More Than a Playboy by Monique DeVere Read Free Book Online Page A

quiet hostility either. “Do you mind if we sit?”
    He gestured for her to take a seat on the sofa then lowered himself onto the far end. A sense of loss assailed her that he couldn’t bring himself to touch her. Had she left it too long before she came to Cameron? While she was letting go of the hurt her past had inflicted, had she given him time to reconsider his feelings for her?
    Forcing herself to continue, Sandy put aside the sting of Cameron’s reaction to her. “At the first warning that a guy may be thinking of getting serious, I usually end the relationship. For you to blurt out you love me like that was a total shock. I never so much as suspected you felt that way. I know you flirt with me and mess about, but that seemed to be your nature. From what I’ve heard, you’re pretty loose with your affections, so when—”
    “From what you’ve heard?” Cameron cut in, his voice steely, his gaze just as hard. “This is the second time you’ve made reference to this type of thing, Sandy. Exactly what have you heard?”
    Why did he look so murderous? Surely, he didn’t think he’d be able to keep his extracurricular activities a secret. She cleared her throat. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to know, but he would have been blinkered not to realise the women might talk.
    “I don’t know how else to approach the subject, so I’ll come right out with it. You’re sleeping with the mums who hire you. Personally, I think it’s in poor taste to sleep with the women who pay for your Daddy services, but...” She shrugged.
    Cameron looked like he was about to explode. “What did you say?”
    “That you—”
    “I heard you the first time.”
    “Then why did you ask me to repeat it?”
    “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” He jumped to his feet, towering over her. “Why would you conclude I was sleeping with these women? And let’s set the record straight right now. I volunteer my services at TDA. I met Jamie through a mutual friend, and when she told me about her business, and her future plans to start a charity to get kids off the streets and into a program based on parental guidance, I said I’d fund it. But I wasn’t going to put money into the charity and take a back seat, I wanted in.”
    This was news to her. Though she worked as TDA’s receptionist, there were obviously aspects of the company to which she wasn’t privy.
    “We decided it best for me to assume a voluntary daddy role within TDA,” Cameron continued. “Once we got the charity up and running most of my time went there. On occasion, I’ll take on a booking because the kids like me, and I don’t mind showing up to their events so they have a father figure by their side, but let me assure you, sweetheart, that is as far as it goes.”
    “Why else would the mums gush about your extra help, how accommodating you are?”
    “Would these ‘mums’ be Tracy Roland, Melissa Teak, or Abby Bailey, by any chance?”
    “Yes.” Was he going to confess to sleeping with them? Jealousy socked her in the solar plexus.
    He began to pace. “Did you once stop to think they may have been grateful for other reasons? Or do you see me as some bobble-head stud?”
    When she opened her mouth, Cameron slashed his hand through the air in front of him. “Don’t bother to answer that.”
    “Look, Cam, you don’t have to explain anything to me.”
    “Yes I do, Sandy.” He stopped pacing to look at her with a pained expression. “I don’t like who I am in your eyes. How can we move forward when you can’t see past the packaging? So yes, I think I need to explain.”
    He continued pacing, taking it to the glass wall. “As you know, Tracy is a single mum. She’s having problems getting a job, because every time she secures an interview, her ex promises to babysit the kids then lets her down at the last minute. We got talking at her son’s award ceremony, and she confided in me. I told her I’d help her out if she were ever in that position