a new actor knocked Roger off the list. Bryce was squarely left on his own.
“Don’t you have the most gorgeous blue eyes and thick brown hair I’ve ever seen. The picture in the magazine didn’t do you justice,” the woman complimented as her hand moved up his arm, resting just below the shoulder. “And these biceps. My, my, I had no idea you had muscles under that suit. What a surprise.”
Bryce pulled back, not liking the fact she was sizing him up like a piece of meat she wanted to devour. “Miss, I think the match is about to start. You should find whoever you came with.”
A pout formed on the woman’s face. “Not so eligible after all,” the woman stated with irritation. She glanced over at Roger, who had been watching the exchange with amusement. “What about your friend? I don’t recognize him from the list, but he’s not bad to look at. I guess he will do.”
Roger tilted his head to the side, causing his blond hair to flip with the movement. “You know I’m not one to refuse a pretty woman, but I draw the line when the woman considers me a consolation prize.”
Her face scrunched up in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“You should probably do as my friend suggests,” Roger stated dismissively, before turning to head towards the viewing area.
Once they were away from the obnoxious woman, Roger sighed. “Such a waste with a face like that to have nothing upstairs.”
“It seems it’s increasingly common every day,” Bryce observed. “I’m so tired of struggling models and social debutantes looking for a meal ticket when they see me.”
“That’s what a pre-nup is for, Bryce. A good lawyer can keep it all tidy if you ever get serious about another woman, though I doubt you ever will after Gabrielle. She seems to have done you in on that matter.”
Gabrielle Rodriguez was an up-and-coming model, and until six months ago, Bryce’s girlfriend. Their relationship ended when Bryce found Gabrielle cheating on him with her personal trainer.
“I don’t know. I’m not built that way. Casual dating isn't something I do. I want to trust the woman I end up marrying. If I can’t, then I’d rather stay single and focus on building up my business.”
The polo players on horseback took to the field, signaling the match was about to start. Everyone turned their attention to the game except Bryce, plagued by the prospect of never finding the right woman to love.
Lana Collins waited for the other person to speak. The woman’s face was blank as she continued to look at the stack of papers in front of her, never revealing what she was thinking.
She wondered if the casting director had liked her test read of the movie script. Lana’s agent had informed her of the opportunity at the last minute, leaving her barely an hour to scan through the script and prepare h
er acting choices. She had to stop at the casting director’s office on her way to work.
“I’m sorry, Miss Collins, but there’s no need to drag this out for you. A lot of directors would tell you thank you and send you on your way, never letting you know the outcome until you heard they cast the role, but I’m old school. I think it helps girls like you to hear the reality of the situation.”
Lana sucked in her breath and held it. She could tell from the way the woman was speaking, another rejection was coming. She braced for the bad news.
“I can tell how much you want this, which makes this even more difficult to say, but you’re just not right for the part. You’re too much of the girl next door.”
“I don’t understand,” Lana confessed. “How can I be too much of what you are looking for? The ad for the role states you’re looking for a girl next door look with an innocent demeanor.”
“As the day progressed, we decided that the role would require a more—” she paused, glancing at Lana’s willowy frame “—mature physique.”
“I see,” Lana stated, forcing herself not to show how the rejection affected her. She continued to smile as she nodded. “Thank you for your time and consideration,” she said out of habit.
This wasn’t her first ‘no’ but just one of a long string. It was part of the world she lived in. Most of her friends were struggling actors. They often exchanged stories of terrible auditions, horrible day jobs they worked to pay the rent, and the occasional success—though most viewed getting a part like spotting a unicorn, a fairytale told to keep them chasing after the dream. Even though she had faced rejection before, it stung more than the rest, considering she had gone into the audition with high hopes. With her long, brown hair, hazel eyes, and average height and build, she thought she was a real contender for the part.
She stood up and exited the room, glancing at her cell phone. Four o’clock p.m. She had to get to work at The Spot before the evening traffic became too thick for the Uber driver to get her there on time.
Twenty minutes later, Lana arrived at the hottest restaurant on the upper west side of Manhattan. She had only been working at the restaurant for a couple of months and still needed to prove herself as the new girl. Tonight, she had taken an extra shift when one of the veteran servers called in sick.
She glanced in the compact mirror she carried in her purse to make sure her makeup and hair were intact before she entered the posh establishment. Her manager made it a point that all the servers were to be in tip-top shape when they were working. Image was everything in the industry.
“There you are. You better hurry if you don’t want to earn the wrath of Rick,” Celeste Allen, her best friend, co-worker, and roommate stated as Lana entered the back door of the building.
“Is he on the war path again?” Lana inquired, tense with apprehension.
Rick Tillman, the restaurant manager, was a strict boss who micromanaged his employees. Lana would have never taken the job at The Spot after hearing all of Celeste’s stories over the past year; however, the tips convinced her.
“Tell me you got the part,” Celeste probed with a hopeful smile as the two of them made their way into the employees’ back room.
Lana shook her head. “They decided to go in a different direction.”
“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” Celeste sympathized, causing the happiness in her green eyes to disappear, “but you will land the next one.”
