Her Alpha CEO

Nina smiled sweetly. “For one thing, Michael, mistresses are the backbone of any good business. They’re not nobodies. For another thing, you’re wrong. I know more about Brian’s business than Brian does. He’d tell you himself he couldn’t operate without me. So much so, that he’s offered me a job. An executive position,” she added confidently, even though she was confident of no such thing. Brian had made clear that the job —whatever it was — was important. Essential. Valuable. And it was hers, the moment she decided to take it. Which was going to happen more quickly than she initially thought.

“You can’t turn me down, Michael,” she told him as she stood. “I never signed up for anything, and I never will.” Much better than signing dodgy deals, she thought. As she slung her purse over her shoulder, she added, “Thanks for the coffee. And the reality check. I assure you both were much appreciated.”

And then she turned and strode confidently down the sidewalk, back towards her house. She had an unexpected day off, she thought with a smile. Well, okay, maybe not all that unexpected. She’d planned to tell Michael this morning that she wouldn’t be coming to work with him on his plans, and she’d been fairly sure he would try to argue with her on the spot. She’d just thought it would go a little more smoothly, that was all. She truly hadn’t meant for things to end as abruptly as they had, or with as much chilliness.

But Michael had deliberately skipped their meeting last night, something that had illustrated his disregard for her as both a person and a friend. And he had lured her under false pretenses to begin with. It hadn’t exactly been a situation that lent itself to air kisses and toodle-oos. If she’d been too pushy or blunt—

Her steps slowed and her back straightened. She smiled. If she’d been too pushy and blunt, then it just meant she was a solid businesswoman. Any man who’d been pushy and blunt would have been applauded and called assertive and candid. So she was going to applaud herself, too.

Boy, what a couple of days for changes and epiphanies, Nina thought. So far, she’d

accepted a new power job, rediscovered her relationship with her sister, told her sleazy ex what a sleazy ex he was, discovered what an assertive businesswoman she was, and now she could go back to her house and—She halted in her tracks, her confidence fleeing completely. Because she realized then that her house didn’t feel like her home anymore. She’d spent so much time with Brian at his house, that the lure of hers simply wasn’t there anymore. And yet, they still weren’t quite on the easy footing they’d been before her sister had shown back up on the scene.

She sighed and gave her forehead a good mental smack. So much for being the assertive, candid businesswoman who could take over the universe at will. In a matter of hours, Nina was bereft at the loss of a man she felt she could have a very definite future with, but she had no idea how to go about convincing him of it.

What was she going to do? She had no real idea, but she knew she’d have to think of something, and quickly. Otherwise, she might lose him, and she really didn’t want to do that.

When she arrived back at her house, it was as though the universe had heard her pleas for help, because she found the place flooded, and the ceiling caved in. Her hot-water geyser had burst and flooded the attic sometime during the morning, causing the ceiling to give way. Luckily, most of her furniture was spared, but when she called the insurance company, they told her it would take a couple weeks to send someone out, get it assessed and bring contractors in to fix it.

There was no way she was spending a couple weeks in a house with no ceiling, and besides, it was the perfect excuse to go and camp out on Brian’s doorstep.