Read Online Beyond Ruin by Crystal Cierlak - Free Book Online

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