Beyond Ruin (6 page)

Could a heart both love and break at the same time? There was a certain kind of sorrow watching Natalie hold his daughter in her arms, knowing that it had only been a few months since her own loss. The time apart had done little to diffuse James' love for her, and in that moment he felt as though he were looking at her for the first time all over again. Natalie Harlow was once more a stranger, and yet so inexplicably known to him that his insides ached.

The red curl of her hair which had once tumbled down her back was now short, smoothed and straightened into a sophisticated cut that ended just above her shoulders. She was dressed in all black: long-sleeved short dress and stockings that pulled up over her knees, the entire ensemble hugging a body that had once dipped into the most sensuous curves. She was a fraction of the woman he'd met as Gentleman Twelve nearly a year prior. How had they gone from strangers to lovers and back to strangers in such a short period of time?

"You? Sweet, intelligent and lovable Frankie actually fired a Fitson employee?" Natalie laughed as she held the diminutive girl in her arms.

"Actually, she fired Brighton New Media," he answered in reply. James was no stranger to having every set of eyes in a room turn to look at him, but it was only Natalie's silvery blue he looked back at.

They held each other's gaze a moment longer before Natalie returned her attention to Frankie.

"Weren't you supposed to
keep him
from firing anyone?"

"They weren't the right people for the job." Frankie's reply brought a small smile to James' face. He watched Natalie's eyes widen imperceptibly. They carried on an easy conversation, Frankie wrapped around Natalie's hip as if it were the most natural place in the world to be. When Joe bounded down the stairs a minute later he made a beeline straight to Frankie but made no attempt to hug or otherwise impede on her space. James had to give the guy credit for not trying to push an insta-relationship on his daughter.
Their
daughter if he got technical about it.

"Gelato?" Quinn's velvety voice was a welcome reprieve from his thoughts. She held out a small bowl of the pistachio-flavored dessert and he took it wordlessly. "Welcome to
Gallo Harlow
."

"Kind of an unconventional office space, wouldn't you say?" If anything it felt more like standing inside someone's home rather than their office.

"It's multi-purpose. Think of it as a really beautiful home office. The employees never go upstairs to the bedrooms."

James froze, a spoonful of gelato balanced on a clear plastic spoon. "You
live
here?"

Quinn nodded. "The agency bought the house from one of Joe's relatives and the three of us moved in together. Trust me, it's a lot less sexy than it sounds." He half expected her to qualify the statement with, '
unfortunately
'.

Natalie and Joe living together under the same roof? The idea did not sit well with him. He watched the two of them together with his daughter, his blood pressure quickening in his veins. He could never quite reconcile the knowledge that Joe Gallo and his Natalie were co-workers, let alone that they were now running a business together. Knowing they slept under the same roof was almost unbearable.

"They're not...?" he drifted off. He might have been embarrassed to even ask if the answer were any less important to him. It hadn't really been too long since Natalie ended their relationship, and while he hoped that all she needed was time to collect herself following the miscarriage and the news that Celine was pregnant with his child, he was also mindful of the small chance she would move on entirely; with anyone but Joe Gallo.

"No!" Quinn replied through an expelled breath that sounded like suppressed laughter. "Not with Joe."

"But with someone?" he asked before her answer even had time to settle in the space between them. Quinn, however, was not so quick to respond, and every moment she hesitated a new wave of anxiety battered his insides. "Quinn?"

"We've all been focused on launching the business," she began after a long moment of silence. "Natalie more than anyone. I didn't even know you two weren't together until she came home last night."

James turned and searched Quinn's face for unspoken answers. "She didn't say anything?"

Quinn cast her eyes down to her own gelato and slowly shook her head. She looked worried. James didn't know much about Quinn other than that she was normally feisty, quick with her words and far more worldly than most other women her age, but what he did know was that she and Natalie were as close as two friends could be. If she was worried it was likely with good reason.

