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Chapter One
Cameron hung up the phone and stared out the window of his office. He loved that view; more than a few magazines had described it as the best view in all of Napa Valley. It was Friday afternoon, and it had been a crazy week. In the normal run of things, the crazy wouldn’t be ending for hours yet. But this wasn’t a normal Friday. He was taking the weekend off—the whole weekend. That wasn’t so unusual. What made this weekend special was that he wasn’t planning to spend it with the people who worked for him all week. No, he was planning to spend it visiting his brother. He smiled. It was about time, too.
“Are you going to tell me what you’re looking so pleased about?”
He shook his head at his assistant, Mary Ellen, who had appeared in the doorway to his office. “If you must know, I was just thinking about Cole.”
“I can’t believe you’re taking the weekend off.” Mary Ellen smiled. “I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.” Cameron blew out a sigh. “I think you’re the only one who is.”
Mary Ellen made a face. “That could have something todo with the fact that I’m the only one who cares thatyoushould enjoy yourself. The rest of them are all hoping to enjoy you.”
Cameron rolled his eyes.
“What? It’s true, and you know it. The guys all want you at the country club because they like to be seen with the mighty Cameron Hamilton, and the girls all want you around because they want to sleep with the eligible Cameron Hamilton.”
He shrugged. It was true. “Not all of them want to marry me.”
Mary Ellen laughed. “I didn’t say they did, but they do all want to sleep with you. And you’re normally so obliging.”
Cameron put a hand over his heart. “Ouch.”
She gave him a stern look. “Ouch, what? You can’t be hurt by the truth.”
“I suppose not. I like the ladies. They like me. It’s not a problem.”
“Not yet, it isn’t, but as I have told you a million times—it will be. When you find a woman whom you care about, when you want to settle down, your womanizing ways may well come back to bite you in the ass.”
Cameron shook his head. “I’m not a womanizer.”
Mary Ellen let out a short laugh.
“Seriously. I’m not.”
“You honestly believe that, don’t you?”
Cameron nodded. He did. Even when his conscience asked him to sit down and have a chat about it. He refused to have the conversation—because there was no need for it. Yes, he slept with a lot of women, but only women who came on to him. Only women who sought him out and made their intentions—and their desires—known. He didn’t go out seducing unsuspecting women who might misunderstand his intentions. He just played the game—with the players.
Mary Ellen blew out a sigh, and he batted his eyelashes at her, making her smile as he knew it would. “Don’t be mad at me, Mary El.”
“I’m not mad. I just hope that all your wild ways don’t come back to spoil things for you.”
“I’m not wild.”
“That’s not what Larissa was telling everyone after last weekend.”
Cameron smiled through pursed lips. He’d be hard pushed to argue that one, so instead, he moved on. “At least you don’t have to worry about me this weekend, okay? I’ll be safely tucked away in a sleepy, small town visiting my brother. All the women up there are married or spoken for. I shall be monk-like and return to you untouched on Monday morning.”
She laughed. “Not if I know you. Anyway, I didn’t come in to discuss your love life. I need the quarterlies for the Danson line.”
“Why?”
“So I can work on them.”
“But it’s almost the weekend, and we don’t need them until the end of next week.”
“Perhaps so, but unlike you, I’m not swanning off for the weekend, so I thought I might as well make a start on them.”
