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to get back out there and date again.
Not all guys…”
    Max shook her head. “Not me.”
    Cam’s eyes widened. “Oh, we have a
new client? That’s great. So, tell me more.” She grabbed a slice of pizza and
bit into it.
    “Actually… You know all about this
fantasy. It’s yours.”
    Cam’s brow furrowed. “My—” She
dropped the pizza onto the plate and covered her mouth with a hand. “My
fantasy? You mean the one about the reunion?”
    Max couldn’t tell if Cam was
excited or appalled. “I should have told you that I know Sholto Kincaid. We
were in school together for about a year when he lived in Butterworth, that small
village in Kent I’m from. We weren’t friends, but I had a meeting with him
today to see if he’d accompany you to the reunion. He said yes.”
    “I don’t believe it. Are you
joking?” Cam jumped up and started pacing backward and forward.
    Max shook her head.
    “You’ve really got Sholto Kincaid
to come as my date?”
    Max nodded.
    Cam walked over, pulled Max to her
feet, and enveloped her in a hug.
    “It won’t be a proper date of course.
He’s never met you, so kissing and stuff…”
    “Oh, honey, the last thing I want
is a fling with an unobtainable man. I want a real man, not a fantasy. Anyway,
the Sholto Kincaids of this world are way out of my league. I’d much prefer a
fling with your pizza deliveryman.”
    Thank God. The thought of
Cam actually fancying Sholto had been Max’s biggest concern—a fact she hadn’t
admitted to herself until now. “Are you sure? He’s pretty sexy.”
    “You met with him face-to-face?”
Cam tilted her head to one side and observed Max through narrowed eyes.
    To her consternation, a flush
warmed her cheeks. “I went to the premiere last night.”
    “Did you meet him there?”
    “It’s a long story. But yes. And I
met with him again today.”
    “You’ve got a crush on him, I can
tell.” Cam’s forehead pleated. “I’m not sure he’s the right sort of guy for you
to get involved with though. Maybe after what happened you should date a nice
guy, not hook up with a player.”
    “That won’t happen. Sholto and
I—well, we have a history. I never went out with him, but there was an incident
in school, a regrettable incident.” She glanced at the pizza. “Sit down. Eat—our
dinner is getting cold.”
    Cam did as she asked. “Do you want
to talk about it?”
    Max shook her head. “It’s ancient
history. Let’s just say I had a little leverage.”
    “You must have had to pay. How
much? Can you take it out of my salary in installments?”
    “He wouldn’t take money. He wanted
to trade.”
    “Trade?” The word came out as a
squeak.
    “He wants a film role and the only
way to get it is to prove he can survive marooned on a desert island for nine
days. I spoke to Jasper today and he’s agreed to screen test Sholto once that
condition has been met. The problem is, he doesn’t trust Sholto to do it
honestly. He insisted upon independent verification by someone he trusts.” She
swallowed a mouthful of wine, then pointed a thumb at herself. “So I guess I’m
taking a holiday as you suggested. I need you to handle everything at work
while Sholto and I play castaways.”
    And I haven’t even told him
yet.
    *****
    The doorbell rang. Sholto strode across his living room, through
the shaft of sunlight that spilled through the full-length glass doors, and
opened it.
    Larry stood on the doorstep,
staring into the branches of a tree to the left of the door.
    “What are you looking at?” Sholto
tracked Larry’s gaze.
    Larry turned to him with a smile. “There
was a bird—it distracted me for a moment.”
    “In the gold medallion tree?”
Sholto spotted the bird that had caught Larry’s eye. “It’s a black phoebe.”
    Shaking his head side to side,
Larry walked into the house. “I don’t know how you know this stuff, man. It’s
not as if you’ve lived in LA all your life.” He tossed his briefcase onto the
sofa