The Bold and the Beautiful - DAILY UPDATES

Nick is in his office, reading the bad reviews of the show, "Brooke's Bedroom Boo-Boo". Brooke enters the office and says sorry. She tells him that Ridge took her to a rape crisis center. A surprised Nick says, "Remind be to take back a couple of the lousy things I've said about that him!" Jackie comes in ranting and demanding to know why Brooke did it - was it all for a pat on the head from Ridge Forrester?

Donna comes into Eric's bedroom wearing one of his shirts and carrying a tray. She sees Eric handling a gun that was in the nightstand. When he comments that it was Stephanie's, Donna asks, "Which one of us do you think she would shoot first?" Eric jokes that perhaps Donna should get Clarke to set her up with a gun. At that moment, Donna pulls out the paper and shows Eric the poor reviews of Forrester Creations. She urges Eric, "Don't let it die! Make Nick an offer!"

Ridge wanders into Ashley's lab, "Good Morning." Ashley rolls her eyes, "Don't say where were we?!" He demures, "Okay." Ashley continues, "We were planning our wedding, and you ran out to see your ex-wife model underwear!" Ridge replies, "For what it's worth, she didn't." Ash is sarcastic, "So how long are you here for? Or did she give you the day off?" He says he's sorry. Ashley tells him, "Look, either I'm important enough to tell me what's going on, or I'm not..."

At Forrester Creations, Brooke offers to say anything Jackie wants her to at a press conference. Nick says no, Brooke is not responsible for saving this company. There's only one person who is - himself.

Eric paces the bedroom, "Nick's not gonna sell me my company back." But Donna says the time is right - they're facing bankruptcy. Eric smirks, "Nick's not afraid of bankruptcy." They agree that Nick did this all out of spite, and still needs to get revenge on Stephanie, but what Eric bought the company back himself? Donna asks, "Can you swing it finance wise?" Eric tells Donna there's no Forrester Creations without Stephanie, her father loaned him the money to start the business... Donna jumps in, "And she lost it on you, all on her own. You don't owe her anything, not financially, morally or otherwise!" He kisses her, "My work, my name, freedom, Donna Logan, you are right, it's time for me to take back what's rightfully mine!"

Nick tells Jackie and Brooke he's been 'a rookie all along" as he laments his inexperience in the business, "We've got to sell something - change gears. We've got to come up with something we can sell for 10 times more than it costs!" Brooke asks, "Are you sure?" Nick replies, "I'm always sure." Brooke leaves. Nick notices Jackie giving him a strange look. She says,"The buyers are smelling blood and its ours!"

Ridge crosses the lab, "I'm always going to have a relationship with Brooke." Ashley agrees, "And have I ever given you any grief about that?" They discuss whether Ridge and Brooke should have secrets from Ash. She begins to guess at what is going on with Brooke, "Is she addicted to drugs? Does she have a terminal illness?" Ridge thinks, sighs deeply and says, "She was raped." Ashley is taken aback...

Nick and Jackie are fielding calls from buyers trying to get out of their contracts when Donna comes in and announces that Eric is here, also mentioning that he's alone and Stephanie hasn't been seen for sometime. Eric comes in and says you're not going to get originality from Garrison, "I'll cover your losses. I'm renewing my offer to buy back the company. I'll pay you what you paid me, and you'll walk away from this mess you've created without losing a dime!"

Brooke tells Katie she will be seeing the rape counselor twice weekly, and that she's so relieved because she was just so worried she wouldn't want a man to touch her again. She then tells Katie that Ridge kissed her, and all she felt was love. Katie sneers, "He's engaged, he has no business kissing anyone, for therapeutic reasons or otherwise!" Brooke says she's not so sure about that engagement anyway. Katie tells her, "Well, you may not be worried about their engagement, but Ashley sure is!"

Having spilled about Brooke's rape, Ridge tells Ashley that when he heard that Nick was going to have her model lingerie in the show he went because he knew it would be a disaster - and it was! He tells Ashley that he took her to a rape crisis counsellor, "I'm the one she turned to, and I'm sorry about that." Ashley is shocked, "It's okay, I asked for an explanation and I got one. Now you deserve one too."

Brooke faces Katie, "Ashley threatened you?!" "No, and anyway I could take it if she did. She's just not happy about all this. She intends to keep Ridge on a pretty short leash. Of course, she doesn't realize it's all perfectly innocent..." Brooke says she has a lot of work to do, since Nick is under alot of pressure right now. Katie comments that she's surprised Nick hasn't gone after Stephanie with a pitchfork. Brooke tells her, "He doesn't know about the connection between Andy and Stephanie, and I don't want him to. Besides, Stephanie isn't going to be a problem anymore." Katie muses that Ridge has certainly been there for Brooke, she just hopes Brooke isn't reading more into this than there is. Brooke is sure, "No, there is something there, and this time it's going to be different, because I know what kind of a partner he needs out of me, and he's becoming the man I've always wanted him to be."

Ashley tells Ridge, "I've known my fair share of people that say one thing and do another, at one time the universe was sending me an endless supply of them, but I guess what you need to know is...I can be so patient, and I can be your rock, but I need to know that you're the same person when I'm not looking, as you are when we're not together." Ridge strolls around the lab, "Usually when I screw up it involves conflicting loyalties." Ashley smiles a little, "Right. So is Brooke gonna' be ok?" He replies, "She will be." Ashley tells him, "She has a firm idea of what your loyalty to her should look like." He nods, "I know, but I need a life I can count on too, I need to feel safe too." Ash asks, " So how did it feel when I jumped down your throat?" He is close now, "You didn't call everything off and throw the ring back at me, you demanded an explanation, that works for me, that and I really love you..." They kiss and Ashley says, "Me too!"

Eric tells Nick he has bigger problems than a bad review. Nick replies, "We'll diversify." Eric says "Nick, you can't move your inventory. You're up to your eyes in debt. Jackie shouldn't have to go down with you!" Nick yells, "My mother?! Your wife tried to kill my mother, that's why we're all here in the first place! I will hold onto this company or I will bury it before I sell it back to the two of you!" Eric tells Nick this is an offer solely from him, "Stephanie is not in the room, Nick. You can tell because you can hear the other people talking... She is not a party to this offer" Jackie wants to know what that means exactly. Eric explains, "No partnership - sole ownership by me." Nick says if this is a new strategy of Stephanie's that she'd better get back to the drawing board. Eric prepares to leave, "I'll be back for the fire sale." But Donna says, "Wait! I know it's true that Eric's marriage to Stephanie is over." She tells Nick that Eric sold the company to him out of loyalty to Stephanie and got nothing but grief for it, "Are you really so shocked?!" Eric says he won't discuss his personal life - but he hasn't seen Stephanie. Donna urges Nick to think about this offer, "Eric is a decent, loving person, and an icon in this business! He built this place from the ground up. Sell it back to him now and you'll have your revenge - by cutting Stephanie out of the family business forever!" Nick sneers, "Why's he still wearing his ring?" Donna says quickly, "Maybe he's not ready to make his private business public." Eric says that's right, "Go on Donna." She continues in earnest, "Nick, you could go back to making a success of Jackie's retail business and Eric can go back to doing what he does best. Everyone gets what they want is all I'm saying. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to bail out of a company that has capsized. Do you really want to pass it up?!"