Free Billionaire's Contract (The Billionaire's Contract Series) by Angelina Jenoire Hamilton

Chapter One
     
    Kirsty Moore sat in the back of the London cab, watching rain form blurry streaks on the windows and trying to calm herself down. She would feel better when she saw Jane, her agent. For now, she just had to endure this taxi ride to the headquarters of Inception Publishing and keep breathing.
    It was bloody hard, though. As if being summoned to meet with the new owner of the publishing company wasn't bad enough, she still hadn't heard from the company about her latest novel, Highlander's Harlot. Jane had sent the manuscript to them weeks ago. They normally didn't take this long to make a decision. Kirsty had expected t hear from them sooner, especially after the success of her last novel, At The Officer's Pleasure. That book had exceeded everyone's expectations, especially Kirsty's, by earning out its advance and going to second printing. So why hadn't she heard about Highlander? Being summoned to this meeting with Inception Publishing's owner had made her certain there was something wrong with the book. They didn't like it. They were 'letting her go'. Through the streaky windows she saw the office buildings of Clerkenwell Green, big imposing buildings that spoke of power. Their solid structures pointing at the stormy sky made Kirsty realise she was just a very tiny cog in a huge machine which formed the foundations of these temples to business.
    'Just here,' she told the cabbie as they reached the Inception Publishing building. She saw Jane standing beneath the stone porch, waterproof Mac down to her ankles and black umbrella over her head. Jane saw Kirsty in the cab and waved.
    Kirsty paid the driver, clutching the money in hands which she tried to stop from shaking, and she climbed out into the maelstrom, put her head down to shield her make-up from the rain and rushed to join Jane in the safety of the porch.
    'What a day,' Jane observed as Kirsty reached her. Despite the weather, Jane looked dry and composed beneath her umbrella. Her blonde hair was neat and looked as if it had been arranged on the dry shoulders of her Mac just so. Her make-up was immaculate and her appearance made Kirsty feel even more like a drowned rat. The short run from the taxi to the building had plastered her long red hair to her face and neck and she was sure her mascara was streaming down her cheeks.
    'Have I got panda eyes?' she asked Jane.
    'No, my love, you look lovely. Now let's get inside before we catch our death of cold.' She pulled open the big glass door and they entered the spacious, marble-floored foyer. A pretty, slim brunette behind the desk looked at them from behind her glasses and smiled dutifully. Her smile dropped slightly when she the state of Kirsty's hair.
    Oh God, Kirsty thought, I look bloody awful. And I'm going to meet the boss looking like this. So much for first impressions. 
    'Jane Johnson and Kirsty Moore to see Tyler Blake,' Jane said.
    The woman checked her computer and nodded. 'Just take the elevator up to the seventh floor and Mr Blake's secretary will greet you.'
    'Thanks,' Jane replied. 'We're just going to freshen up in the bathroom first.' She headed for a door marked 'Ladies'.
    The woman looked at Kirsty over her glasses and said, 'Of course.'
    Jane dropped her handbag on the counter by the sink and fished out a lipstick. 'Let's get you sorted out, love, your lippy got a bit smeared in the rain.'
    Kirsty looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Her long red hair, usually unruly and needing to be tied back to be controllable, lay limp on her face as if she were a redhead medusa whose snakes had all died. Her mascara was miraculously still applied to her eyes and not running down her cheeks but her lipstick traced down to her chin from the corners of her mouth like two rivers of blood. She dabbed at it with a paper towel from the dispenser and took Jane's offered lipstick, applying it as she let her eyes wander down her reflected body. Even her heavy Mac couldn't disguise the fact that she