To most people who know him, Nick Fontana is the owner of a prestigious advertising agency. To a select few, he’s known as Niko, a man who deals with very sensitive problems no one else can handle. As a result, Nick has never found a man to love -- because he won't allow it to happen. Then he meets flirtatious Greg Tyson while out running. He thinks nothing of it until Greg applies for a job at Nick's ad agency. Greg is exactly what Nick is looking for in an employee. Hiring him, however, might turn out to be the biggest mistake of Nick's life ... or the beginning of something new, if Nick is willing to open himself up and let Greg in. Doing so will require an amount of trust Nick isn’t certain he can give without endangering Greg's life -- and losing his love -- in the process.

Love Was Not an Option

As they left work that evening Greg asked yet again, as he had a couple of times since he’d been hired, “Feel like stopping for something to eat before you go home?”


This time, Nick took him up on the offer. He figured that, with luck, he’d find out Greg wasn’t nearly as interesting away from the office as he’d imagined. He was wrong. Greg told amusing stories about growing up in a small town on the east coast. He had three siblings, all boys, all mischief-makers, according to him.


“We were always getting into trouble, much to our parents’ dismay. Of course the fact we learned it from Dad didn’t seem to factor into it. He was the ultimate practical joker.” He paused to take a bite of his steak sandwich then asked, “What was your childhood like?”


Chapter 11