Page 9 of Chosen By a Billionaire (Rags to Romance #24)

But as she waited on other tables after placing their orders, she could still feel his eyes following her every movement.

And even after she brought them their orders, and while they were eating, he was still staring at her.

And after they had finished eating and she brought over the ticket, he was still staring at her.

So much so that when she dropped off the ticket and left their table, Carter noticed it too. “What is your problem with that waitress, Harrison?”

Carter knew who she was, and that Harrison probably planned on bedding her and that was why he wanted to eat there, but why was he behaving as if he was smitten with her beyond just the physical thing?

Why was he behaving so unlike himself? “You’ve been staring at that female all night.

We’ve got major issues we need to settle. ”

“I thought we settled them.”

“We get that you’re not interested in that startup idea,” said Carter.

“We get that. You’ve made it clear. But remember what’s coming up?

Remember that Trip to Bountiful you’ve got to make to Kennebunkport?

Remember the monumental decision your father said he’s going to make that would change the course of not only your life, but our lives too? ”

“It’s major,” said Archie.

“We can’t stress how major,” said Dalton.

“Stop the pile on. I get it.” Then Harrison exhaled. “What’s the gameplan because I’m certain the three of you have decided on one.”

“It’s the same one I told you about a week ago. You need a woman,” Carter said frankly, and Harrison laughed.

“Is that plain enough for you? And you need one fast. Because if your father does it right and select you as his heir, then stocks will soar in Bainbridge Oil, of which we are all stakeholders, and more riches than we ever thought possible will flow our way. But more importantly, BCT’s stocks will soar too, which we are even bigger stakeholders.

It’ll be a win-win for all of us. Because let’s not pretend on this issue.

We’re having challenges and you know it too, Harrison.

Our profit margin keeps getting thinner and thinner and pretty soon we’re going to be running in the red.

And when I say soon, Harrison, I’m talking in a matter of months, not years.

But imagine if you got your hands on your father’s company?

On the granddaddy of them all Bainbridge Oil?

In that sphere, only ExxonMobil is more powerful than your father’s corporation.

But if you get it in your hands and under your control, you know how massive your fortune will become?

All of our fortunes! But if your father goes in a different direction, we will have to start thinking about unloading assets just to stay afloat. It’s that stark. It’s that real.”

It was a sober reminder of the capricious nature of venture capitalism to every one at that table. Including Harrison. He’d seen good days. He’d seen bad days. But nothing like now.

Carter continued. “Every word I’m hearing is that the only reason you haven’t gotten his full and complete blessing yet is because you haven’t settled down.

Your father’s old school. A man your age should have been married long ago and had children by now.

He’s wondering what’s wrong with you. And since you two don’t talk anymore, you’ve got to show your worth.

If you at least show up with a woman on your arms, with your fiancée, then maybe, just maybe that will be enough to get you over that finish line.

Because you’ve got to get over that finish line, Harrison. You’ve got to be the chosen one.”

“What will happen if I’m not?” Harrison seemed the least concerned than anybody else at the table.

“You’ll lose money, yes, we all will. But none more than I.

But that’s the nature of our business. Sometimes we’re up.

Sometimes we’re down. Admittedly, this year has been far more challenging.

I’m not pretending that it hasn’t. But don’t get ahead of yourselves and assume I’m going to decide anything related to my life based on your bank accounts.

Or my own,” he added. “We will all continue to be filthy-rich men with more money than we will ever need for the rest of our lives regardless of what I do.”

“That may all be true too,” said Carter.

“But our stake in Bainbridge Oil is tied to you. It’s the way your father structured it.

If you don’t take over, I get nothing. That would be more money than I care to lose.

Besides,” he added, “when the pinnacle is within reach, when it’s right within your grasp, it becomes a huge letdown to settle for second-best. You need a woman, Harrison. ”

Harrison looked at Carter. Had anyone else at that table attempted to take that kind of liberty with him, he would have fired him on the spot.

But Carter was a realist, not an opportunist. Carter was the only human on earth he would consider a true friend.

He nodded his head. “Understood,” he said.

