Free The Proposal by Lily Zante Page B

the proposal
was only going to lead to trouble. 

Chapter Thirteen
    That fateful kiss left an
indelible imprint on Nadine.
    She was doing something
that she would never, ever have done in a million years. Most definitely not in
front of work colleagues and especially not Sandra Donnelly. What was she
thinking? Ethan was having an effect on her and she wasn't sure she liked being
out of control that much.
    She was unleashing
another side to her. A side that she had carefully put  away, in case it
got in the way of her career plans and life goals. She couldn't afford to be
reckless, emotional and out of control.
    She had seen women on
roller coaster rides with men who proclaimed to love them and who they
proclaimed to love back. But often it seemed to lead to lots of tears and
emotional outbursts when the path of true love did not run smooth, as it often
didn't for many of her friends.  She had seen too many of them settle for
the safety of men who would not hurt them when their clocks were ticking
and they felt the urge to settle down. That was the problem, they settled . 
 
    Nadine didn’t want to
settle for anything. She had convinced herself that a more orderly life was for
her. A life in which she controlled what happened and when. She had done
this easily by charting her career plan and following it. Nadine knew
exactly  what she wanted to achieve, the kind of salary she wanted to
earn, the assets she needed to acquire and by what age. She hadn’t included men
anywhere in her list of goals.
    The truth was that Nadine
had never yet met anyone who had made her want to give up her controlled and
orderly life.  Until Ethan had strutted into her life . Her feelings
for him were starting to alarm her. Her head was full of thoughts about him
instead of the client accounts she was meant to be working on.
    Melissa nudged her out of
her silent reverie. Nadine was starting to drift again. She pulled herself
together again and sat upright, paying attention to what Sandra and Michael
were talking about.
    "The Noble Vintage
account is vital to our business this year," said Michael.  "We
are very close to securing the contract and thereafter, I expect this client to
be looked after very well."  He nodded in Nadine's direction and she gave
him her most winning smile.
    Not wanting to be left
out, Sandra said, "I can take over once the initial contract has been
signed and we can vet out their marketing plan for the coming year." She
had noted that Michael had not looked in her direction once.
    "As you will,
Sandra. This account is vital to us. Let's give them the attention that they
deserve." Sandra smiled as she reclined in her chair.
    "Anything you want
to add, Nadine. I know you have lots of good ideas," Michael Zimmerman
asked her. 
    Bolstered by his request,
Nadine replied, "Just to say that we'll take the very best care of this
client. Obviously, our first task is to find out exactly what they're looking
for and then to make sure we give them exactly that."
    Nadine was grateful that
Melissa had nudged her, otherwise she would still be day dreaming about Ethan.
If there was one thing she couldn't afford to mess up, it was the Noble Vintage
account. Their business was vital to the company.
    "You should have
seen the look she gave you, when Zimmerman singled you out," whispered
Melissa as she and Nadine left the two hour long meeting. 
    "I could feel the
cutting eyes on me, believe me." said Nadine, smoothing back her thick
hair which fell like a mane around her shoulders.
    "You seem a little
dreamy lately," ventured Melissa, “What’s up?”  Something was clearly
going on with her boss and she had a feeling it was to do with that gorgeous
looking man of hers. "Not that I'd blame you," she winked naughtily.
    "Nothing like that
at all," said Nadine hurriedly. The fact that her secretary had noticed
her sudden lapse of concentration, was something she didn't want to hear.
"I'm fine Melissa, really. These late nights are