by Sandi Lynn
The next morning, around eight o’clock, I stepped into my Uncle Robbie’s office.
“Good morning, Fiona. What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to let you know that Nathan Carter will be here around nine o’clock for a meeting. I’ve decided to accept his business proposal.”
“That’s music to my ears, my darling niece.” He smiled as he got up from his desk and hugged me.
“Yeah, well, I have no choice and you know it.”
“I know and I’m sorry, but you’re doing the right thing.”
“I hope so.”
Walking to my office, I asked Josh to follow me inside.
“What’s up, boss?”
“I’m going to accept Nathan Carter’s business proposal and I wanted you to hear it from me first.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked.
“Semi-sure.” I took a seat behind my desk. “Just send him in when he gets here.”
“Will do.”
I looked at the clock. It was eight fifty-nine. He had exactly one minute to get his tight, perfectly shaped ass into my office. The clock struck nine and he and Will came strolling in.
“Good morning.” Nathan smiled.
“Good morning, gentlemen. Please have a seat.” I got up from behind my desk.
Nathan’s eyes raked over me from head to toe, making me uncomfortable but horny at the same time.
“I’ve decided to accept your business proposal, but there are stipulations I want in place.”
“What stipulations?” Will asked.
“No one in my company is to be let go. No bringing in your people and no getting rid of mine.”
“Done,” Nathan spoke.
“Also, when we start turning a profit again, I want my company back. I will pay you back your investment plus a percentage of the profits.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair and cocked his head.
“And you think you can do that so easily?”
“I know what I’m capable of with the right funds, and I have no doubt that Winslow Wines will be up and running again very soon.”
He narrowed his eye at me as he sat there with a smirk on his face.
“If you can triple your profit within the first year of our deal, consider it done. If you can’t, we’re staying. I also have a request I would like fulfilled,” he spoke.
“And what is that?” I cocked my head as I leaned back against my desk.
“I want an office here.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. At least a desk. Preferably right in that corner over there.” He pointed.
“In my office?” I laughed.
“Yes. I won’t be here much, but when I am, I’ll need a place to sit and work. After all, I will own the company, so it’s only natural I have a place to sit. Right?” His brow arched.
“Do you have a place to sit in all the other businesses you own, Mr. Carter?”
“No. But Winslow Wines is one I’m especially passionate about.” He grinned.
My legs voluntarily tightened and I let out a sigh.
“Fine. You can have your desk since it will only be temporary.” I smirked. “Have your attorneys draw up the final contract. We’ll send it over to mine and then present it to the board. The sooner we can get this deal moving, the sooner we can get the company back on track.”
“You’ve made the right decision, Miss Winslow.” Nathan got up from his seat and held out his hand.
“It’s a pleasure doing business with you.” Will did the same.
“Will, if you’ll excuse us for a moment, I need to speak with Nathan alone.”
“Sure. I’ll wait out in the hall.”
“Still thinking about last night.” Nathan smiled.
“No. Actually, I’m not. I just wanted to tell you that since we’re going to be working together, we need to keep it on a professional basis only.”
“Why?”
“Because anything else leads to complications and I don’t want there to be any. My main focus is Winslow Wines and that’s how it’s going to stay.”
“Okay, then. A professional basis only.” He was all too eager to answer.
“Thank you.” I nodded.
“Are we finished here?” he asked.
“Yes.”
I walked him over to the door, and when we stepped outside my office, I saw Lydia talking to Will.
“Lydia, what are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you.” There was a sadness in her eyes, and suddenly, I started to panic.
“Come on in. Gentlemen, it was nice to see you.” I gave a small smile, walked into my office, and shut the door.
“What’s wrong? Is it the baby?” I asked.
“No. The baby is fine. I got let go today.”
“WHAT?!” I exclaimed. “Why?”
“Bryce decided it was time to make some cuts. He made them in other departments as well. Since you left, clients have dropped. They said that if you couldn’t handle their accounts, they were going somewhere else.”
“I’m sorry.” I hugged her.
“What am I going to do?” She began to cry. “I have a baby on the way and no job. How the hell am I supposed to support this kid?”
“You listen to me.” I broke our embrace and clasped her shoulders. “What have you been talking about for the last couple of years?”
“What?” She looked at me in confusion.
“You want to start your own business. Now’s the perfect opportunity. You have enough money saved to get by for a while. Start your own freelance business. You already do some work on the side. Turn it into full-time. Just think, no more getting up at the crack of dawn to go to work for that asshole. No one telling you what to do. You’re your own boss, Lydia. When one door closes, another one opens.”
“Are you going to take your own advice?” She smiled.
“I’m different. I’m a mess. You’re not.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe this is a blessing.”
“It is. Now go home and start planning out your business. If you need help, call me.”
