A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT

A relationship with the CEO had been quickly revealed, and Nina had been named in the divorce proceedings between the CEO and his wife. Nina had gone home in disgrace where she took a job with her father’s company, and then months ago, with Standard Gate communications.

Only last week, intimate photographs of Nina Taylor with billionaire Julian Martin had appeared in another article the day after Julian Martin had reportedly signed a multimillion-dollar advertising contract with Standard Gate.Owned by NôvelDrama.Org.

Blah, blah, it went on and on, vilifying Nina and along with her, Standard Gate Communications. His stomach churned, and he felt the urge to vomit.

His gaze caught the latest issue of Advertising Media. Fresh off the press and delivered just this morning. It was just as Nina had said. The announcement was there for the world to see, but it was tainted by those photos…. and people were still talking about it even a week later.

He picked up the paper and stared at it again. There was no way. No way in hell she’d done what they accused her of. He had known Nina since high school and even if it hadn’t been too long since he got to know her again, he damn well knew she wouldn’t have done something like this. If she did have a relationship with this bastard, it wasn’t so she’d get a promotion. And she certainly wouldn’t ruin anyone’s marriage. He wanted to go kill someone. Preferably whoever had started this smear campaign. No one messed with the woman he loved and got away with it.

All the air left his lungs in a painful jolt.

Loved?

He liked Nina. Liked her a damn lot. She was beautiful, vibrant, sexy as hell. She was a great lover and partner. He had fun with her. He loved her company. But did he love her? True, he’d had a crush on her when they were younger, but that had gone away. And when he saw her again he was very attracted to her… But love?

The knot in his stomach grew. How could he be so stupid about his own personal life? Surely it would have occurred to him before now if he was in love with someone.

He stopped and let his thoughts catch up with the breathless, panicky feeling in his chest.

How had he gone all these years with never having fallen in love? He’d never even contemplated the idea until now. He wasn’t at all sure he liked it, either.

Love was such a messy emotion. It was bound to be inconvenient. You sure couldn’t put it on a schedule and love never played by the rules. He liked rules. And schedules. Ah, hell, he was absolutely in love with her.

It was why he was sitting here in such a terrible mood that his usually easygoing office staff wouldn’t come near him for fear of being decapitated.

He looked again at the article, and his chest utterly caved in. Nina. God, he’d been such an idiot. A complete and utter, madly-in-love moron.

He’d reacted just like a petulant child, furious that his favorite toy was being taken away. In this case, Nina had wanted to put their relationship on hold and all he could see was that she was pushing him away. He’d panicked. He’d been a total ass…. Even at her apartment the other day.

She needed him. Needed his support. And he’d told her to take a hike. Worse, he’d arrogantly told her not to bother changing her mind and come crawling back.

He winced. Holy hell in a bucket but he’d said some horrible things. If there was any crawling to do, it would be him doing it. In the mud. Over broken glass.

Her tear-stained face came painfully to mind. The hell she must have endured.

Her coworkers had seen the photos. Everyone in her profession had likely seen them. They’d all probably come to some very inaccurate conclusions… And he hadn’t even thought about all that then.

He’d been selfish and demanding from the start, and he had accused her of the same thing. He hadn’t given one moment’s consideration to how their relationship would reflect on her. It had all been about him. His wants and needs. He didn’t care if anyone knew about them, but she had. And with good reason.

He should have been standing with her. He should have supported her. Now it looked as if the world had turned on her, and where was he? Off licking his wounds while she faced the world alone. To hell with that.

He had a woman to win back.

——————-

Nina was clearing up her desk and getting ready to go home when someone knocked on her office door.

“Come in” she said, looking up

She smiled when Camille walked into her office.

“Hello,” Camille said.

“Hey,” Nina replied. “Thought you had gone home”

“Yeah, I was about to, but I decided to stop at Rosa for a bit drink and I thought maybe you would like to come with me”

“Oh that’s so thoughtful, ” Nina said, smiling at Camille. “That’s a great idea. Things have been kinda tough lately. Just give me a minute so I clear these papers on my desk. I hate coming to work in the morning and finding paperwork scattered all over. Please seat down”

“Sure, I will wait,” Camille said.

“I didn’t come to work with my car today, so you will have to take me home when we are done, is that okay?” Nina asked.

“Yeah. No big deal”

Twenty minutes later, they were in Camille’s car and headed towards Rosa and soon they were at the bar giggling and talking about work. Nina had almost forgotten about everything bothering her when Camille said,

“So, I don’t mean to pry, but how are you taking the whole Julian Martin and Standard Gate thing? I know some people are still talking about it and I know this isn’t easy for you”

Nina sipped her drink and shook her head. “You have no idea how annoying and hurtful it is,” she said. “Whatever has happened has happened already, and I realize that there is nothing I can do about it but suck it up. What hurts more is that story about the first company I worked for was also there…. Someone dug the whole thing up. I have tried real hard to put that incident behind me… But here I am, back where I was before “