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

The problem became moot on Saturday morning. Kasper did something he had almost never done before. He emailed Nick at his personal, not his business address. Nick didn’t realize as he opened it that Greg had come into the room, bringing him coffee. As he set the cup down at Nick’s elbow, he glanced at Kasper’s message.


“What does that mean, and why is he calling you Niko?” Greg asked.


Nick looked up at him and winced. Since the message said Kasper needed him at his place immediately for a pressing job, Nick couldn’t lie and say he was an old friend from the past.


“Promise you won’t run away again if I tell you,” Nick said.


“It depends. What kind of job?” He rested his butt on the edge of the desk, looking at Nick, then smiled briefly. “If you tell me you’re a secret agent, I guess I can deal with it. If you’re a hit man, not so much so.”


Chapter 35