"I never even knew she was pregnant," she whispered. "I'm sorry for your loss, by the way," she added. He knew he should say something to acknowledge her, but his preferred coping method was to focus his mind elsewhere. "I don't know the full extent of what happened between you two, nor is it any of my business, but the Natalie who came home last night after weeks of being away is not the same Natalie I know. And I don't just mean the sudden change in her sartorial choices."

"What
do
you mean?"

Quinn gave a non-committal shrug. "You'll see."

Natalie couldn't help herself. Even with a room full of people and the city's most delicious gelato at her disposal, she found herself sitting down at the dining table, her focus completely on work. There were always emails to answer, meetings to schedule into their calendars, vendors to review...

"I believe I owe you a check." Audra set a sealed envelope down beside Natalie's computer.

...Accounts receivable to handle. She could find a million tasks for work that needed to be completed; anything to keep her mind off of the man with the familiar blue-green eyes.

"Thank you," Natalie replied with a smile. She partially closed the lid of her laptop before turning her attention to Audra, who was helping herself to an adjacent seat. "So did Frankie really fire Brighton or was that an exaggeration?"

"Oh no, she actually fired them. It was prompted by her father but she delivered the words in a way that would make Donald Trump proud."

"It all seems a bit impetuous if you ask me," Natalie offered. "It wasn't too long ago James was reminding me of the longstanding relationship Fitson had with Brighton." In fact as she recalled it, it was because of that longstanding relationship that she and James reached an impasse when it came to deciding how she should handle her employment knowing Brighton had a policy against dating clients. James suggested she quit. Natalie suggested he find another agency. In the end Brighton found out anyway and she lost her job. Maybe Brighton was the biggest loser in their relationship after all?

"That relationship was tenuous at best once you left Brighton, and you know it," Audra countered. "It was never going to be the same without you there. The minute you were off of our account I was scouting a new agency to represent us. That's why when you open that envelope you'll find more than just the retainer for The Golden Palm in there."

Natalie's hands backed away from the envelope as though it were emitting radiation. Fitson Entertainment Groupe had several properties throughout the country, including one of Las Vegas' most exclusive luxury hotels. There was no way the retainer inside the envelope contained any amount with less than seven or eight figures. Suddenly her lungs were wanting for air.

"What's going on?" Joe interrupted. He sat down next to Natalie and eyed Audra with a knowing but suspicious smile.

"Congratulations, Joe," Audra smiled back. "You've got yourself a new client."

"We were just discussing The Golden Palm this morning at our staff meeting. Nothing too revealing until our staff signs non-disclosures, of course," he clarified with an absentminded wave of his hand.

"They don't want to
just
hire us for
The Golden Palm
, Joe," Natalie said softly, her eyes stuck on the multi-million dollar envelope. "They want to hire us for Fitson."

In her peripheral vision she saw Joe's jaw go slack. He recovered quickly with a clearing of this throat, but could only just barely contain the wide smile that she knew would otherwise spread across his entire face.

"That's
fantastic
!" he declared. "We're so honored for the opportunity. Thank you."

A pit formed in Natalie's chest. "We don't have enough people to handle an account the size of Fitson."

"We're hiring more interns," Joe interjected.

Natalie shook her head. She was agog at Joe's lack of appreciation for the tremendous undertaking having Fitson Entertainment Groupe as a client would be.

"Whose idea was this?" she asked Audra.

"Mine," replied James, who was suddenly present in the moment. He took a seat at the other end of the table opposite Natalie, his stony blue-green eyes absolute with certainty. "With Audra's support."

Natalie caught Quinn's eye from across the room. She gave a quick nod and reached out for Frankie's hand.

"Why don't Lorelai and I take Frankie on a tour of the rest of the building?" she asked brightly. "There's a pool and a dog park on the roof!"

"Dad, is it okay?" Frankie asked, her voice full of excitement and hope.

"Of course," James answered. “Just be sure to stay with Quinn at all times, okay?"

