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

“You clean up well,” Greg said, grinning as he hugged Nick.


“Uh-huh. You see me like this five days a week,” Nick replied, returning the hug before opening the restaurant door so they could go inside.


As Nick had reserved a table, they were seated immediately. When the waitress asked if they wanted to start with something to drink, Nick suggested they have a glass of wine. “If you like wine, that is,” he said to Greg. They’d had beer a few times when dining out, but that was the extent of it.


“I do, occasionally, if it’s dry,” Greg replied, so Nick ordered a merlot. When Greg asked, he made acouple of suggestions about which menu items were the best. The waitress returned with their wine, at which point they ordered—Scottish salmon for Greg and a New York strip steak for Nick.


Chapter 25