Cooking Up A Seduction

Chapter One

One

The gunmetal gray sky outside his office window mocked him. Cameron Price reminded himself the Internet claimed it rained more in New York than here in Seattle, but that little tidbit hadn't kept the leaden sky from unloading its fury each time he stepped outside.

He needed to like it here. Maybe it would help if he focused on the positive. In the summer it would be beautiful, but he had to get through November without going mad. And the coffee tasted better, though he couldn't decipher the way people ordered it. Driving a great car and living in a big house helped. But the car was a gas-guzzler and the house as white and cold as a hospital.

He grunted in frustration and sat up straighter in the leather desk chair. The party tonight had him riled, and he needed to get over it. He'd driven into the city, to get a vision of his new workplace in its Saturday relaxed attitude. Everyone expected him to show up on Monday, but he wanted to get an idea of the inner workings before he started meeting people at the party tonight.

When he'd arrived, technicians had been setting up the computer and phone in his office. Cameron had toured the building on previous trips to Seattle for meetings, so he knew the layout well enough to find his office. This had allowed him not to look completely out of place standing outside the door, covertly listening as two of his executives had instructed the tech people on the set-up.

From the irritated tone of their voices he knew he had his work cut out for him. The challenge relieved him; he'd been so worried the smaller branch of the venture capital firm wouldn't give him enough opportunities to prove to the board he could steer the ship.

He'd entered the office with a smile and greeted the two men as if they hadn't been talking behind his back. Cameron was proud of his reputation of efficiency, even if it did mean some people called him ruthless. He made money for the firm and their investors, and that was the bottom line.

They had spoken to him with thinly veiled curiosity, wanting to know his plans for the firm. Of course he told them nothing, partly to seem mysterious and authoritative, and partly because he wasn't sure yet just what this promotion entailed, and how much control he'd be allowed to wield. After a brief conversation about the weather, Cameron had ushered them all out of his new office, knowing he'd see them later tonight at Bob Anders's house.

Scratch that, his house. He had to start thinking of himself as living here, instead of just stepping in and filling the boss's shoes on the left coast.  

When Anders had confessed he hoped to retire in three years, and was looking to Cameron to take over as CEO when he did, Cameron never expected the honor to include a stint running the West Coast office. A native New Yorker, he'd never expected to live anywhere but the East Coast. But he wanted to helm the most influential venture capital firm in the country like he wanted his next breath, so he nodded and smiled, and took the next plane out.

Two days later, he struggled to adjust to a new town, new house, and new job. He knew he'd made the right decision, the only decision to make his career aspirations happen. He needed to get his bearings and figure out how everything worked. This fish-out-of-water, out-of-control feeling didn't sit well with him, and he needed to be rid of it quickly.

"The view is better when the mountain is out."

Cameron swiveled in his chair to face the door, seeing his mentor and boss, Bob Anders, framed in the doorway. He smiled at the barrel-chested older man. "The mountain comes in and out?"

"From the clouds." Bob nodded his bald head and entered the room, closing the door behind him. "You'll see. I had to learn to like New York; you'll learn to like Seattle."