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  © Copyright 2016 by Kasa Stephenson -All rights reserved.

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  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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  Perfect Strangers

  Gay Billionaire Romance

  By: Kasa Stephenson

  Table of Contents

  Perfect Strangers

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Perfect Strangers

  Description

  Rick Staten and Tyler Gray are both men that have suffered in their love lives. They have both been divorced and despite all of his billions, Tyler can't seem to find happiness in anything he does, until he meets Rick. Their common experience brings them together as they find solace in each other’s arms, a journey that leads them to experience their first ever gay experience.

  Chapter 1

  Rick Staten

  “Heading off to work already, Rick?” his mother shouted from her bedroom as Rick passed by her door.

  “I really wish that I didn’t have to, Mom, but I have to make ends meet,” he said as he stopped by the huge mirror in the corridor to see if he had combed his hair right.

  “Try not to stay out late. I really need you to take me to your aunt’s place,” Mandy Staten shouted from the bedroom as Rick started making his way down the stairs.

  “I'll try, Mom, but I can't promise. You can never tell how it goes at the hotel,” he said to her.

  Rick's mother was visiting from Baltimore with many excuses as to why she had come, but Rick knew that she was here to keep him company after his painful divorce. Much as Rick didn’t want to admit it, things were not going as he would have liked. His life had taken a very complicated path over the past few years, it was hard for him to even imagine it. It wasn’t like it had been painted while he was still in college. Back then, life had looked like one of those very good dreams, but living the reality was completely something else.

  Rick Staten worked at the Royal Palms Resort in Miami and had been there for the past two years. He was a concierge and although there were many people that could kill for a job that didn’t have too much stress, Rick found it overly boring. He wished that he could get something that was a little more challenging, but getting any sort of decent job seemed like the hardest thing. He, however, believed that his opportunity would one day come, he just didn’t know when.

  “Morning, Rick,” the gateman downstairs said to him as he walked out of the building.

  “Morning, Clive, have a good day,” Rick said as he headed into the street to where his car was packed.

  Rick had confidence that one day things would go well for him, and that was one of the reasons why he dressed up every day he went to work. He made sure that he always looked his best. Even while at work, he was always on top of his manners. Things were slow as he got to the hotel and made his way to the changing rooms so that he could change into his work uniform.

  “Hey buddy, you just checking in? I thought that you were working the evening today,” Mose said as Rick got to the reception area ten minutes later.

  “Nope, I asked them to change my shift today. There is somewhere that I need to take my mother to this afternoon,” he smiled at his friend.

  “I've always preferred mornings too. It gives me a lot of time to get other things done once I'm out,” Mose replied as he scooted over in the booth to allow Rick to pass.

  “I don’t know,” Rick said thoughtfully. “I kinda prefer the evening shifts since during the day I can mess around with my own stuff. The evenings usually get relaxed as time goes by I can relax or even nap before I head home.”

  “I think you actually have a point there, Rick. I've never thought about it that way,” Mose replied as he settled back down on his seat.

  A beep went off in their booth and both men stood up.

  “Guys, a new client has just arrived and we need your help getting his stuff up to his room,” Martha, one of the receptionists said to them.

  “Right on it, Martha,” Rick said as he hurried out of the booth and toward the main entrance of the hotel.

  One of the good things about this job, even though he didn’t really enjoy it, was the fact that there were many clients that usually offered generous tips when the job was well done. From the look of the entourage parked outside the resort, Rick had a feeling that this was one of those clients. A black limo was escorted by two sedans, one in the front, and the other in the back. The limo came to a stop directly in front of the main entrance of the hotel as Rick hurried to open the passenger door.

  The passenger was a male client, probably in his mid-forties. He had a cigar in his hand as he stepped out of the limo donning an expensive-looking suit. His shoes looked like crocodile leather, while a gold and diamond studded Rolex shone on his wrist. Rick wondered if he would ever get to that status where he could have all the luxuries in the world.

  “Good morning, sir, welcome to the Royal Palms Resort,” Rick said, reaching out his hand to help the man out of the vehicle.

  “Get out of my way, young man,” the guy said as he ignored the outstretched hand and went ahead to get out of the car without Rick's help.

  “I'm sorry, sir,” Rick said, but the man totally ignored him.

  Rick hated the man already and he wondered where Mose was so that he could take over as Rick silently vanished from the scene.

  “Help my chauffeur with the bags, will you,” the man commanded.

  How rude! Rick cursed under his breath as he made his way to the back of the car to get the bags from the trunk. Rick hated people who were rich and arrogant, and especially those who felt as if they owned everything around them, like this man.

  “Carlise, make sure that the young man doesn’t damage anything, will you?” the man said to his chauffeur as he walked into the hotel.

  Rick had never felt so offended in his life before. The chauffeur smiled at him as he popped the hood open.

