Matchless Millionaires: An Improper Affair

She waved a hand. “Yes, I know. In ages. All the more reason for you to have been thrilled to find a soft target. I just fell into your lap, didn’t I?”

He smiled roguishly. “Well, if you want to put it that way—“

“No wonder you seemed so willing suddenly to overlook the fact I was Brenda Hartley’s daughter!”

“Don’t dare bring your mother into it,” he said, no longer joking as he rose from the bed.

She stomped to the nearby bathroom and slammed the door and locked it.

“Damn it, come back here so we can talk about this!”

She ignored him.

“Kelly!” He knocked on the door and twisted the knob. “Come on out.”

Methodically, she dressed, while he continued to knock and pound.

“All right,” he said eventually. “I’m not having this conversation through the bathroom door. I’m going downstairs to make some coffee and wait for you to calm down.”

She was calm, she wanted to tell him. In fact, she was thinking more lucidly than she had all weekend.

He hadn’t mentioned he knew her sexual history, or lack thereof, until after he’d gotten her into bed.

She thought he’d started seeing her—really seeing her—for the whole of who she was. Instead, he’d seen no more than a potential bed buddy, convinced by nothing more than her sexual history.

She couldn’t believe she’d started falling for him. She was such an idiot.

She dressed quickly, then took a deep breath. She would march out of the house without letting Ryan persuade her otherwise. He couldn’t be trusted.

She would just have to chalk up today as a loss as far as finishing the job at the lodge went. Later, she could figure out how she was going to finish up her decorating work without coming into contact with Ryan. She’d just have to come to an arrangement with him to be at the lodge while he was out.

Taking another deep breath, she opened the bathroom door and looked around.

The room was empty and her eyes strayed to the huge bed. The rumpled and twisted sheets were a reminder of last night.

Resolutely looking away, she stole out of the room and crept down the stairs.

This was the second time she was trying to sneak away, and while she was prepared for Ryan to intercept her, she preferred not to have a scene.

When she’d made it down to the lower level, she sighed with relief.

She quietly opened the front door … and her heart leapt to her throat.

“Brenda?” Her question came out as a gasp.

Her mother, who had been surveying the drive, turned to face her.

Brenda’s bright red lips curved into a smile. “Hello, tootsie. I was just about to ring the doorbell.”

Kelly felt her heart race. No, no, no, she wanted to scream. Not here, not now.

“What are you doing here?” she squeaked.

Brenda’s smile dimmed. “I went by your house, but you weren’t there. When I tried your cell and couldn’t reach you, I called Erica. She was out with the kids, but Greg told me you might be here.”

“I—”

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Kelly.”

Ryan’s voice sounded behind her and, as if in a nightmare, Kelly watched Brenda look past her, just as she herself turned to see Ryan coming into the foyer.

All three of them froze.

Ryan stared at the woman in the doorway, and his lips thinned. Even if he hadn’t seen her before, it wouldn’t have been hard to figure out who she was. She looked like an older version of Kelly.

He’d come to iron things out with Kelly—because last night had been fantastic, and because now that he’d found her, he wasn’t letting her go. Instead, he was confronted by one of the last people he wanted to see.

“Brenda,” Kelly said, “this isn’t a good time—”

Ignoring her, Brenda sashayed in, looking from her daughter to Ryan and back. “I see I’m interrupting something.”

She looked Ryan up and down in frank appraisal, making his skin feel tight with angry tension.

“What makes you think so?” Kelly asked, addressing her mother.

Ryan could have told her that her high-pitched, slightly hysterical voice was a dead giveaway.

Brenda lifted her hand, with its fire-engine red nails, and rubbed a lock of Kelly’s hair between her fingers.

“Bed hair,” she said succinctly.

Kelly flushed, then looked helplessly at Ryan.

He approached slowly, aiming for a casual stance. “Kelly’s sister, I presume?”

Brenda gave a tinkling laugh, as if she found his question highly amusing. “I see you inherited your father’s charm.”

She turned to her daughter. “I admit being surprised, however, that you picked Webb’s son as your … playmate.”

Kelly drew in an audible breath. “You know who he is?”

Brenda flashed a hard smile. “I make it my business to keep up with all of Clayburn’s current and past illustrious citizens.” Then she looked at Ryan again. “However, the photos I’ve seen of you in the local papers don’t do you justice.”

If the comment had come from anyone else, Ryan figured he’d have been flattered. But this was Brenda Hartley. Clayburn’s erstwhile sexpot. His father’s former mistress. Kelly’s mother.

The last thought brought him up short.