The Billionaire’s Crush

by Tineka Brown

  “And you’re my wife.”

  “I…” Olympia half wanted to launch into a speech about how she’d never imagined any of this, in her wildest dreams, but she settled for, “I love you, Everett.”

  “And I love you, Olympia.”

  The end... but wait:

  Marrying The Pastor's Billionaire Son

  A BWWM Christian Romance

  A Christian romance story for adults, suitable for over 18s only due to love making scenes between a married couple.

  Fiercely independent Abigail has seen what marriages have done to her parents.

  Convinced it's what drew them apart as people, she's vowed she would never marry and let the same thing happen to her.

  That is until David Wade, the billionaire son of her pastor, comes along.

  When David's father sends him and Abigail to help build a church, the two find they have more in common than they first realize.

  But unless something changes, David may not be able to make Abigail the wife he's always dreamed of.

  Can David show her that marriages are made in heaven and take her to be his bride?

  Find out in this feature long story by best selling Christian romance author Shannon Gardener.

  Suitable for over 18s only due to sex scenes between a God fearing married couple.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 1

  “Dad, I hate to tell you this but I have a company to run and things to do. You don’t get to be a billionaire by being absent from your company for a whole month!” David Wade the second said impatiently. “How about I write a check and finance the entire venture?”

  Pastor David Wade the first looked at his twenty-six year old son with a pained glance. They were in his church office and he was behind his desk. The boy was spoiled, he thought with an inward grimace. He had spent his entire life accumulating worldly pleasures and had been linked to dozens of different women who although the names changed; they all looked alike. Tall, blond and skinny and maybe not a single thought inside their pretty little heads. It did not help that he was rakishly handsome with raven black hair and cobalt blue eyes. He had built his company from the ground up, creating and selling computer games. He gave generously to charity but what Pastor David wanted for his son was for him to settle down with a nice Christian young woman and let God be the pilot in his life.

  He had called him over to tell him about the ministry he was going to start in a small remote island and he needed his help; not just financial this time but he needed him being there physically.

  “I would go myself but you know the doctors said that I am not well enough to travel right now,” he hated using his health issues which in fact was not so bad but if that’s what it took. “I need someone with the sharp mind to see to this project.” Their identical blue eyes clashed and it was the son that looked away first. Pastor David did not get no as an answer very often.

  “Okay fine,” Dave said grudgingly. “When do I leave?”

  *****

  Abigail was excited. She had been a part of the ‘Church of Hope’ ministry for the past three years now and apart from working in the church office she was also in charge of the youth department. Pastor David Wade had saved her sanity by pointing her to a better way of life. She had been living with her mother and suffered the brunt of her mother’s bitterness after her father had left and gotten a divorce. She'd had to listen to her mother rail at God and all those around her about the way her life had turned out. It affected her so much that she had not been able to form a relationship. She was now living a full life and had been offered a self-contained flat on the church compound by Pastor David and his wife Missionary Elaine and the two people had become like parents to her.

  Now she had been offered the opportunity to go away and build a ministry on some island or the other and she was thrilled. She loved the Lord and working for Him was something she had thrown herself into doing. She would be gone for a month or maybe more, depending on how well it went. The only drawback would be Pastor David’s spoiled rich son. She had tried her best to dissuade him with the argument that it was better he sent someone else who knows the ministry and what to do but he had stood firm. His son was financing the venture and he wanted him to get involved in the ministry as well; it would do him good. Abby had seen Dave a few times when he had breezed into his father’s office. She had taken an instant dislike to him and even though she knew she was not supposed to hate anyone but the man got on her nerves. He would waltz into the office and without knocking, giving her a cheeky grin as he opened the door to his father’s office. She had stopped telling him that it did not matter that he was Pastor David’s son but there were protocols to follow. What if he was in there with a member of his congregation meeting with them confidentially? He had told her that his father did not mind one bit so neither should she.

  Abigail had spent most of her life dealing with people who tried to get under your skin and she had learned from dealing with her mother that a war cannot get started with just one person. In fact, if you do not participate then the other person would end up waging a war against himself. She had learned the art of not arguing but with one cool look she did not have to say anything else.

  But she was not going to let that get in the way of how excited she was. It was a new challenge and she was looking forward to it. She was going to do the work of the Lord and that was what she had to keep reminding herself. He was just going to be a tiny inconvenience and not part of the bigger picture; she was just glad that Pastor David trusted her enough to send her.

  She hurried back into the office. She had been on the road to make some payments for the office and she was running a little bit late because she had stopped to get coffee. They were both coming out of the office when she got there and Pastor David had a pleased expression on his handsome lined face while his son looked resigned. They were both replica of each other and standing side by side they were striking.

