Under His Spell (The Miami Tycoon) Read Online Free Page A

number; it would only make Erica look like she was trying to find a scapegoat for the blame that was rightfully hers. Why hadn’t she just focused on what Maxwell was saying instead of the gorgeous, full mouth he was saying it with? Erica berated herself, promising to quash whatever little crush she had that was making her act so stupidly. As she was doing so, her phone rang.
    “Erica?” It was Maxwell. He sounded tired and defeated.
    “I’msosorry, Ican’tbelievehowstupidiam—” Erica babbled.
    “Erica. Stop. It was just a mistake, I know that. It’s only your second day, don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m not calling to yell at you.”
    “Oh,” Erica said, surprised.
    “I’m calling about the other thing I was going to have you do today. I wanted you to look over the contract in my office, it’s the one I was going to sign with Conlon. I’m at his office now, and I may or may not be able to get him back on board with us instead of Sunwillow. Anyway, here’s what I need you to do. Just read it over, make sure everything on it is fine. I’m also going to send you the contract that Sunwillow sent Conlon. If you can find anything, anything at all fishy about that one, I want you to fax it back here with your notes, by eleven at the latest. Can you do that?”
    “Yes. absolutely. Anything I can do.”
    “Okay, great. Just go into my office. Our contract will be on my desk and the Sunwillow one will come through my fax machine any minute now. And Erica?”
    “Yes?”
    “Deep breaths. It’s all going to work out. Just go through those contracts with a fine-toothed comb and leave the rest to me.”
    “Will do.”
    “Okay. Goodbye now, Erica.”
    “Bye Mr.—Nick.”
    “Mr. Nick, huh? Getting closer. We’ll work on it.” He chuckled and hung up.
    Erica worked like a woman possessed. The Maxwell & Brown contract was pretty straightforward, written clearly and concretely. Erica saw no loopholes or conspicuous omissions. The Sunwillow contract, though, was a doozy in terms of legalese and confusing organization. She dutifully went through every footnote and sub-subordinate clause, until she found a small paragraph that seemed a little off. After reading few it a few times, Erica was certain that the clause was saying that the buyer, Sunwillow Properties, would be entitled to partial reimbursement should the earning projections be either over- or under- estimated. Erica highlighted the sneaky clause, attached a page explaining the loophole, and faxed it off ten minutes before eleven. She crossed her fingers that it would be enough to change Conlon’s mind.
    Erica felt far too wired to just go home, so she went back to her desk and played with the Wynwood photos and online listing. She was really understanding the design quirks of the site when, around midnight, Nick burst in the office.
    “We got it! Conlon saw the shady shit Sunwillow was trying to pull and he signed our contract, tonight! The sale will go through tomorrow!” He was beaming, his gorgeous billboard smile at full wattage. “I knew you were going to be a good investment.”
    “That’s so great! Now you don’t have to fire me, thank god.” Erica had said it with a smile, but Nick’s face turned suddenly serious. Erica was beginning to notice he had a way of doing that; of turning from levity to gravity in an instant.
    “Erica, your job was never on the line. You don’t have to worry about that. I know you’re going to be an asset to this company. Knew it the second you walked through my door.” It made Erica glow to hear him say it.
    “Still, though, I’m glad my fuck-up turned out to be fixable. I don’t know if I could’ve shown my face here tomorrow if you hadn’t saved the day,” she said, sheepishly.
    “You’re being too hard on yourself, Erica.” He had approached her desk while they talked. Erica stood and drew nearer to him as well, unsure of what she was doing but unable to stop herself. He looked searchingly