“Thank you.” She hugged me. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Same.” I pouted as I kissed her cheek.
“By the way, that Will guy, Nathan’s friend, he’s really hot and seems really nice. We were talking a bit while waiting for you and Nathan.”
“Yeah. Don’t.” I shook my head.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m going home now. I’ll call you later.”
As soon as she left, I took a seat behind my desk. That asshole Bryce knew she was pregnant and needed that job, plus the insurance. She was one of the most talented graphic artists at that company, and for him to let her go was inexcusable.
Chapter 29
Nathan
“I can’t believe you agreed to her stipulations,” Will spoke in irritation as we climbed inside the limo.
“I know what I’m doing. Do you really think she can triple profits in the first year?”
“No.”
“Neither do I. Anyway, she told me that our relationship needs to be strictly professional.”
“Why? And what relationship? You have sex with her like every other woman. There’s no relationship there.”
I didn’t say a word and stared out the passenger window.
“Are you upset she said that? I mean, you can still sleep with her and do business together. People do it all the time. Obviously, she thought there was a relationship thing there. Women are always thinking that. We fuck them and, bam, you’re suddenly in a relationship.”
I didn’t respond to his remark.
“That friend of hers, Lydia, she’s smoking hot and she seems nice. It’s weird. I felt really comfortable with her even though we only spoke for a few minutes.”
“She’s pregnant.” I looked over at him.
“Oh. So she’s married?”
“No. The baby daddy isn’t in the
picture. Some Tinder guy that lied to her.”
“That sucks. I was going to ask her out, but now that I know she’s pregnant, forget it.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t get involved with that if I were you.”
After returning to the office, I found myself extremely irritated. Irritated by what Fiona said about keeping a professional relationship. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted and it was probably best that I kept my distance from her for a while until I figured it out. I had become too wrapped up in her. Hell, I bought her flowers and I never bought the women I slept with flowers. I was confused and being in a Fiona-free zone for a few days was exactly what I needed. If she wanted a professional only type of thing, then that was what she’d get.
Chapter 30
Fiona
A few days had passed and I hadn’t heard a word from Nathan. I spent my days at the office trying to smooth over the creditors and promising them they’d get their money. The contract between Winslow Wines and Carter Management Group was delivered by Nathan’s assistant Kylie and I took them over to our attorney.
“Everything looks to be in order, Fiona. All you have to do is sign and it’s a done deal,” my attorney, Lex spoke.
“Thanks, Lex. I’ll call an emergency board meeting and we’ll get this settled.”
I had Josh call the board members to meet tonight at seven o’clock.
“Do you want me to call Nathan?” he asked.
“No. I’ll call him myself.”
The truth was I missed hearing his voice. I had no clue why he hadn’t been in contact with me or why he had his assistant bring over the contract. I tried not to think about him, but it was hard. I missed him, but I felt used. There was a part of me that felt like he slept with me and tried to see me so much because he wanted me to agree to his terms about the company. Once he got his way, he disregarded me as if nothing between us ever happened. I knew what I said to him about keeping our relationship professional, but I didn’t mean for him to stop coming around. Was he mad? Or was his game over with?
After Josh went back to this desk, I took in a deep breath and dialed Nathan.
“Nathan Carter.”
“Hi, Nathan. It’s Fiona.”
“Yes, I know. What can I do for you?”
His tone sounded cold and I didn’t like it.
“I got the contract back from my attorney and there’s a board meeting at seven o’clock. If all goes well, we can sign tonight.”
“I’ll be there. Is there anything else?”
“No. How have you been?”
“Good. Listen, Fiona, I’m in the middle of something. I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
****
I was sitting in my office, doing some work and waiting until the board meeting when I heard a light knock on my office door.
“Come in.”
When I looked up, Nathan walked through the door. My belly flipped at the sight of him.
“Hi.” I smiled.
“Are you ready for the meeting?” he asked with a serious tone.
“Yeah.” I grabbed the contract and walked with him to the boardroom.
The board of directors welcomed Nathan with open arms and I was insulted. Picking up the pen that was lying on the table, Nathan signed first and then handed the pen to me. As soon as I signed my name on the dotted line, a tear formed in my eye. I didn’t expect it to be so hard, but it was. I felt like I handed him my soul. After signing, I threw the pen down, walked out of the boardroom, grabbed my purse from my office, and ran the hell out of the building as fast as I could without saying a word to anyone. Climbing into my car, I took off out of the parking lot and headed home, where I curled up on the couch and wrapped myself in a blanket.
About an hour had passed and there was a knock on the door.
“Fiona, it’s me. Open up.” He pounded.
“Go away, Nathan.”
“If you don’t open the door, I’m going to keep pounding until the neighbors come out.”
Taking in a deep breath, I got up from the couch and opened the door.
“What do you want?” I asked in anger.
