Merger of Equals (Don't Read in the Closet Events)

Jordy had plans to spend the summer between his junior and senior year of college traveling around Europe with friends. Instead, his overprotective corporate CEO mother demands that he stay in New York City and help her evaluate the benefits of a potential merger. Jordy agrees, but resents to constant presence of his mother's spy, her administrative assistant, Ken. Until one night he sends Ken out on an errand and discovers a sketch of the two of them together that throws his life into a tailspin. After suffering through traumatic childhood events, Jordy believed he'd never be able to get close to anyone, especially a man, but he can't stop thinking about the drawing and Ken. Ken thinks that Jordy is out of his league and he has family responsibilities that mean he can't risk his job by pursuing his boss' son, but neither can he deny his attraction. Jordy and Ken have to decide if there are too many obstacles between them or if they can somehow create a merger of equals.

STORY INFO:
Genre: contemporary
Tags: businessmen/lawyers, sweet no sex, abduction/kidnapping, hurt/comfort, coming out
Content Notice: off-page deaths of background characters, off-page child abduction, discussion of past child abuse; discussion of past sexual abuse
Word count: 23,435
Author's note: This story has a Happy For Now ending, but it's only the beginning. Unfortunately, when the boys' tale took on a life of it's own and grew much more complicated than I ever anticipated, I was unable to write out the whole story due to the LHNB event deadline and other simultaneous obligations. I am, however, planning a follow up that will tie up all loose ends and will hopefully be available in the first quarter of 2014.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's " Love Has No Boundaries " event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.