Mr. Right Now. Kate Hoffmann

and sophisticated, yet caught in a series of empty relationships.

      So he’d stopped dating months ago, instead putting his energy back into the business. Nina Forrester was the first woman he’d found even remotely interesting in all that time. He exhaled, his breath clouding in front of his face, then pulled the door open. He hadn’t been inside more than a few moments before he saw her. She was sitting at a table over in the corner. She turned to look at some papers she’d spread in front of her and he silently studied her profile—the pretty nose, the lush lips, the golden hair that framed her face in soft tendrils.

      Without thinking, he crossed the room and came to a stop beside her table. Suddenly, he wasn’t quite sure what to say. He felt as if he’d been transported back to that awful moment in high school when he’d worked up the nerve to ask the prettiest cheerleader out on a date, only to have her laugh in his face.

      Cameron swallowed hard. “I owe you a cup of coffee.”

      She looked up and for an instant, he thought he saw delight in her pretty blue eyes and a tiny trace of a smile curling her lips. “Hi,” she said, her voice breathless with surprise. She stood up quickly, knocking her hip against the table and nearly spilling her cup of coffee in the process. “What are you doing here?”

      Cameron knew enough about women to play it cool. “I was just passing by and thought I’d give the coffee another try.”

      â€œOh, right,” she said, a nervous twitch of her lips passing for a smile. “I guess you didn’t get much of a taste of it last night.” She paused. “I should buy you a cup.” She motioned to the second chair at her table. “Why don’t you sit down.” Without another word, she hurried off. But a few seconds later, she returned, her face colored with a pretty blush. “How do take your coffee?” she asked.

      â€œWith just a little cream,” Cameron replied, slipping out of his jacket. He watched her return to the counter, then sat down and waited. When she came back with his coffee, he stood and pulled out her chair. But as she sat down, she caught her elbow on his arm and half the coffee spilled all over her papers.

      â€œOh, no!” she cried.

      Cameron grabbed the cup from her hand just as it was about to dump all over his sleeve, then set it down. He handed her a stack of napkins. “You are a menace with a cup of coffee,” he teased. “Maybe we should stick to tea.”

      Nina mopped up the coffee on her side of the table, then glanced up at him, gracing him with one of the most beautiful smiles he’d ever seen. “Maybe we should. Maybe it’s like that movie. I’m doomed to repeat the same clumsy mistakes over and over, every time we meet.”

      â€œWell, I made sure to dress in brown,” he said, indicating his brown wool trousers and sweater. “So fire away. I’m ready.”

      When the table was finally cleaned up, they both sat down. The blush still stained Nina’s cheeks and Cameron still wasn’t sure what to say. He’d have been completely satisfied just to sit across from her and look at her pretty face, but he guessed that she expected a little more. “Is this work?” he asked, pointing to the coffee-stained papers.

      Nina nodded. “It was. I’ve got a special project I’ve been assigned. I’ve been working on it all day.”

      â€œAnd where do you work?” he asked, already knowing the answer. He felt guilty even bringing up the subject of her job, considering his position, but it was a safe subject for two people who barely knew each other.

      â€œI’m the head of research for Attitudes,” she said. “It’s a weekly magazine. Our offices are right across the street.”

      He couldn’t help but smile at the embellished job title. Still, he was secretly pleased that she was trying to impress him. “Attitudes?”

      â€œHave you ever heard of it?” She forced a smile. “I suppose not. I mean, you’re not really our type—our reader—I mean, our demographic.”

      â€œAnd why is that?” Cameron asked.

      â€œWell, you’re a little too…”

      He waited as she groped for a polite way to say conservative. “Tall?” he asked. Her blush deepened and she shook her head. “Too stubborn? That’s always been a problem.” She shook her head again. “Or maybe I’m too clumsy?”

      Nina laughed. “The word we’d use around the office might be ‘conservative.’ Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s just not our demographic.”

      â€œGee, I thought you were about to say I was too handsome or too charming.”

      â€œMaybe I should have,” she murmured, sending him a coy look over the rim of her coffee mug. “So, what do you do?”

      â€œI’m in…computers,” Cameron said.

      â€œI could have guessed that,” Nina commented. “I mean, from the way you were dressed when we first met. You looked like a businessman.”

      A long silence grew between them and Cameron fought the sudden urge to lean across the table and kiss her, simply to see if her lips tasted as good as they looked. Instead, he grabbed the next handiest subject. “Tell me about this project you’re working on.” Cameron pointed to the papers. “You said it was important?” He picked up his mug and took a sip of his coffee.

      â€œThere’s not much to it,” Nina replied. “I’m supposed to find out everything I can about some guy named Cameron Ryder.”

      A sudden cough burst from his throat and he sucked in a deep breath, the coffee going down the wrong way. Nina’s brow furrowed in concern and she reached out and patted him on the shoulder. “Are you all right?”

      He nodded. “It’s just a little hot,” he said, his eyes watering. “So, what have you found out about this guy?”

      â€œI spent all day on the Net, downloading what I could about his company, NightRyder. But the guy who runs it keeps a pretty low profile. If I had to guess I’d say he’s some hard-hearted, ruthless businessman who buys up companies for sport, putting good people out of work, and he keeps a low profile so none of the employees he puts out of work can run over him with a bus.”

      â€œHe sounds like a real bastard,” Cameron said.

      â€œThis NightRyder, it’s a news and information site. Very trendy, very popular with our magazine’s demographic. He wants to buy Attitudes and turn himself into some media mogul. My boss doesn’t want to sell.”

      â€œAnd what else have you learned?”

      â€œNot much. I can’t even find a photo of the guy, except for this.” She slid a paper over towards him. “It’s his high school graduation picture. He looks like kind of a geek. But I guess even geeks can turn into bastards given enough power and money.”

      Cameron winced inwardly. Damn, he hated when that picture surfaced in the media. He’d done his best to stay out of the glare of the paparazzi, avoiding photographers like the plague. But for lack of a more current photo, they always trotted out the senior picture—the pimply-faced, pencil-necked doofus with the thick glasses. And he was once again faced with a reminder of the first eighteen years of his life.

      But there was one advantage to the photo. There was no way Nina Forrester would recognize him. Hell, he barely recognized himself. “He doesn’t look very ruthless to me. He looks like the kind of kid who eats paste and spends most of his day stuffed in a locker. See there,” he said, pointing to the picture. “He’s