Tycoon Takes Revenge by Anna DePalo Page A

a great seducer when you use lovely conversation starters like deadbeat, jailbird fathers.”
    He was tempted to show her just how he’d gotten his reputation, but her current performance could have rivaled Buffy the Man Slayer’s. And, that’s exactly what it was: a performance. She was playing the seductress—did she realize how naturally the role came to her?—intent on conquering him, the great seducer.
    He swirled his drink. “Tell me how your mother fell under the spell of the great Bentley Mathison.”
    Kayla wrinkled her nose, then took a sip from her glass. The reckless gleam hadn’t disappeared from her eyes. “It’s a tragedy in three parts. I like comedies better, don’t you?”
    â€œHow does act one begin?”
    She heaved a sigh. “Act one begins with a young woman from a close-knit family going off to college on a scholarship.”
    â€œYour mother?”
    â€œMmm-hmm. She gets a summer job at a financialservices firm. Happily, it pays well and will help with the rest of her college bills. One of the partners takes a liking to her.”
    â€œBentley.”
    â€œYes, and reportedly quite the smooth operator even when he was younger.”
    â€œSo,” he guessed, “the summer intern proceeds to get pregnant by said partner, basking in the thrill of his attention.”
    â€œYes, that would be act two.” She swirled her drink.
    â€œYou’re too smart not to know act three.”
    â€œHe refuses to have anything to do with her,” he said flatly.
    â€œRight,” she confirmed, her tone harsh. “You see, Bentley was about to become engaged to the daughter of a well-connected financier. Of course, a connection like that was going to make his career.”
    â€œWhat happened to your mother?”
    â€œWell, she was too afraid to tell anyone about the affair at first. Who would have believed her? Bentley had encouraged her to keep their relationship under wraps in order not to raise eyebrows at the office.”
    She shook her head, then went on. “But eventually she told her family. They took her in. She dropped out of school for a time to have the baby. With her family’s help, though, she finally finished her degree.”
    â€œAnd your sister?”
    â€œWell, there’s the happy postscript.” She put down her drink on the end table. “Several years on, the woman meets a man who’s her soul mate. They fall in love andmarry. He adopts her child and, later, they have a daughter together.”
    â€œUnderstood,” he said, “except for one small detail.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œI’m not Bentley,” he said deliberately.
    â€œI never said you were.”
    â€œNo, but you act like it.”
    She uncrossed her legs and stood up, armor in place.
    â€œI get enough pop psychology from Samantha.”
    He wasn’t letting her off the hook. “I got it wrong, didn’t I?”
    â€œGot what wrong?”
    He shook his head and set his glass down, then let his gaze rake over her. “I’m not the favorite whipping boy of your column because you’re secretly attracted to playboys. Just the opposite, in fact. Players remind you of your biological father, so you’re determined to rake them over the coals.”
    She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Believe what you want. You don’t know me.”
    He sauntered closer. “Of course, that’s too bad for me,” he mused. “I prefer the story about your secret attraction to playboys.”
    She threw up her hands in exasperation and he caught her chin in his hand.
    The air went out of her and her eyes widened. “What are you doing?” she said, stumbling over the words.
    â€œPutting you to the test,” he muttered, his gaze focused on her mouth.
    â€œW-what test?”
    â€œYou know, the one where you prove that, unlike your mother, you can’t be