“Then what are you going to do about it? Time is of the essence. We’re talking a few more weeks here, not months.”

Then Carter glanced over at the other two. And they nodded their assent for him to proceed in the dangerous waters of Harrison’s personal life.

Carter exhaled first, and then he let it rip. “As I told you a week ago, we’ve spoken with Gweneth, whom--.”

“Don’t start.”

“Whom we all know will be an excellent choice,” Carter continued. “She’s someone your father already adores. And to our everlasting joy, she voiced some interest.”

But Harrison gave Carter a look that could break him in two. And they all knew that shot in the dark was going to stay in the dark. “No thank you,” Harrison said so bluntly and unequivocally that he could hardly get it out without clenching his teeth.

They looked at each other again. “Then you’ve got to find somebody, if you haven’t already,” his COO said. “Since you never confide in us, we don’t know what you have going on in your private affairs. We know nothing about you in that area. But Carter’s right. Time is running out.”

What Carter and the others didn’t know was that Harrison had been thinking about it the moment his father summoned him and his brother to his Kennebunkport compound.

He didn’t know that having a woman was the reason for this sudden competition to be heir.

But once he found out, and found out from his own sources that didn’t include anyone at that table, he knew he had to act.

But he needed somebody he could control.

Not someone his age, but younger, although he never cared for younger women.

But somebody who would understand from jump that this was a financial transaction and nothing more.

Somebody who needed the money more than they needed the man.

The women in his social circles, and in his age group, would want the man more than they would ever want (or need) the money.

He wasn’t allowing any woman to get too close to him that way ever again.

This woman, this waitress he couldn’t stop eyeing, could be the perfect choice.

But he had to get her alone. And talk to her.

And see for himself if she was looking for love, or a fat payday.

The love he couldn’t help her with. Love was for fools.

But the pay- he could help her there. But he had to know where she was coming from before he so much as mentioned to her what his interest in her was truly about.

And he also wanted her alone to figure out, once and for all, why she caused him to have such an unusually intense rush of emotions whenever he laid eyes on her. Where was that coming from? And how could he get it to stop!

“What about her?” he finally said as his eyes, once again, darted across the room to Jayda.

“What about who?” asked an excited Carter as he looked around the room.

“Who are you talking about?” asked Archie and Dalton, too, as they both looked.

“Her,” said Harrison, nodding toward Jayda. “That girl.”

“Which girl? The blonde at that corner table?”

“No.”

“The blonde at that back table?”

“No, Archie,” said Harrison. “The black girl.”

They all realized he was looking at their waitress. “ That girl?” asked his stunned COO.

They all looked at Jayda. Then they all looked at Harrison. “You’re joking,” said his stunned CEO.

“Does it look like I’m joking?”

“Well.No.”

“My father is a very progressive man. Big on civil rights and the rest of it for as long as I can remember.”

“Poor fellow,” said Dalton, and they all laughed. All except for Harrison.

And just like that they had forgotten that they didn’t even know the political leanings of their boss.

They were all staunch Republicans, and only fraternized with people of a similar ilk, but what was Harrison?

They really knew next to nothing about his private life, including that part of it.

The only reason they knew about Gweneth at all was that she was raised among the Kennebunkport and Southampton blue-bloods right along with them, and they all ran in the same social circles still to this day.

Harrison continued. “The fact that I would bring somebody so outside of the norm would interest him more than a run-of-the-mill socialite.”

“But I thought your thing were redheads,” said Archie.

“I thought big-boobed redheads were your type too,” said Dalton.

“And what led you to think that?” asked Harrison. They knew next to nothing about his private life.

“They’re basing it on Gweneth,” said Carter. “I’m basing it on all those women you used to date in our younger days. More than a few of them were redheads. At least I thought they were. I thought that was your type.”

“I don’t have a type,” said Harrison.

But then Carter began nodding his head and smiling.

“Actually, there’s some validity to your idea,” he said.

“HB is a flaming liberal if you ask me. And you’re right: He always has been.