  “Don’t mind Mr. Gray, the poor fellow has been like that since divorcing his wife a year ago,” the chauffeur smiled. “I don’t think that he has ever gotten over it. She left him for a man half his age and it didn’t go very well with him.”

  “Oh my God! How do you put up with him? Doesn’t he, you know, get on your nerves sometimes?” Rick said, taking the case that the chauffeur handed him.

  “I've worked for Tyler Gray for more than a decade and I know that deep inside, he is a very good person,” the elderly chauffeur said as he fetched the next case. “I believe that he will soon be back to his normal self again.”

  The man moved closer to Rick as he wanted to tell him a secret, looking around as if searching for prying ears. “You wanna know what I think? I think that he should find himself another lover, that is the best way to get over his past.”

  Rick thought about what the chauffeur had just said as he placed the cases on a trolley. Well, at least he now understood why the man was so bitter, because he could easily place himself in his shoes. It was funny because his own mother had also told him to get himself another wife that would support him so that he could finally let go and move on with life. As he pushed the trolle
y toward the reception, he thought about it. Samantha had left him because she said that they had differences that wouldn’t be sorted out.

  In the beginning, it had all seemed like a joke that the woman who had lived with him as his wife for two years just wanted to suddenly pack up and move out. He couldn’t understand what was happening to his life. She soon left, and it was then that Rick realized that she had been going out with another man while they had been married. The man had been an old high school boyfriend of hers and even when Samantha had been married to Rick, they had maintained contact. Later on, they had met and reignited what they’d had in high school, only this time, it was more intense. The worst part was the fact that the guy had visited Samantha in his house, according to neighbors, while he was at work. Only God knew what they’d done in Rick's absence!

  Rick had since moved to a new apartment and was now struggling to move on with his life. It was tough and he felt as if he was rebuilding everything from scratch. The good thing was that work had kept him too busy to keep mopping around, until a month ago when Samantha had called him, asking him to forgive her and let her back.

  “You never know what you’ve got until you lose it,” were the words that he’d told her before hanging up the call.

  Once bitten, twice shy. There was no way that he could repeat the same mistake twice, and one of those mistakes was getting married.

  “Rick, take the guest up to suite 618,” Martha said to Rick, handing him the card key. “Welcome to the hotel, Mr. Gray, enjoy your stay. ”

  Chapter 2

  Tyler Gray

  Tyler didn’t want to admit it, but the concierge was kind of attractive. As he walked behind him to the elevators, Tyler found himself staring into his back. He was the sort of guy that was easily likable and although Tyler had not intended to talk to the guy so rudely, he could not believe it. To him, human beings were probably the worst species that existed on the planet. The evidence was something that he felt in his heart every single day, a sharp blade slicing through his very core. It was the pain of heartbreak and Tyler was sure that nobody would ever understand that feeling better than him.

  “Sir, would you like us to ride the elevator car with you? I think this luggage is too much and might make it too small for all of us to fit,” the guy, whose badge was written Rick Staten, said.

  “I usually don’t ride with servants, but I'll make it an exception this time, since I don’t know where the suite is.” He knew that he should have been a lot politer, but the words came out before he could stop them, and Tyler sensed the hurt in Rick's expression as he pressed the button and stepped aside to let Tyler into the elevator before entering it as he dragged the luggage behind him.

  The elevator ride up was in silence and didn’t make any attempt to talk to Tyler again. He seemed to concentrate on looking into the air through the mirrored elevator.

  “This way, Mr. Gray,” the man said as they piled out of the elevator. Rick waited for him to first exit before pulling out the trolley.

  There was a sad movement about the young man as they headed down the corridor. Tyler walked behind the man asking himself why he had to be so mean to him, and yet the guy was just doing his job.

  “Welcome to your suite, sir,” Rick said as he unlocked the door to the suite and handed the key to Tyler. “I can send someone up to help you unpack your bags, if you wish.”

  He deposited the cases next to the wardrobes and stood looking at Tyler.

  “I don’t think I'll be needing your services,” Tyler said, reaching into his pocket and fishing out a hundred-dollar bill, handing it to Rick.

  “I really don’t feel obligated to take this, sir,” Rick shook his head as he backed away.

  “I insist, and you should know that I have enough to give you even more of that every single day. Take it,” Tyler commanded as he wondered where all the manners and respect that he used to have evaporated too.

  “Thank you, may I take my leave?” the young man said as he took the bill from Tyler hesitantly.

  Tyler waved his hand and as Rick started walking toward the door, Tyler looked around the suite, headed over to the desk and placed his briefcase on it. Business had brought him to Miami although he also wished that it would give him a breather from Houston. It seemed as if he had been in a cocoon since his wife run off with that silly fellow, and Tyler felt as if his life was crumbling.

