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The Mistletoe Contract

By Jennifer Chastain

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CHAPTER ONE

There had to be another solution.
Nate Rutledge, acting CEO of RCD, Inc. —Rutledge Corporate Developers Incorporated— paced the length of his personal attorney’s office at Jamison and Connors. He’d asked Brennan Jamison to meet him Saturday morning. Unconventional? Sure. Spontaneous? Absolutely. But desperation made a man do things he normally wouldn’t. And right now, Nate didn’t know who he could or couldn’t trust. The hardwood floors in the converted craftsman-style house creaked with each step. Leaning over Brennan’s desk, Nate’s anguish settled like a boulder in his stomach.
“Come on, man, there has to be a loophole.” Nate pounded the desk with his fist, shaking the pencil holder and its contents.
Brennan’s leather desk chair squeaked when he leaned back, watching Nate with wary eyes. “I’m really sorry, Nate, but your grandfather’s will is ironclad.” Brennan tapped his silver pen on the legal documents stacked in front of him. “You have to be married within six months after your father steps down as CEO. You’re about to miss your deadline for wedded bliss.”
“I’m not getting married.” Nate ground out his words, the intensity of his anger increasing with every heartbeat. The furious sounds bounced off the walls and fell at his feet.
Brennan raised one eyebrow. “Okay, fine. Don’t get married. But you have been dragging your feet.”
Nate forced himself to calm down, pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re my lawyer. You’re supposed to be able to find a loophole.”
Brennan popped his chair upright and glared at him. “Don’t you think I’ve tried?”
“Hey, man, I apologize, with everything going wrong…” Nate held up his hands, the tension in the room crackling. Expelling all the air in his lungs, he studied Brennan. “This is the twenty-first century, right?”
Shuffling the pages in front of him, Brennan barked out a laugh. “Yeah, it is.”
Heavy rain gusts spattered against the window, shaking the frame. Nate’s entire world was crashing around his feet. If he didn’t decide fast, all his hopes and dreams would disappear. “So, do I have any other options to save the company?” The hopefulness in his voice sounded pathetic to his own ears.
“Your grandfather wanted what was best for you and the company.” Brennan’s deep blue eyes filled with compassion. “I know you’re upset but think of the alternatives.” Brennan held up the pen. “You’ll be demoted from the CEO position. Or worse. You’ll lose not only a profitable source of income but your family’s legacy. You’ll have no input in how the company is run. Finally, there’s your stepbrother, Clay.”
Nate plopped into the guest chair in front of Brennan’s desk. “I can’t let Clay gain the majority control of the company. He’ll either sell off his shares or sell the company outright. Hundreds of employees will lose their jobs.”
“Then I guess you only have one option—get married.” Brennan’s laser-focused gaze found its mark.
Shoot.
With a groan, Nate dropped his head into his hands. “You don’t understand. I have no
one I trust. The last date I went on was a disaster. In the first five minutes, she asked me how much I was worth and how much I’d give her for a monthly allowance. The date was a debacle from the moment I met her at the restaurant. She paid more attention to her cell phone than me. After my last dating fiasco, I haven’t even taken a woman out for coffee in the last five months.”
“All work and no play makes Nate a dull boy.”
Nate raised his head, tried to stare down his friend. “It’s not funny.”
“I thought it was.” Brennan’s smirk disappeared, and he rested his clasped hands on the desk. “Look, man, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but have you prayed about it?”
Well, sure he had. But the more Nate reflected on the will’s stipulations, anger surged through his gut. He was ashamed to admit, but prayer hadn’t been his first option. “What’s your point?”
“Do you really want me to spell it out for you?”
When Nate didn’t answer, Brennan sighed.
“Fine. Your dad disclosed to you and the board his plan to step down from the CEO position at RCD on May fifth. You were also informed you had to be married by November fifth when the board summoned you for a meeting at the end of April.” Ever the attorney, Brennan laid out his closing argument. “You’ve had almost six months to make a decision, and now you’re down to the deadline. Which only leaves you fifteen days.”
Fifteen days that’d impact him for the rest of his life.
“Don’t you think I know that?” Nate’s ragged breaths left him gasping for air.
He’d dragged his feet for six months, the deadline pushed to the back of important items on his to do list. But issues at work distracted him. If he were honest, he hadn’t put much effort into finding a wife. Now, he had a little more than two weeks to convince someone to put their life on hold. For him.
The worst part? It was going to cost him a bundle.
Brennan cleared his throat. “You need to get out there again, buddy. I know it’s tough, but all you have to do is find a willing candidate and marry her. The will states you only have to be married for six months. After the six months are finished, have the marriage annulled. Done. Easy.”
Yeah, easy for him to say since Brennan was madly in love with his wife. Exhaling a lungful of air, Nate focused on the raindrops pelting the windows. “Maybe. It’d be a straightforward decision for anyone else, but I can’t. I promised myself when I got married, I would make it last. No easy outs.”
“I understand.”
Nate rubbed the back of his neck, his muscles taut under his fingers. There was no sense in questioning Brennan because his friend did understand. A newlywed himself, Brennan got married six months ago.

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