Billionaire Woman Bet Single Dad Couldn’t Last 5 Minutes With Her — He Stayed All Night
The First Rejection at The Velvet Room
Poor bartender rejected the billionaire three times; she said, “I don’t give up.”
Hello everyone and welcome back to Romance Rewind Stories.
Now let’s get into today’s story. Poor bartender rejected the billionaire three times; she said, “I don’t give up.”
The first time Lennox Sterling asked Cade Mercer out, he was wiping down the bar at the Velvet Room. It was an upscale lounge where he worked six nights a week to support his sick mother and put himself through night school.
It was 11 p.m. on a Thursday, and he’d been on his feet for seven hours straight.
“Another whiskey sour,” came a voice that was already becoming familiar.
It was smooth, confident, with an edge of amusement that suggested its owner was used to getting what she wanted. Cade looked up to find Lennox Sterling watching him with those striking violet eyes.
Whether from contacts or genetics, he wasn’t sure. She’d been coming to the bar for three weeks now, always alone, always ordering the same drink. She always sat in the corner booth where she could observe everything.
He knew who she was; everyone did. Lennox Sterling, the twenty-nine-year-old heiress to the Sterling Hotels empire, was worth somewhere in the billions. She was featured regularly in society pages alongside various unsuitable dates her family apparently disapproved of.
“Coming right up,” Cade said, already mixing her drink with practiced efficiency.
At thirty-one, he’d been bartending for a decade and could make anything without thinking about it. When he set the glass in front of her, Lennox didn’t immediately pick it up.
Instead, she leaned forward. Her designer dress was cut low enough to be distracting. Her expression was direct and unapologetic.
“Have dinner with me,” she said.
It was not a question, but a statement. Cade blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“Dinner tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at eight.”
“I work tomorrow night,” Cade said, caught between amusement and disbelief.
“And every night. I’m a bartender, Miss Sterling; we don’t get weekends off.”
“Then breakfast, or lunch, or coffee at 3:00 a.m. I’m flexible.”
Lennox smiled, and it was devastating, confident, and sexy. It was the smile of a woman who knew exactly how attractive she was.
“I like you. I want to take you out. What do you say?”
“I say no,” Cade replied.
He turned to serve another customer before she could see his face flush.
“But thank you for the offer.”
When he returned, Lennox was still sitting there, looking more intrigued than insulted.
“Did you just reject me?”
“Yes.”
“People don’t reject me,” she observed, taking a sip of her drink.
“Then consider it a new experience,” Cade said dryly.
“Character building.”
Lennox laughed, a real laugh, surprised and delighted.
“I like you even more now. Most men would have said yes immediately or stammered about how unworthy they are. You just rejected me like it was nothing.”
“Because it is nothing,” Cade said, though his heart was hammering.
“You’re bored, rich, and slumming it in a bar where people like me work. You’ll get tired of the novelty in a week and move on to the next shiny thing. I’m not interested in being someone’s entertainment.”
Something flickered in Lennox’s eyes—hurt, maybe, or respect.
“That’s quite an assumption about me.”
“Am I wrong?” Cade challenged.
Lennox was quiet for a moment, studying him.
“Fair enough. I have earned that reputation. But you’re wrong about one thing: you’re not entertainment. You’re interesting. There’s a difference.”
“Still no,” Cade said, but gentler this time.
“We’ll see,” Lennox replied, leaving a $50 tip on a $15 drink.
“I don’t give up easily.”
