it is. What have you been up to?” he asked.
“I started my own business,” she said.
“I have to confess I knew that. Russell has been singing your praises to me for a while now.”
“He has? I wonder why,” she said.
“Because Cam has a project that could do with your touch,” Russell said, coming up to them. Russell was a New Zealand millionaire who, like Cam, had been born with more money than Midas. At forty-one, he was two years older than Cam, and he lived the life of an international playboy, jetting from one cosmopolitan city to the next, managing his chain of Kiwi Klubs.
She never turned down work, and she wouldn’t if Cam had a legitimate offer for her. She rarely saw her clients, and she could probably manage a few days of face-to-face time with Cam.
“What project?”
“I had hoped to discuss business at another time,” Cam said.
“Nonsense. What else would you two have to discuss?” Russell said.
“What else?” Becca asked. Her short, red-hot affair with Cam had also been super-secret. They’d met in her hotel room each night and had white-hot sex. She’d thought it was a whirlwind romance, but it had turned out that the reason Cam had been keeping her secret was that he hadn’t wanted more than sex from her.
“What else indeed,” Cam said. “I’m not sure if you have heard any of the radio ads for Luna Azul’s tenth anniversary celebration or not.”
“I have heard them. Very good idea to advertise a Memorial Day weekend trip to Miami to be surrounded by celebs and balmy tropical weather.”
“Thanks,” he said. “That was my idea. Anyway, we have recently purchased a shopping mall that we are going to open as Luna Azul Mercado. And I’m looking for a designer for the project.”
“And I thought of you,” Russell said.
She opened her clutch purse, took out a business card and handed it to Cam. “I’d love to hear more about your project.”
He took her card and glanced at it for a long moment before putting it in his pocket. “Business out of the way, perhaps we can enjoy the evening now. Can I get you a drink?” Cam asked.
“Gin and tonic,” she said.
When he walked away, she was tempted to sneak out the back, but she’d paid a lot of money for her seat at this charity dinner with the intention of meeting a lot of Russell’s friends and maybe securing more work for herself.
Becca doubted she would enjoy one second of tonight. There were few situations that she could think of that would be less fun than sitting next to two men from whom she’d kept important secrets. Russell didn’t know that she and Cam had been lovers, and Cam didn’t know that their affair had resulted in a child.
Cam had been prepared to see Becca again but he’d forgotten how he’d always reacted to her. One brief touch of her hand in his and his entire body had tingled.
Becca’s heart-shaped face was pretty—not classically beautiful, but he couldn’t take his eyes from her. Her nose was small and delicate, and her thick black hair was worn up with a few tendrils framing her face. Her mouth was full … seductive with that full lower lip, and he remembered the taste of her.
The scent of her had overwhelmed him, and he’d wanted to stand still and just breathe her in. He’d wanted to wrap his arms around her, plant his mouth on hers and say to hell with the last two years.
But he knew that wasn’t going to be easy. He’d hurt her when he’d thrown her out of his life. He would never admit this to another person, but Becca had scared him and he’d had to walk away before he’d done something foolish—such as fall for her.
He got their drinks and walked back across the room. She stood talking to a well-dressed woman and looked up as he approached. She had a new life, he thought, watching her. She didn’t need a former lover back in it. But he wasn’t a man who gave up easily and there was only one thing he wanted … Becca Tuntenstall.
“Your drink,” he said, handing it to her.
“Thank you. Cam, do you know Dani McNeil?”
“I don’t believe I do,” he said, shaking hands with the other woman.
Her hands weren’t as soft as Becca’s, and he didn’t have any reaction to touching her. As though he needed proof that Becca was different—he’d already figured that part out.
“Dani works for Russell’s foundation. She is the one who coordinated this tonight.”
“Well done,” Cam said. “I’ve attended a lot of parties and this one certainly ranks among the best.”
Dani flushed. “Thank you. I’ve got to go check with the kitchen. I want to make sure everything is perfect.” She walked away.
“I’m not sure I know many people at this function.”
“I do,” Cam said.
“Would you mind introducing me to some of them? I’m trying to grow my business.”
“I’m not clear on what it is,” he said.
“Tuntenstall Designers. I’ve designed interiors for hotels and nightclubs. I just finished work on a new hotel in Maui.”
“Sounds like you don’t need to grow too much,” he said.
“There are always more hours in the day to fill,” she said. “I’m afraid of running out of work.”
“Has that happened?” he asked, wanting to know more about what made her tick.
“Not yet. But it could and I don’t want that to happen.”
He smiled. “You remind me a lot of me when I started the club.”
“At least you had a trust fund to fall back on,” she said.
He nodded. “That’s true. But it didn’t make the work any easier. And I was very conscious of the fact that if I failed I’d be putting my future and my brothers in jeopardy.”
She quirked one side of her mouth. “I guess I didn’t think of it that way.”
“Why would you?” he asked. He was very aware that he and his brothers had cultivated an image of carefree playboys who’d never had to worry about anything.
“I hate it when people make assumptions about me,” she said.
“We all do it,” he said. “So who do you want to meet?”
“I really don’t know. I heard that Tristan Sabina was here and he is a co-owner of Seconds nightclubs …”
“You want me to introduce you to the competition?” he asked. He was joking. Seconds was more competition for Russell’s Kiwi Klubs than for Luna Azul. They had several branches in international hotspots
