A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT

“You can’t have it both ways, Loveth. Either I was serious about you or you were an accessory,” he drawled.

“Which is it?” She flushed angrily. “I only meant that you haven’t dated any woman more than once since I broke things off with you.”

He made an exaggerated expression of surprise. “You flatter me. I had no idea you were so interested in who I date. I would have thought my brother kept you too occupied to monitor my love life.”

“Bring your date, Julian. But you know and I know she isn’t me. She’ll never be me. Don’t think you’ll take anything away from my wedding day.” Loveth hissed.

With that she stalked out of his office, leaving Julian to shake his head. He really ought to call his cousin and thank him profusely. He had dodged a bullet.

He sank into his chair and opened his day planner. Maggie kept meticulous records of all appointments for just such rare occasions that she was out of pocket. He frowned when he saw his calendar was full. Except for one forty-five-minute window for lunch.

His mind immediately went to Nina. Nina, whose office was not too far away from his. He’d planned to call her, but a proposition such as he had in mind was really better delivered in person. He could go to see her at Abby’s apartment later, but he didn’t have a lot of time, and he would be busy then. He doubted she had much free time, either, but he knew without arrogance that if he asked her to lunch, she wouldn’t refuse. She wanted his business too badly.

He picked up his phone and called her.

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Nina stepped out of the elevator and was met with a cheerful hello from Rebecca, the receptionist for Standard Gate Communications. Rebecca was young and friendly. She also had superb organization skills and a memory like a steel trap. Which made her a perfect asset. But more importantly, she knew everything about everyone at Standard Gate.

There wasn’t a piece of juicy gossip floating around that Rebecca didn’t know, and she didn’t mind sharing it. Nina found it kinda useful to keep in the know.

“Good morning, Rebecca,” Nina returned as she paused in front of Rebecca’s desk. “Any messages for me?” she asked.

Rebecca’s eyes twinkled and she leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially.

“Latest rumors that have surfaced are about the boss man and his assistant.” She said.

Nina frowned. “You mean, him and Camille?” she asked.

Camille didn’t seem like the type to indulge in a torrid office affair and definitely not with her boss. Nina felt compelled to warn Camille about the potential pitfalls of even having such a rumor circulate, but it was just a rumor, and Camille might not appreciate Nina broaching the subject.

Rebecca shrugged. “Well, they do seem to spend a lot of time together.”

“Of course they do. She’s his assistant,” Nina pointed out.

“I just repeat what others are saying.” Rebecca said.

Nina gripped her briefcase a little tighter. It wouldn’t do her any good to get involved. Evan and Camille were adults. She just hoped Camille wasn’t hurt by the idle gossip.

“Hey, Rebecca,” Nina began as she remembered why she’d stopped to begin with. “I need you to look up a cleaning service. My friend Tony needs one real bad” She dug around in her bag then pulled out a sheet of paper that had all the names of the agencies Tony had already contacted. Tony was actually her brother’s friend who she had become a bit closer to.

She handed it over the counter to Rebecca “These are the ones marked off the list of possibilities. I need you to make it clear this is a demanding client and that he’s a slob through and through. Money is no object but whoever the poor soul is who takes the job will definitely earn their paycheck.”

Rebecca grinned and her eyes widened as she picked up the list. “So this… Tony guy, is he hot? He needs a housekeeper? I’m available. I mean, I can totally quit here, right?… If he’s hot of course”

Nina shot her a “get real” look. “Let me know if you find someone. Oh, and I’m expecting a call from Julian Martin’s assistant. She’s supposed to call me directly, but if for any reason she calls you, you make sure that I get to talk to her. I don’t care what I’m doing or who I’m with, make sure I get that call.”

She smiled at Rebecca and then kept walking toward her office. Normally she’d stop in on some of her coworkers, say hello, get a feel for what the day’s events were, but she was already running late, thanks to a breakfast meeting going well into the brunch hour. She needed to play catch-up on phone messages and e-mails before a full afternoon of client calls and a staff meeting to close out the day.

She’d made a sizeable dent in the backlog of messages when her phone rang.

It was Julian.

She wiped her hand on her skirt then shook her head. What did she have to be nervous about? She sighed, shook her head and picked it up.

“Hello.” She said.

“Hey Red, how are you?” Julian replied.

Even his voice sent a bolt of awareness through her body. When would she stop acting like a teenage girl in the throes of her first sexual awakening? It was ridiculous. It wasn’t professional. And it was Julian for God’s sake.

“I’m good, Julian. And you?”

“I don’t have a lot of time. I wanted to meet for lunch today. That is, if your schedule permits?”

There was a note of confidence in his voice. As if he knew damn well she wouldn’t say no. Hastily, she checked her watch.

“What time?” she asked.

“Now.” he replied.

Panic scuttled around her stomach. Now? She wasn’t prepared to meet him now.

Surely he didn’t want to reschedule their informal pitch session from Friday to now?

“I thought we had a lunch date on Friday?”

She asked. She was stalling as her brain scrambled to catch up.

“I want to discuss Friday today. There’s been a change of plans.” Julian said.

Her heart sank. There was no way she could have her act together right now.