Read Online Sun Kissed (Crane Series) by Nancy Warren - Free Book Online Page B

his hands clasped behind his neck. “Taking risks, that’s where the fun is, darl.” He looked at her long and steady and she heard the ticking of his bright red surfboard clock on the wall. “You might try it sometime.”
    “I—” She was as much a risk-taker as anyone. Wasn’t she? So her fiancé was home putting together flow charts of their combined incomes and poring over amortization schedules for a thirty-year mortgage. That didn’t mean they couldn’t take risks. But her gaze faltered.
    “We’re here to talk about Crane Enterprises. Not me.”
    “I’ve got a creative mind. I can think about two things at once. Three, even. Do you want to know what else I’m thinking about?”
    His gaze wandered lazily from her face to her feet and she felt a swath of heat follow the same path. Oh, she knew what he was thinking all right. Damn him. If only she could stop herself thinking the same thoughts.
    “A spokesman,” she said. “We need to focus on a spokesman.”
    “Do you want a big name? An actor who’s known on your side of the world?”
    She’d thought about it. Long and hard. She shook her head. “An established name will certainly get attention quickly, but the risk you run is that people will be more interested in them than the product.”
    “That makes sense, I suppose.”
    “I thought about you.” More than she should have. “You’ve got the kind of charisma and a certain animal magnetism that will score well with . . . women.”
    He grinned at her. “I didn’t think you’d noticed. Animal magnetism, hmmm?” And he knew it.
    She ignored the obvious opening to sidetrack the conversation from the professional to the personal. “But with your schedule, I’m not sure you’ve got the time. And you’ll be on camera a lot with the product launch. I think we need someone unknown outside Australia. Remember what Paul Hogan did for Foster’s beer sales in the States?” He nodded vigorously. “We need someone who can do that for your products. Could be a model, a surfer, an actor, someone without ties who can spend a significant amount of time in California.”
    Cam nodded. “Everyone who works for Crane is surfing mad. They’re young, some of them good looking, I s’pose, and they do know their stuff. What about one of them?”
    “I’ve been keeping my eyes open, but none of them has rung my bells.” Except the annoyingly sexy Crane himself, but she was doing her best to muffle those bells.
    “What are we going to do?”
    “If you approve the concept and budget, I’ll get agencies here and at home working on it.” She shrugged. “You never know. There may be an Australian waiting tables at this moment somewhere in Manhattan or Vail who’d be perfect.”
    “They don’t have to be a trained actor then?”
    “No. They need a certain look, the right build, and the right . . . attitude. I can’t explain it, but I’ll know him when I see him.” She rose. “Trust my instincts on this. It’s why you pay me the big bucks.”
    He nodded slowly. “All right. I’ll read this tonight and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”
    “Good night then.” He stared at her and rose, too, stepping closer.
    She was aware that it was after midnight and they were alone in the house. There was nothing holding them back but her morals. Cam might as well have read her mind.
    “You’ve only got a week left. Are you really going to go on home like a good girl? To your man and your predictable life?”
    “Yes,” she said fiercely, hanging onto her sense of what was right. “I am.”
    “You’ll always wonder, you know. You’ll always wonder what it would have been like.”
    She knew. Even now, she was wondering. She tried to breathe calmly but her lungs were acting strangely, as though they’d forgotten their primary function.
    “I’m engaged,” she said softly, almost desperately. It was her last defense, and it seemed to be crumbling.
    “That’s no-man’s land,” he scoffed. “You’re not