About That Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

contact. “I’m not letting you out of your contract.”
    Joy blinked. “That’s ridiculous. In three weeks’ time you’ll find a hundred reporters to take my place.”
    “I want you,” Nick said tersely, his eyes back on her.
    “I can’t stay, Nick,” Joy said just as succinctly while their gazes locked.
    Nick dropped the pen to the desk. “I don’t see that you have any choice but to work out your contract. I am not accepting your notice.”
    “I have a choice. I can break my contract,” Joy returned rigidly.
    “Try it and I’ll sue you,” Nick said, bluffing.
    Joy tipped up her unsteady chin. She didn’t know if she wanted to cry or throw something at him. “You’d actually sue me?”
    He didn’t answer, just continued to look at her.
    Joy no longer felt the threat of tears. What she felt was frustration and anger. “What made you decide to buy this paper, anyway?”
    “I decided it was time for me to settle down in one place and build roots.”
    Joy thought about his answer for a long moment.
    “I get it,” she said, pushing back her chair and standing. Of course, she got it. He was showing Diana that he’d settled down. It was his traveling that had broken them up.
    “What do you get?” Nick asked, reaching her as she got to the door.
    Joy turned around to give him a withering glance. “We both know why you picked now to settle down.”
    Nick couldn’t hold back a grin. She looked so cute with her eyes blazing at him. “I really don’t think you have a clue.”
    “Oh, I have a clue. I have more than a clue,” Joy retorted.
    “Forget what you think you know.” Nick put his palms to the door on either side of her, pinning her in place. “How about we talk about a compromise?”
    “What kind of compromise?” Joy asked, partly steaming, partly intoxicated by his proximity. More intoxicated than steaming. And thrilled. Being praised by someone of his professional stature was exhilarating.
    “You work out the rest of your contract without being angry at me, and if you still want to leave then I’ll see that you get an assignment from someone who will appreciate you. It’s obvious you haven’t met with the right people.”
    Joy narrowed her eyes at him. “Is this a snow job?” Even if it was, Joy realized, what choice did she have? She couldn’t imagine any editor hiring a journalist who had been sued for breach of contract.
    “No.”
    “Can I go to my desk now?” How in heaven’s name was she going to get through three months of being around him?
    “Are you still mad at me?” Nick angled his head.
    “Yes.” She didn’t get all that much conviction in her tone. It was impossible for her to disassociate herself from his sexiness.
    “How about if I buy you pizza with anchovies for lunch?” Nick asked lazily.
    “Are you planning to eat at the same table?” Remembering how he had balked the night before about her topping choice Joy did her utmost to keep a straight face. His playfulness was irresistible.
    “Is that a smile you’re trying to hide?”
    “No!” Joy pushed firmly at his shoulders.
    Nick easily maintained his position. “Are you going to have lunch with me?”
    “Anchovies?” Joy asked.
    “Anchovies,” Nick responded with a laugh.
    “And you have to taste a slice.”
    “Okay.” Nick put his hands up in the air as if she was holding a gun on him. “You’ve got me at your mercy.”
    Joy let him see her smile as she made a backward reach for the doorknob. There wasn’t any way that she could stay mad at him;
    “God, you really are hard on a guy,” Nick said with a grin and stepped back to let her go.

Chapter Three
    “W hat have you been up to all day?” Diana asked, addressing Nick as soon as he and Joy stepped into the parlor that evening.
    “I’ve been running a newspaper.” Nick winked at Joy. “Trying to, anyway. I might have done better if your sister hadn’t forced me to eat anchovies at lunch.”
    Joy’s smile was forced. She’d