“Thanks. I wish I could figure out what keeps me from getting big parts so I can make acting my career,” Lana pondered. She placed her purse and her high heels in her locker, then pulled out her work dress and pumps and slipped them on. “I thought when I booked that last TV commercial, it would happen, but here I am six months later still just treading water.”
“I know you feel discouraged, but it’s all in God’s timing. Since you feel He called you to this industry, He will provide your big break when it’s the right time.”
“You’re right, Celeste. You always know the right thing to say to cheer me up.”
“Are you excited about Bible study tomorrow night?” Celeste asked as she pulled her blonde curls into a ponytail.
Lana nodded her head as she finished pinning back her own hair into a bun. “I enjoy learning about the Book of Ephesians. It’s so interesting to read what Paul went through. Here I am complaining about not getting a part, and how hard the past couple of years have been. I need to remember Paul wrote most of the New Testament Bible while he was in prison.”
“That’s so true,” Celeste agreed. “Sometimes, your biggest triumphs come out of your most difficult circumstances.”
“We better get clocked in before Rick has a fit because we’re not on the floor taking over our tables,” Lana glanced around. “We’re the only ones in here.”
“Agreed. The place looked packed when I came in. Not surprising, since it’s Saturday night. Get ready to enter the fray,” Celeste stated with a chuckle. “It will be a long night.”
2
The weekend was over and Bryce was thrust back into his busy work-week. Mondays were always crazy for him, and today was no exception.
“I’m glad everything is going well with the new apartment building on Fifth Avenue,” Bryce stated. “This project has been in development for a long time. I will be grateful to see its completion at the end of the year.”
“We’ve got a lot invested in this, but with two-thirds of the units already sold, we’re sitting in a terrific position to make a nice profit on this venture,” Wayne Brigston, Bryce’s business partner, stated with a grin. “I’m glad you talked me into investing.”
“We both needed to diversify our money. This was an easy way to do that.”
“You’re already ahead of me on that. Aren’t you a silent partner in this place?” Wayne gestured to the restaurant.
“Yes, I’m a firm believer it’s never good to be a one-trick pony.”
The alarm on Bryce’s cell phone dinged for the second time. He looked down and saw the red flashing light alerting him he was fifteen minutes late leaving for his next appointment. Great, I’m late. Bryce prided himself on being a punctual person, a fact which made not leaving The Spot on time even more frustrating.
When he started his business, he didn’t have the pedigree or the finances that many did, so he focused on the areas where he could shine such as professionalism, punctuality, and knowledge of the industry. Those attributes built him a solid reputation as a massive force in the tech world. Even after the money and respect flowed, Bryce maintained the trifecta that got him there.
“I have to go,” Bryce stated as he stood up from the table. “I’ll check back in with you next month to discuss any changes.”
“Hope you don’t mind, but I will stay and finish my drink,” Wayne informed him as he lifted his glass.
“Not at all. Enjoy,” Bryce said as he slipped on his coat. “Order dessert too. It’s on me.”
Bryce made his way towards the front doors of the restaurant, but through the glass he could see photographers, most likely waiting for him to emerge. He stopped just short, deciding to turn around and leave through the back door of the establishment.
His phone dinged a third time, prompting him to pull out and check his text message.
Where are you?
I’m here waiting.
He let out a heavy sigh. He would never hear the end of it. Conrad Gaines wasn't as laid back as Wayne. Of course, Conrad was early to their appointment set up for him to sign the escrow papers for the app company Bryce was acquiring. Even if his driver got him there in the next fifteen minutes, Bryce would be at least ten minutes late. He hoped it didn’t sink the deal.
He texted back:
On my way.
Should be there shortly.
But before he could put his phone away, he collided with something firm, causing his phone to go tumbling to the ground. He went to pick it up. As he rose, his eyes met a set of shocked hazel ones belonging to a brown-haired
woman. She was wearing a cream-colored dress, now soaked with a red substance.
“I’m so sorry. Are you all right?” Bryce inquired with concern.
“I’m fine. A bit shaken and rather wet, but otherwise intact.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see either of you as I came around the corner from the kitchen. This is my first day,” a third voice said from the side. “I sure hope Mr. Tillman doesn’t fire me for this.”
Bryce’s eyes snapped to the side. For the first time, Bryce noticed a man in a server’s uniform was stooped next to them, gathering up a tray and several pieces of broken glass.
“Don’t worry about it. I will talk to the manager and explain it’s my fault. You won’t lose your job over this.”
The server nodded and hurried out of the way back from the direction he came.
Bryce’s attention returned to the young woman standing in front of him. Now that he got a good look at her, she was rather pretty in a wholesome sort of way. She had a bare amount of makeup on, her brown hair shined with a natural luster, and though she still seemed embarrassed, she didn’t seem put-off by what happened. A refreshing change from the women he usually encountered in the posh areas of New York.
He reached out his hand and gestured to her dress. “I’m sorry about this. You should let me take care of your dry cleaning.”
She shook her head. “Thank you for the offer, but it was merely an accident. You’re not responsible.” She glanced around the hallway, then added, “I need to be on my way.”