  “Ah, my dear Abby, back already?” Pastor David smiled at her fondly. Abigail ignored the younger man and flashed a genuine smile at her pastor.

  “And here I was thinking I was running late,” she put the coffee and her pocket book on the desk and turned to face her employer/pastor.

  “I was discussing the arrangements with Dave here and he’ll be handling the transportation side of it.” Pastor David told her. He never failed to be taken aback by how breathtakingly beautiful she was. His church was a mixture of black and white and they got along very well together. She was a beautiful young woman whom he considered to be more than a member and an employee but even though their colors were different he thought of her more like a daughter.

  She had worn a tailored black pin striped skirt suit today and her usually unruly black curls were tamed somewhat in a bun on top of her head. Gold knobs glinted in her earlobes with matching bracelets at her wrists.

  “Very useful of him,” she said, sparing Dave a brief glance. “So I take it we will be traveling first class?” she raised tapered brows at him.

  “I will see what I can do,” he said stiffly, no doubt offended by her implication that he could not travel economy class.

  “Thank you,” Abby said sweetly. Without another word he left the office. She turned to see Pastor David smiling at her knowingly.

  “You two are going to do great,” he told her gently as he went back inside his office.

  Abigail went home that evening and started packing. Pastor David had told her they were leaving next Friday and although today was just Monday she wanted to make sure that she had everything ready. The apartment was small and next door to the church with only a fence parting them. It was small but she had made it her own by adding gaily colored throw rugs and festive cu
rtains and she was very comfortable. Her mother lived a few miles away and Abby made sure she called her dutifully every week to make sure she was doing okay. But Eileen Walters did not know anything else but being bitter and always complaining. Abby tried to make the conversation as brief as possible.

  She had seen what being married and later divorce had done to her mother. She remembered as a little girl how she had often watch her mother getting ready to go out and how she had looked at her in rapt admiration. She had taken her looks from her mother. She had not been too young to notice that they had never been happy together and she remembered the cold silences and the heated arguments mostly instigated by her mother. She had remembered her father as a plain simple man and how her mother had told him so many times that he was lucky to be with her.

  She had seen him crying one day in the study and when she had burst in he had quickly wiped away the tears and taken her into his arms, telling her that no matter what; he would always love her.

  She still heard from him and knew that he had remarried and had another family but Abby had never forgotten that he had taken the coward’s way out and left her with a woman who had made her the object of her profound misery.

  Abby sank in the small shabby red sofa that she had gotten at a garage sale and had used a brightly colored quilt to wrap. She stretched out her legs and leaned back with a sigh. She was heavily involved in church work and found no time to be lonely. She considered herself to be blessed and she never thought that not having a man was something to mourn about.

  *****

  He used his own personal jet and Abby was not in the least bit surprised. Men like David Wade did not travel economy if they could manage.

  She saw him looking at her and she ignored him. She had dressed carefully in black jeans and a white dress shirt and ankle length boots. She had put her hair in a ponytail and had withheld the make-up just putting on a rose color lip gloss. They were armed with periodicals, Bibles, hymn books and supplies of water and a lot of gifts for the island children. Abby had suggested to Pastor David that it would be a good idea to also start a day care center for the small children.

  The flight was long but the plane was comfortable and the food was good. “Do a lot of traveling?” he asked her politely. She'd had her head buried in a book the first half hour and he knew she probably did not want to talk to him. Tough, he thought grimly, he was the one putting himself out; not the other way around and she ought to be very grateful.

  “No,” she said briefly without looking up.

  He stared at her in angry frustration. He was used to being feted by women far more beautiful and who had so many letters behind their names that you would think that they were carrying the whole alphabet and this ‘nobody’ made it her point of duty to ignore him.

  He gritted his teeth and tried again; reminding himself that he was doing it for his parents; not her. “My father said that you are making great strides in the ministry.”

  This time she looked at him. He was seated across from her and had a newspaper in his hands. He was wearing designer jeans and a striped red and white shirt and his glossy black hair was combed back from his forehead. “Are those your words?” she asked him in amusement.

  “I am afraid so,” he said a little sheepishly.

  “I figured as much because your father has enough sense and class to use better words,” she told him coolly going back to the book she was reading.

  David felt as if all the air had gone from his body. How dared her. He opened his mouth to give her a dressing down that she would soon not forget but he held his tongue. After all it was not like she meant anything to him – they were two strangers passing in the night and after they had finished what his father had asked, they did not have to be in each other’s company anymore.

  His phone rang just then and the caller ID showed that it was Mellie, a model he had been dating on and off for a couple of months. He had decided to call it quits with her but had not gotten the chance to do so. Now he was glad she had called. It would give him a chance to show ‘miss coldness’ that he was not hard up for women.

