Derek snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“It’s fine,” said Cameron. “I can play nice for a few days. And so can you all.”
Derek raised a skeptical eyebrow at Max.
“Piss off, Derek,” said Max and punched him in the arm. “You were partying just as much as the rest of us before you met Laurie.”
“Here’s the thing,” said Cameron, cutting off the exchange. “I called you here because I wanted you to know ahead of time. I’m meetingwith the guy tomorrow morning, and we’ll all go to dinner at Circular Quay, all nice and civil-like. But until then, you don’t know anything. So you all have one last night before the ax comes down.”
He looked around the table. The expressions on all three faces of his team grew into grins, as if they were each imagining what they were going to do with this night. Cameron didn’t need to usehis imagination. The woman was sitting right in his line of sight. Her wine was almost gone, so it was time to wrap up this meeting.
Cameron cleared his throat.
“Oh, well, thanks for the heads-up,” said Max, all traces of his frown gone. He stood up and set his beer on the table. “So what are we waiting for? Who’s in for the pub?”
Derek smiled. “Laurie’s out until ten, so I’m up fora couple drinks. But I want to make it home by then.”
Max rolled his eyes. “Me and lover boy. What about you, Simon?”
“Of course.”
“And you, boss?”
Cameron eyed the bar. The woman was looking in his direction again. This time, she waited an extra beat before she lowered her long dark lashes. A good sign.
“I’m sticking around here for a while,” he said. “But I’ll call you ifI change my mind.”
“Whatever, mate.” Max shook his head. “You gonna check into a room here and rent some porn for your last night of freedom?”
“Get the fuck out of here,” he said, chuckling.
Cameron watched his team head out of the hotel. He took the last drink from his beer and set it down. He turned for one more look at the luscious woman at the bar. If he ended up alone tonight,he’d have plenty of material to get off on. Her skirt rode high enough to get a good look at her shapely bare legs. Was she the type who liked to ride or be ridden? Or both?
Cameron stood up and started over to the bar. He caught her gaze and held it. She squinted a little. Then her eyes widened, as if this were the last thing she expected to happen. Hmm. One of those curvy bombshells whosomehow hadn’t realized just how sexy she was? Even better.
As he came closer, the corners of her mouth turned up into a little smile. He slid into the stool next to hers. His legs were too long to fit under the bar, so he faced her instead.
She turned and brushed her silky hair over her shoulder. Her smile grew wider. “Hi, there.”
She was American? She had one of those soft, raspyvoices that was going to get him hard right here in the bar if he wasn’t careful. This was getting better by the minute.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
She shook her head and smiled. No names? He could do that.
“Okay,” he said. “Should I start with, ‘Do you come here often?’”
She gave a throaty laugh. “Is that all you got?”
Shit, this was going to be fun. He leaned closer andwhispered, “Depends on what you want.”
A flush crept up her slender neck and onto her cheeks. She swallowed. “Just so you know, I’m not into getting picked up at a bar.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you’re looking at it wrong.”
“Is that right?” She gave a little snort of amusement.
He nodded. “It’s all about having fun. About trying new things you might not try anywhere else. Andliving for the moment.”