  He had also been way too tied down in Houston, and yet it was the place that held all the painful memories. In Miami, he intended to renovate his holiday home here and then spend a couple of weeks before he headed back to Houston. He hoped that the change would lift his spirits and make him feel normal again. He pulled his laptop out of the briefcase and flipped it open, immediately submerging himself into his virtual office.

  Tyler had been one lucky guy in life. He had everything that he needed, being one of the most successful businessmen in the region. His wealth amounted to billions of dollars, most of it earned through wit and hard work. He had been born of poor parents and the fact that he had seen them struggling to feed and clothe him along with his younger brother, had led him to make one choice in life. He was going to be rich, if only for his children’s sake. When he had married Louisa years ago, Tyler had felt as if he had it all. His life was filled with love, success, and family, every man’s dream. He went ahead and got two children with her, Tamika and Gordon, and everything had been going smoothly, until Louisa decided to leave him.

  She left him with the young kids, and they were probably his best consolation during the trying period. Tamika and Gordon were both in elementary school, which wasn’t too bad because they got to spend a lot of time in school while Tyler was at work. The kids had since gone to an exclusive boarding school so that he could concentrate on his businesses in the meantime, and Tyler tried to make as much time as possible to visit them, flying out to the Australian-based school every two weeks. Their mother barely had time for them and Tyler knew that he was all that they had. Despite that, Tyler also knew that he had his life to live. The kids would soon be all grown up and he would be left alone in the world. This was something that he had hoped would never happen, but women not being people that could be trusted, it was a very real possibility.

  He had been working for hours when he realized that he hadn’t had anything to eat. He had a series of meetings in the afternoon, after which he would go and check the progress on his house since he didn’t plan to stay at the hotel for long. After that, maybe he could go and hang around at the golf club with some of his billionaire peers. Much as he didn’t want to admit it, they were a very boring lot that only discussed money and philanthropy.

  “Hi, I would like you to bring me up something to eat. Can you please send someone up to take my order,” he said into the phone as he called the reception.

  “Sure thing, sir. We will send room service upstairs immediately,” the polite lady on the other end of the line said.

  “On second thought, I really like the steward who brought me to my room earlier today, what was his name… Rick,” he found himself saying. “I want you to send him up to take my order.”

  “Sure thing, sir. Let me beep him and have him come up.”

  There was something about the young man that still captivated him. There was a certain innocence that the guy seemed to have, something about him that Tyler couldn’t explain, that endeared him to Tyler. Tyler knew that the guy probably wanted nothing to do with him after the way that he had treated him earlier, but that wasn’t Rick's choice. Tyler was paying for services and he could demand whoever he wanted to serve him.

  Chapter 3

  Rick Staten

  “Come on, Martha, please tell him that I'm already finished with the shift,” Rick pleaded with the receptionist.

  “Rick, you know very well that I can't do that. Everything is being recorded and it could land us in trouble. I know that he is probably a pain in the butt, but it is for only a couple of minutes to take his order,” th
e blonde receptionist said to him, arching her brows as she looked at him.

  “Martha,” he threw his hands in the air.

  “I'm sorry Rick. You had better hurry, there comes the supervisor.”

  Sulkily, Rick made his way out of the booth before Harry, the supervisor came to find out what was happening. Why him? Rick couldn’t understand why the hell Mr. Gray asked for him specifically. The old man had too many issues and Rick didn’t want his bad moods spoiling his day like they had that morning. He picked up a room service menu and headed up to the room. When he got to the door, he knocked lightly at the door, hoping that Mr. Gray wouldn’t open the door, even though a couple of moments later, he heard footsteps coming toward the door.

  “Good afternoon, sir. I'm here to take your order,” he said politely as he handed Mr. Gray the menu without entering the suite.

  “Come on in and explain to me what is on the menu, Rick,” Tyler Gray said, taking the menu and walking into the room as Rick stood in the doorway staring after him.

  “Sir, at the moment all that we have are very simple foods. For the bigger meals, it is recommended to go down to one of the restaurants to place your order.” He didn’t make any move to enter the suite as Tyler turned to look at him.

  “Come on in,” Tyler said thoughtfully. “Look, I know that I was a little harsh with you earlier, and I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. What time do you come off your shift?”

  Okay, that caught Rick completely buy surprised as he stood by the door, his jaw dropping in shock. Tyler Gray was the last person Rick had expected to do such a thing. To Rick, Tyler was just one of those self-centered arrogant billionaires who despised all the people who weren’t in their social and economic class, even though he was suffering from his divorce, as his chauffeur had mentioned earlier. For a moment, Rick didn’t know what to say and just stood in the doorway staring.

  “What time do you come off your shift? I would like to make it up to you?” Tyler repeated, bringing Rick back to reality.