Dominic wore a pair of distressed jeans and a ripped muscle shirt. His dark hair was tousled and curling wildly in a way many people spend money and time in a salon for and his brother had probably just toweled dried it after a shower in a gym. He sat with one foot propped on his knee and thumbed through his phone with a look of bored detachment. He looked up from the screen, saw Cameron, and a grin that had graced literal billboards spread across his face.

By contrast, Julian was dressed in a suit so sharp it probably gave other suits inferiority complexes. His golden brown hair was slicked into a classic pompadour that would have looked at home on the set of Mad Men. And the smile on his face both could and had made hardened corporate sociopaths sweat.

On the surface, his brothers were a study in differences. But the voyeuristic curiosity in their eyes was identical.

Cameron pressed the driver’s intercom and said, “Tanner, you’re meant to warn me about unexpected guests.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Prince.” Tanner’s voice echoed through the speakers. “They said you were expecting them.”

“Julian said,” Dominic corrected. “I didn’t.”

Julian shrugged unapologetically. “What did you think was going to happen after you dodged our calls all day?”

“That you’d drop it and respect my privacy?”

Dominic laughed. “What family do you think you’re living in?”

Cameron sighed. Today had been an unusually sigh-heavy day. “Fine. Where would you like me to drop you off?”

“Your place.” Julian patted the gym bag beside him. “We’re here for the workout you skipped this morning.”

“And to find out why you skipped it,” Dominic said.

Cameron had a brief fantasy of wrestling both of his nosy brothers out of the car, dumping them on the sidewalk, and telling Tanner to gun it. He outweighed them both, being their big brother in both age and height. But Dominic had practiced mixed martial arts for years, and Julian was a shark long before he’d been a lawyer and had a bundle of dirty tricks.

Cameron pressed the intercom again and said, “Home please, Tanner.”

“So,” Julian smirked, “what happened this morning?”

Cameron thought about telling his brothers what had happened to him since he’d met Cyn. He thought about it for a whole two point six seconds. They’d make Blackstone’s mockery look sympathetic and understanding. “Three hours,” he said. “I was out of contact for three measly hours. Aren’t I allowed to sleep in?”

“You never sleep in,” Dominic said. “You’ve always been an obnoxiously early riser.”

“Plus, witnesses place you rolling into work unshaven and ‘looking like you slept under a bridge’,” Julian said. “Their words, not mine. Why would that be the case if you overslept at home?”

“I ran into work,” Cameron lied without hesitation. “And tell Savannah I’m downgrading her Christmas present.”

“You ran into work?” Julian leaned back into the leather and smirked. “Why would you run into work when you were already running late?”

“I felt like it.”

“I went up to your place this morning,” Dominic said. “You weren’t there, your bed hadn’t been slept in, and your building security said you stormed out last night and hadn’t come back.”

Cameron closed his eyes, resolved to have a long, detailed talk with his building about who they should and should not be revealing information to, and admitted, “I spent the night with a woman.”

There was an unflatteringly long moment of stunned silence.

“You? Spent a night with a woman?” Dominic asked.

“Voluntarily?” Julian added.

Cameron crossed his arms. “My apartment doesn’t have the revolving door both of yours do, but it has been known to happen.”

“But you weren’t in your apartment,” Julian said. “So whose door did you revolve in and out of?”

“None of your business,” Cameron said.

A wicked grin spread across Dominic’s face. “You don’t know. You had a one-night stand.”

“Cameron?” Julian stared at Dominic. “Don’t be absurd. He inherited Dad’s serial monogamy gene.”

“Nope.” Dominic’s grin got wider. “He hasn’t had a girlfriend for ages. And look at all the hallmarks of shame: disappearing last night, reappearing again in yesterday’s clothes, and—most telling of all—the lying.”

“My, my, little brother.” Julian studied Cameron’s face with unnerving intensity. “I do believe you’re right.”

Cameron didn’t flinch. “Believe what you like.”

“Tristan is going to get such a kick out of this.” Julian reached for his phone. “Ash won’t believe me. You need to be the one to tell him, Dominic.”

“If your relationship with the truth wasn’t as flexible as the yoga instructor you dated, he might.” But Dominic picked up his phone and tapped away at his screen, too.

Julian snorted. “Says the man whose pathological honesty got his apartment trashed by how many women so far this year?”

“Six.”

“And it’s only September.”

“At least I don’t get dumped every other month because I’m in love with my assistant.”

Julian shook his head. “For the five thousandth time, little brother, I am not in love with Savannah. And we’re not here to focus on my love life. We’re here to focus on Cameron’s.”

“It’s okay.” Cameron closed his eyes, trying to ignore both his brothers and the buzzing of the texts flooding into his phone. “Feel free to keep picking on each other.”

“But picking on you is a much rarer opportunity,” Dominic said. “Shane posted a mind blown meme to the group chat. And Tristan is writing tabloid headlines. I can decide whether my favorite is Once Upon A One-Night Stand or The Ice Prince Thaws.”

Cameron groaned. “Are those names really still around?”

“Unfortunately,” Dominic said.

“You’re the one doing the most to keep the tabloid nicknames going, Wild Prince,” Julian said. “You had every website and gossip blog talking about us when you got kicked out of that club last week.”

Dominic, who had inherited the I-couldn’t-care-less version of their mother’s shrug, lifted one unapologetic shoulder and kept scrolling through his phone.

