How to Seduce a Billionaire

Frowning now, she stared at her fingernails. “Roger. My old boyfriend. But I should’ve known it wouldn’t work.”

Roger? Who the hell was Roger? Brandon had to admit that the part of him that should have been relieved to hear she wasn’t out to seduce him was surprisingly disappointed. Not that he would ever allow anything to happen between them. But still, who the hell was she talking about?

“Who’s Roger?” he asked aloud.

“I just told you, he’s my old boyfriend. His name is Roger Hempstead.” She stepped away from Brandon’s grip and moved back to her chair. “We broke up a few years ago and I haven’t seen him since.”

“How long ago did you break up?”

“It’s been almost five years.”

He made a quick calculation. “But that’s about how long you’ve been working here.”

“That’s right.” She leaned one elbow on the armrest and looked up at him with a valiant smile. “After Roger and I broke up, I couldn’t stand living in the same small town where everyone I knew could dissect my every word and movement. I decided to relocate as far away from home as possible, so I looked for jobs in California and found this one.”

“I’m glad you did, but it must’ve been quite a breakup.”

“It wasn’t fun,” she said carefully, “but I’ve moved on.”

“Have you?”

“Yes, of course.” She nodded her head resolutely. “But then, last month I found out that Roger’s company booked their corporate retreat here at the Mansion. He’ll be here next week.” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “And I wanted to knock his socks off.”

“Ah, I see.” And he did, sort of. Resting his hip on the edge of his desk, he said, “If it’s any consolation, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll knock his socks off.”

She gazed at him skeptically. “You’re just saying that to be nice.”

“I’m not that nice. Trust me.”

Her lips twisted into a frown. “I do. Usually.”

“I never lie, remember?”

“True, you don’t typically lie. To me, anyway,” she allowed.

He chuckled. “So it’s been about five years since you broke up with this Roger character, and now you want to make an impression.”

She nodded with determination. “I really, really do.”

“You will. I promise.”

“Thanks.” Her brief smile faded. “But I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m fine at business, but the world of romance is beyond me.”

“Tell me what I can do to help.”

Kelly regarded him with interest. “You mean it?”

“Sure.” He was willing to do almost anything to get things back on track. If Kelly felt secure, she’d be able to do her work and stop worrying about this clown Roger. Then, once Roger was gone, she’d go back to behaving like the Kelly he was comfortable with. His universe would once more be in alignment.

“That would be wonderful,” she said with enthusiasm. “I could really use advice from someone like you.”

“Someone like me?”

She smiled and he was struck again by how beautiful she was. Damn, how blind had he been all these years?

“It’s just that the two of you are so much alike,” she said. “You and Roger, I mean. It would really help to get your perspective on things.”

“What do you mean, we’re alike?”

“I mean, both of you are strong and handsome and arrogant and ruthless and, you know, type A all the way.”

Huh. That was accurate enough, although he’d always thought he was fairly laid-back compared to his two brothers. He did appreciate the strong and handsome part of her description, though.

Kelly had stopped to ponder what she’d just said, then added softly, “Wow, no wonder Roger didn’t think I was enough for him.”

Brandon bristled. “Enough for him?”

She sighed. “You know what I mean. I wasn’t attractive enough for him.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He told me so when he broke up with me.”

For some reason, Brandon felt an irresistible urge to pulverize something. Like Roger’s face. “You’re kidding.”

“No,” she said wryly. “I’m really not. But you saw what I looked like before the makeover, Brandon. Plain, wholesome, unremarkable. Not exactly supermodel material.”

A twinge of guilt pinged inside him as he realized that was exactly how he’d always felt about her. But he’d considered that a good thing. Now he was just glad he’d never mentioned it out loud.

“But I understood where Roger was coming from,” she continued. “He is very special, after all.”

“Special? He sounds like a jackass.”

She tried to stifle a giggle but didn’t quite succeed. “Oh, he is, but he can’t help it. His family has a very strong influence on him. His mother’s ancestors came over on the Mayflower, you know.”

“Members of the crew, were they?” Shaking his head, he said, “Listen, Kelly, do you want me to have him killed? Because I know someone who knows someone who could—”

Kelly laughed. “That’s a sweet offer, but no. I just want to make him regret what he said when he broke things off, that’s all.”

He studied her for several moments. “He hurt you.” She shook her head. “No, no, he told me the truth and I have to be grateful for that.”

“Grateful? Why?”

She smiled tightly. “Because he helped me see things more clearly.”

“What kinds of things?” Brandon asked warily. “My own shortcomings.”

Once again, his fists were itching to punch something. Roger’s stomach, maybe, since he’d already mentally broken the jerk’s nose.