“Why did you run out like that?”
“Because I was tired and I wanted to get home.” I walked back to the couch.
“I don’t believe you.” He stood in front of me.
“Nathan, why are you here? I haven’t heard from you in days. I signed the damn contract, come home, and now you want to know what’s wrong? Fuck you!” I shouted.
“Is that why you’re so upset? Because you haven’t heard from me in a few days? Why would that upset you? You’re the one who said you wanted to keep things between us professional.”
“Well, considering you were going to take over my company, I would have expected to at least hear from you. For god sakes, you even had your assistant bring the contract to me.”
“Because I was busy. You’re not the only company I’ve invested in,” he shouted.
“Don’t you shout at me!”
“You shouted at me first and said fuck you!”
I got up from the couch and attempted to walk away until he grabbed hold of my arm.
“Don’t walk away from me.”
I was ready to go psycho on him, to unleash the inner beast that was trying to claw its way out. But instead, I took in a long deep breath because it wasn’t worth it.
“I’m sorry for saying that to you. You need to understand how hard all of this is for me. I’ve lost my parents and now I’ve had to sign over the company that my father worked so hard to build. I know I didn’t have a choice because he’s the one who made the mess, but it’s still hard.”
His grip on my arm loosened and he pulled me into him, holding my head against his chest.
“I know it must be hard and I’m sorry. But you made the right decision.”
Being wrapped up in his arms made me feel better and I hated myself for feeling that way. Nathan Carter wasn’t good for me. He had just as many demons inside of him as I did.
“Do you feel better now?” he asked.
“A little bit.” I broke our embrace. “How about a vodka on the rocks?”
“I’d love one.”
I walked into the kitchen and took down two glasses.
“How’s Lydia doing? She looked really upset that day I was at your office.”
“That asshole, Bryce, let her go.”
“Why?”
“Because of cutbacks. Apparently, since I left, they lost some pretty major accounts.”
“Really?”
“Is that so hard to believe?” I asked with a small smile as I handed him a glass.
“No. Not at all. Does he know she’s pregnant?”
“Yes. And now she’s losing her insurance.”
“What an asshole. What is she going to do?”
“She wants to start her own graphic design business. She’s been doing some freelance work on the side for about a year.”
“Maybe I could help out. Some of the companies I own could probably use a good graphics designer. I’ll give them a call and see if I can throw some business her way.”
“Thanks, Nathan. I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”
He finished off his drink and set his glass down.
“I better get going. Are we good?” he asked.
“Yeah. We’re good.” I smiled.
“I handed a check over to Robbie and he’s going to deposit it tomorrow morning. The first thing we need to do is pay off the vineyard so they can start shipping the grapes to the winery and put the money back into the employee pension fund. Then we’ll work on the rest of the creditors.”
“I want to find a new vineyard. Start fresh, maybe make some changes. The same wine has been around for twenty-five years and times have changed; tastes have changed. Consumers have changed and I think it’s time for Winslow Wines to make a change.”
“That’s fine, but we need to start production back up as soon as possible so we’ll
use who we have for now until we find someone new.”
“I agree.”
He gave me a small smile as he walked towards the door. Before stepping outside onto the porch, he turned and looked at me.
“I’m happy that you’re feeling better about things. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“Thanks. You too, Nathan.”
As soon as he shut the door, I locked up and went upstairs to my bedroom. My feelings for him were growing stronger every day and I didn’t know how to stop them. He couldn’t commit himself to anyone, that much was obvious by his statements. My reaction to him having dinner with his assistant, before I even knew who she was, frightened me. Jealousy reared its ugly head and coursed through my veins. That was why a personal relationship with him had to stop. I couldn’t live like that, knowing how he was with women. All I wanted was to be a person’s someone special. But with my trust issues, I wasn’t sure that I could ever be.
Chapter 31
Fiona
I was sitting in my office when Uncle Robbie walked in.
“Good news, Fiona. The money has been put back in the pension fund and I’ve spoken to Ken Raines. He was pleased that our debt was paid and he said he’d start shipping out the grapes to the winery as soon as tomorrow, but he wants payment up front from now on.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think he trusts us.”
“Well, that’s not how we do business. He ships, we pay later.”
“You need to understand where he’s coming from. We were in debt with him for over two million dollars for a long time. It’s going to take a while for him to trust this company again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some other creditors to pay off. You did the right thing, Fiona. I can already see this company starting to turn around.”
I gave him a small smile as he walked out of my office. My phone rang and when I looked at it, I saw that Lydia was calling.
“Hi there.”
“You are never going to believe who I just got off the phone with.”
“Who?”
“That friend of Nathan’s. Will.”
“What did he want?”
“He wants to have lunch to look over some of my designs. He may have some freelance work for me. Did you say something to Nathan?”
