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“How do your parents feel about your plans?”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “I haven’t told them. They think I’m taking a vacation to find a husband.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I tried to soften the news by saying I wanted a normal life. But I made a mistake in talking about it at my older sister Emily’s wedding in Montana.”
“At least you enjoyed meeting Emily’s husband and his family.”
“Very much. Trent is a good guy and the whole thing was beautiful and romantic. Em positively glowed. Anyhow, Mom and Dad assumed that’s what I wanted when I talked about having a more normal life. I didn’t tell them I’d been turning down contracts before that. They feel if I must get married, it’s easier to find someone suitable while I’m working. And by ‘suitable,’ they mean a husband who won’t interfere with my career.”
“I suppose you could have chosen a better moment than the wedding to make your announcement. Especially since you’d just broken things off with Paulo.”
“That’s for sure.” With a not-so-humorous laugh, Nicole followed Rachel out to the balcony where Logan and Adam were kicking back in chaises.
“Nicole just confirmed she’s taking an extremely long vacation from modeling,” Rachel announced.
“I have only two more contracts left to fulfill.”
Logan sat forward, his eyes intent. “That makes my announcement even more interesting.” There was a pause while he waited for everyone to focus on him. “I’ve been putting out feelers and got a call yesterday—Moonlight Ventures in the Seattle area is going up for sale. Kevin McClaskey will give us first crack at buying the agency.”
Nicole caught her breath. They’d talked about finding a small talent agency to purchase and develop. All of them had benefited from people who’d helped them and they wanted to do the same for others.
And Moonlight Ventures? The agency had a great reputation. They were especially familiar with it because Kevin had once managed Rachel’s career, and Logan had worked with the McClaskeys several times while arranging photo shoots. Moonlight Ventures was small since Kevin and his late wife had wanted to keep it that way, but with four of them, they could expand.
“Is it in the same building?” Rachel asked.
“Yep and the building goes with the purchase. There are solid renters in the space the agency doesn’t use, so that will provide some maintenance income.”
“But increases the price.”
“Not outrageously, and I think it’s worth the investment. But there’s a wrinkle,” Logan said. “With the loss of his wife last year, Kevin has decided he wants to sell almost immediately and retire.” He looked at Nicole intently. “You’re the only one who’d be free to run it until the rest of us can join you.”
Nerves sent Nicole’s stomach roiling. It was one thing to talk of buying a talent agency and working on it together, and another to know everything would depend on her, at least temporarily. Sure, she’d researched and knew the job in theory, but there was a gap between knowledge and reality.
“What do you think?” Adam asked. “Could you grab the ball and run with it until we can get up there?”
Nicole took a deep breath and nodded. She’d always thought she loved a challenge; now she would find out if she’d been lying to herself.
CHAPTER ONE
NICOLE GLARED AT her living room wall and let out a shriek of frustration.
Toby, a young beagle recently adopted from a rescue center, yipped in concern. Since the front door stood open to let in fresh air, she’d tied his long leash to one of the few chairs in the room.
“Don’t worry, boy,” she said soothingly.
But she made a face at the wall that still glowed green through the two coats of paint. She couldn’t understand why the brilliant shade hadn’t been eradicated by now.
“Is everything all right?” a voice called. A man stood at the open door. He wore faded jeans and a sweatshirt with Harvard printed on the front. A scruffy beard and mustache covered the lower half of his face. Harvard Guy, she mentally tagged him.
“What do you mean?”