"We'll find Shane along the way. Have you met Shane yet? He's a character." Quinn expertly ushered Lorelai and Frankie out of the condo with a quickness Natalie admired.

Then it was just the four of them: Joe and Audra at each side, James directly in front of her. It was a concentrated effort on her part not to think about the fact that she had been intimate with each and every one of them. Audra was the first to break the silence that had fallen over them.

"We didn't come to this decision lightly, Natalie. We get proposals from other agencies all the time. James and I have personally met with all of them and both came to the conclusion that the only person who can adequately handle the account is you."

"You're giving me too much credit. We're a brand new, five-person team here. Plus whatever interns we hire," she added when she saw the look on Joe's face. "I mean, we work from our dining room table. We're not exactly equipped to handle a multi-billion dollar business."

James produced an envelope from an interior pocket in his jacket and slid it across the table in Joe's direction. "This is an abstract of the contract we're prepared to offer you," he began, eyeing Joe first, then Natalie. "I think you'll find the compensation is more than enough to jump start the growth of
Gallo Harlow
."

"We trust you. The both of you," Audra added. "Think of it like an investment in your future where the return for us is knowing there's someone competent spearheading the account."

Natalie felt something smooth brush against her leg underneath the dining table; Audra’s foot. It moved with careful determination up her leg from ankle to calf and down again, repeating the slow rhythm. Her face softened as the sensation traveled up through her spine to her brain where her head started to flood with a comforting lightness.

"Why don't you take the weekend to think it over and then get back to us on Monday?" James offered from his place across the table. "If you agree to the terms set forth in the contract we can have the lawyers sort out the rest and get started."

"This contract says we're to have an office in each of your properties," Joe said, his eyes coming up from the paper he held in his hand.

"And accommodations in our hotels." James smiled briefly at Joe before turning his attention to Natalie. "We like to make sure our people are well taken care of."

Tension threatened to crumple Natalie from the inside out. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and stood from the table. "Excuse me for a minute. I'll be right back." She needed to get out of there. She took the stairs towards the bedrooms two at a time and sprinted into her bathroom, closing the door behind her as quickly and quietly as she could.

Everything she ever wanted was inches away from being hers. She paced across the expansive space of her bathroom, hands wringing fingers. There was no doubt in her mind working for Fitson would rocket launch
Gallo Harlow
into the stratosphere. It would legitimize them as a new media agency. They'd have to expand almost immediately. They would need more than just a few new interns to help carry the additional load. Audra and James were both adamant that they wanted her to lead the account. She'd have to reassign her work somewhere else; to Joe or possibly a new account manager.

Her anxiety level was climbing; being home again, the Fitson account.
James
. If she'd known he was going to show up she could have prepared both her heart and her mind. And yet he was there, in her office, her home, and it was like nothing and everything had changed between them. She needed composure, which would only come from releasing the pent-up energy within her.

Natalie leaned against the closed bathroom door and took in a deep breath, held her hand to her stomach and let the breath out slowly. After a second breath she slid her hand down to the hem of her dress and pulled it up as her fingers sought the hem of her panties between her legs. Two fingers slipped between the delicate softness of her opening and moved with a gentleness that quickened with her growing urgency. Leg and pelvic muscles tightened and relaxed alternately as she pleasured herself, responding to her touch.

Her mind cycled through tactile memories of Audra's breasts, her lips on her breasts; of Joe's generous girth thrusting inside her as warm bathwater lapped over her naked body; of James's eyes as he kissed her, whispering
'I love you'
against her lips as he moved within her. Natalie arched her back and the sensation between her legs intensified.

'Tell me again,' he said through heavy panting when he broke away from their kiss.

'I love you.' The words came freely and unbidden. 'I've never loved anyone like I love you James Fitzgerald.' She kissed his lips once then whispered against them, 'I love you.' She kissed his cheek in a line to his ear, whispering
I love you
between each one. She kissed and suckled at his earlobe, encouraged by the moans that drifted from his mouth into the space around them. 'Let me show you how much I love you.'