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Clare London - Fiction
Dreamspinner Press
All Romance eBooks
Category:
Gay/Lesbian/Bi
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Type: Fiction
Pages: 208
Copyright: August 2008
ISBN-13: 9781935192039
Nic Gerrard is this year's brightest young entrepreneur, charming and charismatic, with time for everyone. Aidan West is his cleverest programmer, fiercely committed to his work and with little time for friendship or socializing. Together they created the successful dating agency, "Sparks", with a new and refreshing approach to matching people.
A year later, their lives are very different – Nic has all the trappings of success and as much company as he wants; Aidan is solitary and disapproving of such a lifestyle. When Nic decides to update the agency's unique matching program, he and Aidan must work together again. Getting along gets harder as they deal with a malicious hacker and face a crisis at the agency. It will take both of them to make the agency work, and somehow they have to find a way to put their differences aside. Nic and Aiden have secrets to keep, and whether they'll admit it or not, they each need something – or someone – to help "Sparks" fly.
This title contains ADULT scenes of m/m romance and erotica.
Novel
Excerpt
“AND this morning’s guest on your favorite breakfast TV program, ladies and gentlemen, is the successful and – dare I say it! – very eligible entrepreneur, Nic Gerrard!”
The ripple of excitement reached even behind the cameras, and the entire makeup department was peering from one or the other side of the studio. The host of the Morning Glory chat show crossed her legs, tugged at her inappropriately short skirt, and turned icy blue eyes to the man seated beside her on the comfortable armchairs.
“Welcome to ‘Morning Glory’, Mr. Gerrard – may I call you Nic? A meteoric rise to fame and fortune in the last two years, they say. You have masterminded the launch of not just one, but three or four very diverse ventures. All of which have been extremely successful! Most of our business commentators attribute this to a combination of astute decision making and great personal charm. Do you agree with this assessment?”
The man opposite her actually looked less than comfortable. He was laid back in the chair, but appeared almost too long for it, his legs crossed and folded to the side. He was young, in his early twenties, and eye-catchingly attractive. He didn’t have the classic movie star looks of the guest who’d preceded him, but there was something about his whole expression that oozed charisma – striking, midnight-blue eyes and a generous mouth that always seemed on the verge of laughter. His thick, chestnut brown hair flopped artlessly on his forehead, the studio lights catching the copper highlights in it, and he pushed it back occasionally in an affectionate gesture. He looked as approachable as the guy next door you’d always had a crush on, yet he also exuded a confidence and an assertiveness that obviously commanded respect in the commercial world. This morning, he was smartly dressed in a dark-colored designer suit, but there was something unusually stylish about the way the jacket clung to his broad shoulders; about the way the trousers rested just a little too low on his hips. He’d obviously had it altered for his particular preference and it looked superb. He wore no tie, just a crisp white silk shirt open to just below his throat, the skin beneath showing a warm, golden tan. At the interviewer’s question, he shifted himself to sit more upright, his feet planted firmly on the studio floor and clad in unexpected – yet very elegant – cowboy boots. A rather rueful grin spread over his handsome face.
One of the makeup girls sighed
helplessly in the background.
“Come on, Amanda, if I listened to those commentators too often, I doubt I’d recognize myself in the mirror each morning! I’d say it’s just hard work, a couple of good ideas, and a hell of a lot of luck. Plenty of other guys in the same position.”
He had a pleasant, softly-accented West Coast voice, with a hint of self-deprecation in his words. The interviewer, Amanda Bradnam, simpered for the cameras, and her eyes ran quickly up and down his tall, athletic frame. She was no fool – she knew this guy was smarter than she’d ever be. He was being modest, and must know it, surely. She and her producer had fought for months to get him on the show; to try to find a slot that his busy schedule would allow.
“I’m not so sure about that!” she laughed, rather too brightly. “And, of course, our introduction referred to your eligibility – not only because you are, as far as we know, unattached, but also because this month is the launch on the stock market of your most famous company. The dating agency, Sparks. What gave you the interest in this business to start with? It’s an unusual one, isn’t it, compared to your other commercial work in electronics?”
“Yes, I suppose so,” Nic shrugged. “But that’s only with hindsight.” Really, he found these interviews so damned embarrassing, but his Promotions team insisted he do them periodically. “Sparks was my first, you see. It wasn’t my idea initially, though. It was a friend’s venture, and he couldn’t keep it on, so I offered to buy it off him. I thought there was some mileage in it. I redesigned it, and re-launched as…”
“... Sparks, I know. And it’s gone from strength to amazing strength, in a cut-throat market of many such agencies, all competing for clients. What makes yours so different?”
Nic recovered enthusiasm, talking about his happiest acquisition. “I wasn’t impressed with the very broad, unimaginative questions that most agencies ask their clients, to try to establish a suitable profile for them. I had some guys develop a different template. I reckoned my clients would rather wait a little longer, and put in a little more work themselves, for the sake of one or two less suggestions – but ones which matched far more closely what they wanted.”
“And they seem to love it, wouldn’t you say?”
“Many do, yes. But they have to be honest with me. It’s critical to me that there are no lies; the whole thing hinges on it. There’s no point in a relationship based on lies right from the start, is there?”
Amanda caught his eyes on her, suddenly rather sharp. She tensed, but the camera didn’t pick up anything amiss. She rushed on. “So, you developed this new people matching system –”
“Not me,” he broke in, gently but firmly. “I’m no computer genius.”
“You rely a lot on your IT department?”
“I guess I have to. The whole principle is initially a database management issue, isn’t it? We gather what we can about the client, then it’s compared against the other clients on file. I’d be lost without the technical staff to do that, same as in most businesses. All credit must go to them. I just have the idea; they deliver it.”
“I think it’s a little more than that, Mr. Gerrard, isn’t it? Don’t you interview your potential clients personally?”
Nic raised an eyebrow. That hadn’t been on the pre-production list of questions. Where was she taking this interview? “Well, yes, I used to. In the early days, though now my timetable doesn’t really allow for it. But my managers have maintained that role, instead. The bulk of the matching work is done behind the scenes, but I still think there’s scope for some final assessment – a personal touch. That’s the one thing that can’t be programmed.”
“That’s very admirable,” murmured Amanda. Her producer was waving his arms behind the camera; there were only seconds left in the segment. “And I suspect that’s what makes you so very successful, compared to others. Just one last question, Nic, if I may –”
Here it comes, he thought to himself. He knew she’d been leading up to this for the last ten minutes.
“Anyone special in your life at the moment?”
“No, Amanda, not that I’d necessarily be broadcasting it on national TV if there were!” They both smiled – politely – at his gentle jibe. The makeup girl in the wings smoothed her hair, with more hope than expectation.
“We’ve seen you out on the town with many companions in the last year or so – many in number, many in type.” Amanda’s lip curled in a slight sneer. “Perhaps you might use your own agency, eh? To find that someone special?”
There was an awkward second of silence, and some nervous laughter from the crew. The man opposite her stared back steadily, and she shivered slightly. Nic Gerrard was in the public eye, and that included his social life. He had to know that, and well. He was fair game. But for a second, she panicked, wondering if she’d gone too far in the name of journalism and – if she admitted it – a rather personal interest.
And then Nic smiled. The smile was broad and attractive, and well recognized in the media – after all, it would be on Time Magazine’s cover again that very month. “You’re not the first to suggest that, Amanda.” His voice was smooth and totally controlled.
“And perhaps – one day – I will.”
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