“Besides, I like being the Golden Prince,” Julian continued. “And how else is the media meant to distinguish between the seven of us?”

“If only our mothers had thought to provide us with easily distinct first names,” Cameron said.

“Was that a joke? From the Ice Prince?” Julian grinned. “Your polar ice caps really are melting. And speaking of the hole in your ozone layer. Can we expect a repeat performance or have you been buried in work so long you forgot how to satisfy a woman?”

Cameron glared at his brother. “Die in a fire.”

“Touchy, touchy.” Julian’s grin widened.

“Hah.” Dominic was still watching the group chat on his phone. “Lucas saw the news. He wants to know if the pod people got you. Ash, of course, is telling us to respect your privacy.”

“He’s the only one out of the six of you who isn’t getting coal for Christmas,” Cameron said.

“We’re crushed,” Julian quipped as the car slowed. “Ah, your place at last.”

“Will that be all for the evening, Mr. Prince?” Tanner asked as he brought the car to a stop outside Cameron’s building. “Or would you like me to remain available to take your brothers home?”

“No, they can find their own way. Have a good night, Tanner.” Cameron opened the door and got out.

“But we might be kidnapped off the street,” Julian said as he followed Cameron out of the car.

Cameron smiled. “I can hope.”

“You are cranky today.” Dominic stepped out onto the street and slapped Cameron’s shoulder. “Cheer up. You’ll feel better after you’ve sweated off your sins. I’ve already done a hard session today. Think you can beat me on the treadmill?”

From experience, Cameron doubted it. But admitting that would only feed Dominic’s ego. “Let’s find out.”

But as he turned to head inside, his gaze caught on the bar where he’d met Cyn the night before. It had slipped his mind when he spoke to Blackstone but he remembered her talking to the girls Oki knew. He might know something about Cameron’s mystery woman.

“Coming?” Julian asked.

“I left a card behind the bar last night. I’m going to pick it up. You guys head up. I’ll meet you in the gym.”

“Sure.”

His brothers went in and Cameron walked into the bar. It was packed with a mix of businesspeople and clubbers. Oki flitted about behind the bar looking like he was serving three people at once. He glanced up, caught sight of Cameron, and waved him over.

“I’ve got a message for you,” he said when Cameron wedged himself into a thin gap at the bar.

“You do?” he asked.

“Here.” Oki fished a note from his pocket and slid it across the bar. “Guess who I got it from?”

Cameron recognized the handwriting at once. He snatched up Cyn’s note and read it quickly. A surge of triumph ran through him. He had her number now. He would see her again. Hell, she could still be here. He glanced up at Oki. “Is she here? Did you see which way she went?”

“Home is my guess. She dropped it off three hours ago, so I don’t rate your chances of catching her,” Oki said. “Probably a good thing for you. I mean, look at what you’re wearing.”

Cameron looked at his suit. “What do you mean?”

“You told her you’re a personal trainer.”

“No, I didn’t.” He thought over what he’d said last night. “Ah. But I can see how it happened.”

Oki snorted. “I can’t.”

Cameron eyed him. “I could be a personal trainer.”

“You really couldn’t.” Oki shook his head and grinned. “Man, I’d like to see the look on her face when you tell her. The girl who’s anti-suits dragged home the suit-iest suit of them all.”

“That’s a good point,” Cameron drummed his fingers on the bar. “Maybe I shouldn’t say anything for a while.” He glanced over his shoulder toward his building, his brothers, and the entire cluster of strings, duties, and privileges that come with being a Prince. A moment of longing came over him. “It might be nice to be a personal trainer for a while.”

The bartender stared at him. “You’re not serious.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a spectacularly bad idea.”

“No, just think it through.” The more Cameron thought about it, the more he liked it. “She’s already run out me once. She’s clearly a flight risk. I just need to sell her on me before I tell her who I really am.”

“Why would you do that?”

Cameron shrugged. “Have you ever met a girl and just known you need to know her?”

“Yeah,” Oki said. “But then I sober up and get over it. Plus, I saw that note.”

Cameron looked at him sharply. “You read it?”

“Had to make sure she wasn’t a bunny boiler, didn’t I?” Oki said. “The girl only gave you her number so she could get her shoe back. Doesn’t seem to me like she wants to date you.”

That was only some morning after embarrassment mixed with a misunderstanding about how he felt. Her mistaken assumption about his job seemed like a much bigger hurdle. He remembered what she said when she tore down the jackass who’d refused to take “get lost” for an answer. A good man in sweats will always have more of a chance with me than someone like you.

Cameron could be a good man in sweats for a little longer. Just until she had a chance to get to know him.

“She does want to date me,” Cameron said firmly. “I just need some time for her to get to know the real me before she sees me in a suit.”

“By pretending to be someone you’re not?” The bartender shook his head. “Man, how does that make sense?”

“It’s basic sales technique,” Cameron said. “Sell your prospective client on your product’s positives before you make them aware of the negatives.”

“So you’d be the product and reality would be the negative here?” Oki folded his arms. “You don’t date much, do you?”

“I manage relationships all day.” Cameron nodded decisively. “This will work.”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Prince. But I want it known that I told you the iceberg was coming, and you steered your ship into it. There’ll be no pity drinks for you when this all goes wrong.”

Cameron entered Cyn’s number into his phone. “You’ll see, Oki. It’ll all work out in the end.”