  “Hey you,” he greeted the girl warmly, his eyes on Abby. She did not even give the slightest indication that she heard him.

  “I miss you too sweetheart,” he lied, still looking at Abby for some sort of reaction. She did not budge; appearing to be very engrossed in whatever the hell she was reading.

  “I know love; I just have to deal with something for my Dad and we will pick up where we left off.” He said throatily. He was getting tired of the playacting and the lying and wanted to hang up the phone. He assured the girl that he would call her soon and then hung up. Abby was still reading and he felt like one big fool.

  The flight attendant came around with the menu and he made his order and noticed that she was just having salad and water.

  “We have quite a variety of food on the plane so you can order whatever you wish,” he told her. He himself had ordered lobster in cream sauce and wild rice.

  “I am well aware of that,” she told him coolly, looking at his plate and his glass of champagne. “Not all of us have expensive taste like you David; this is just fine with me.”

  He did not answer her; because if he had he would be losing his cool and he would not let one slip of a girl have that power over him. He had tried to be polite and friendly but she obviously had some burr up her but and that was not his responsibility. He was done.

  Abby knew she had gone too far but she could not force herself to apologize. He was everything she did not like in a man and he rubbed her the wrong way. She had been praying that she would be able to be civil with him but so far it had not worked. Especially after that totally nauseating phone call with the hapless girl Mellie who no doubt had hung on to his every word as if it were the Gospel. She had stolen glances at him when he was not looking and could see the uninterested look on his face while his lips said something else. He further corroborated what she knew about men: they were not to be trusted and they used women to their own advantages.

  *****

  They were picked up from the airport by a Deacon Williams who had been assigned to take them around even though David had said he was going to rent a car. The man was a big cheerful black man who had a charming accent and who expressed his genuine delight in seeing them. “I have met our dear Pastor David twice and it’s very nice to meet other people from his congregation. I have to say sir, that you are the spitting image of your father.” He beamed at David as he took their bags and put them in the trunk of the car. “The place where we are going is a little way from the airport so I have put some cool lemonade in the igloo and there are cups to pour it into.” He took his place in the driver’s seat and made sure they were safely in the back before he drove off.

  He chatted all the way and Abby only half listened as she found her eyes taking in the colorful scenery. When they had come outside at the airport it had been a shock to her system at the brilliance of the sunshine. There were a lot of trees and shrubberies and Deacon Williams pointed out the different trees and animals they were unfamiliar with. She was glad he kept the conversation going so she did not have to have a conversation with David; even though he had not said a word since she had been so sharp with him on the plane.

  The villa was a three bedroom, two bathroom cottage like building and had a charming garden complete with white picket fence. It was near the building that was going to be the church when it was completed. Pastor David had said there was no preacher designated yet but in time there would be. Even though the building was not yet completed, services were still held there. Items like food; clothing, books and even toys had been shipped and would reach them in two weeks.

  Deacon Williams opened the oak door with a flourish and allowed them to enter the cool building. The living room was charmingly cheerful and he led them to the kitchen which was surprisingly large and modern.

  “This is supposed to be the Pastor and his family cottage as soon as we hav
e identified one but for now it is yours,” he beamed, white teeth flashing in his black face. “A church member; Mrs. Larkins is assigned to do household duties such as cooking, cleaning and doing the laundry. She will be by later as she had some things to take care of. She left something in the fridge for you to heat up.”

  “Thanks Deacon,” Abby held out one slim hand and he took it in his large one.

  “You’re welcome Sister Abby,” he told her with a smile. “All our numbers are right there on the fridge and you can call anytime and I will come running.”

  “Is there somewhere I can get a car to rent?” David asked him.

  “Yes of course Mr. David,” he said amiably. “Do you want to deal with that now?”

  “Yes, if you don’t mind,” he answered and Abby had a feeling he was trying to get away from her presence. “And I would like to know where I can go and set up an internet service for here.”

  “If you’re ready?” he made his way towards the door.

  “I’ll be with you shortly,” he told the man briefly. “Will you be okay?” he asked turning towards her.

  It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she had been taking care of herself for years now but she held back. “Yes, thanks,” she told him politely.

  He looked at her searchingly for a minute and then he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

  Abby sank down on the brightly patterned sofa and realized she was sweating a little. There was a large fan to the side of the sofa and she switched it on. She liked the fact that she was alone right now; it gave her a chance to relax and think. She hated the fact that he would be staying in the same house but she was going to do her best to ignore him and she was going to be kept busy so that she did not have to be in his way. She was excited about this project and she had no intention of letting him take away the joy she felt going into it; even if he was her beloved pastor’s son.