More Than a Playboy Read Free Page A

her face. She was well aware of Cameron observing her effort to take charge of the situation...and failing miserably.
    “No!” Damien dragged his hand out of hers. “I want to see the white tiger.”
    “I know, sweetie. And I promise to lift you again so you can see.”
    Crossing his arms over his little chest, he looked up at Sandy. “No, you won’t. You’re too weak.”
    Sandy laughed, hoping Cameron didn’t notice how embarrassed the confrontation with the child made her. “The reason I put you down, was so I could give the others a turn to see the tiger.”
    “You’re too short.” The child had no sense of diplomacy.
    In spite of the insult, Sandy smiled and ruffled his hair in a playful gesture. And to think she’d spent years being called Sandy lankz . “Five-foot-eight isn’t considered short for a woman, darling.”
    From her peripheral view, she noticed Cameron’s gaze slide over her, making her feel as if it burrowed beneath her lightweight autumn jacket as if each inch along her body his eyes travelled, stripped a little of her animosity toward him away, leaving her exposed and vulnerable to his magnetism.
    More heat radiated off her face.
    “I want to be in Cam’s group. He’s tall, and he has muscles. I bet he can hold me up in the air all day.”
    Sandy didn’t want to think of Cameron’s muscles. It was bad enough she’d noticed his body. She couldn’t let her imagination conjure up images of potential muscles too.
    She threw him a silent plea for help. “I’ve left the others alone at the tiger enclosure.”
    Cam gave a slight nod, indicating she should go back to the kids.
    Unable to think of a way to change Damien’s mind, she exhaled a defeated breath. “Thanks.” She turned, had only gone a couple of steps when she heard Cameron’s deep voice directed at Damien.
    “Hey, buddy, what do you say we join Sandy and the others, make one big group?”
    She picked up her pace, not wanting to hear Damien’s answer. She only prayed the child protested the idea as much as she did.

3

    T he tiger had accommodated them by sauntering closer to where Sandy stood outside the barrier with the three remaining children in her care, giving them an unhindered view.
    Her concentrated attention was on the grass verge where the white tiger lounged next to a boulder, when the crunch of gravel alerted her to approaching footsteps. With Lydia on her hip, she glanced over her shoulder to see Cameron and the boys headed toward them.
    So much for relying on the predictability of a stubborn little boy to keep Cameron at a distance. She adjusted Lydia on her hip and returned her gaze to the tiger, schooling her features in an expression she hoped showed indifference. If only she could erect a boundary fence between her and Cameron as effective as the one separating the tiger from them.
    By the time he and the boys had passed the line of tropical foliage and stopped next to her, she’d prepared herself for the sensations standing close to Cameron would create in her body.
    He reached across Sandy and gently tugged one of Lydia’s bouncy curls. “Hi, princess.” Then he did the same to Sandy’s hair. “Hi, princess,” he directed at her, his tone turning deep and intimate next to her ear. His elusive cologne teased her senses as unmercifully as he teased her. “Damien has agreed to us joining our groups to form one unit.”
    How was she going to get through the rest of the day if she couldn’t get away from Cameron and his potent effect on her senses? “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    “Why not?”
    “I don’t see the point of combining the groups.”
    “You would leave me to look after five rowdy boys all by myself? Come on, Sandy. You know the rules. Four kids to an adult.”
    Darn! Cameron was right. Since Damien was steadfast in his decision to attach himself to Cam’s group, the obvious solution would be to join forces. Form one large group of eight children with two adult