You bring home a cute little innocent-looking black girl and maybe, just maybe that’ll take it over the top for you.

Very clever, Harrison. Very clever. That’s why you’re the boss. ”

But Archie was shaking his head. “I don’t see it.

Not this. What’s so clever about choosing a black waitress over someone in our social ranks?

How on earth could HB find any positive whatsoever in such a minefield of a decision?

He’ll rule her a gold-digging hussy on day one and will refuse to allow Harrison anywhere near his fortune.

Maybe even his estate. Old white liberals like your father talk a good game, but they don’t invite that game into their homes. We’ll all be doomed!”

“It’s a risk for sure,” said Carter, the numbers man at the table. “But it’s a calculated risk that could very well give Harrison the upper hand.”

“But will she do it?” asked Dalton.

Carter frowned. “She works in a restaurant. Of course she’ll do it.”

Harrison stood up, and they all quickly followed suit. “I’m due on a conference call. I’ll be in the limo. Set up a meeting in a couple weeks, Friday night, at the penthouse.”

Carter was confused. “A couple weeks? At your dinner party?”

“Yes.”

“But do you think that’s wise? Bringing her to your home I mean?”

“I’m not taking her to my father’s home without having a conversation with her. Of course it’s wise. I’m going to be in Europe for the next two weeks so that’s the only available time I have before I meet with Father. I need to see what she’s made of.”

Then Carter slowly smiled. “You ruthless sonafabitch. Feeding her to the wolves already?”

“What do you think my family is going to be? Sheep ? Better to get fed on my end,” he said. And then he left.

They all sat back down.

“Why doesn’t that man have a bodyguard yet?” asked Archie. “I’m still uncomfortable with that.”

“Nobody knows him. They know his company. They know his father’s company. They even know his name. But they don’t know his face because he’s so reclusive. But in any event, he does have a bodyguard.”

“Who?”

“Vincent.”

“Who’s Vincent? His driver?”

“Desmond is his driver. Vincent is his bodyguard,” said Dalton. “He stays in the background, but he’s always around. He just followed him outside.”

“He was in here?” asked Archie. “I didn’t see him.”

“That’s the point,” said Carter. “Harrison likes his autonomy. But his brother Felix? That’s another story. He’s a publicity hound. He loves being known and being seen. He needs plenty bodyguards. But Harrison? I agree with Carter. Vincent is enough.”

“I guess everything’s bothering me,” said Archie.

“The board is getting restless and staying up my ass, while Harrison doesn’t seem to be taking any of it seriously.

We rise and fall as he rises and falls. We need to protect our investment more.

And the idea of bringing that waitress to his father’s estate is maddening to me.

Now I’ve heard it all. Somebody like her as a guest at Bainbridge Manor? Please!”

“Or even at his party here in town,” said Dalton. “You know how the ladies in our circle can be. They’ll eat that poor child alive.”

“Gweneth has her faults,” said Archie. “Lord knows she has her faults. But she would have been such an easier choice.”

They all agreed with that. But Carter, who above all in their circle actually cared about Harrison, was worried.

This could go so wrong. Instead of tipping the scales in his favor, it could all backfire.

But it was the Harrison he knew. Always taking risks.

Always going against the grain. Always making an easy path much more difficult.

But as soon as Jayda saw Harrison leave, she hurried over to the table. “Is everything alright?”

Carter pulled a card out of his wallet. “Our boss was supposed to take care of the bill,” he said to laughter from the other two men, “but he had to leave. I’ll put it on the company card.”

“Yes sir,” she said as she reached for the card.

“And also,” he added before releasing the card, “I wish to see the manager.”

Jayda’s heart dropped. Had their “boss” remembered her angry remark to him, not to mention that dent she put in his limo, and he wanted to get her back by getting her fired?

It was a privilege of the rich she knew all too well.

“Right away, sir,” she said, grabbed the card and the bill, and left their table.

Tears wanted to come, because she knew she was guilty as charged, but she fought with all she had to not let anybody ever see her cry. If she was forced to leave this job, she was leaving with her head held high. No matter what.

She went and got her boss.