Wicked & Willing: Bad Girls by Leslie Kelly Page A

“No, just a twin. He lives in Florida.”
    “Oh, great, two of you. Is he quick to judge, like you?”
    Quick to judge? That’s what she thought of him? The accusation was almost funny, considering how he and Trent always viewed one another. Trent leapt without looking. Troy viewed a situation from every angle before deciding on a course of action. “We’re not much alike,” he admitted, “other than physically. What about you? I take it you have no siblings?”
    “No biological ones. I stay in touch with some of the other foster kids I grew up with. And my foster mom hasfour great kids right now who think of me as a big sister. I get back to see them as much as I can.”
    The note of affection in her voice couldn’t have been feigned. She made no attempt to hide her background, seemed completely accepting and comfortable with the way she’d been raised—another detail that didn’t quite gel with the image of her as a clever con woman. “So, you say you don’t want money. Why don’t you tell me what it is you’re really after?”
    “I’m not after anything. Leo asked me to come, to meet Max and consider the possibility of us being related.” She turned in her seat, facing forward and shaking her head. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “It sounded simple.”
    “A simple con?”
    She groaned in frustration. “ Not a con. At least not by me. Leo made it sound like it could be true, and I owed it to myself, and Max, to check it out.”
    He raised a brow. “Checking it out. Yes, that would certainly explain the big reunion scene, culminating with the introduction of the long-lost granddaughter.”
    “You really can be a snot, can’t you?” she snapped back.
    Though he’d just changed lanes in heavy traffic, Troy couldn’t help jerking his head to look at her. “Did you just call me a snot?”
    She answered only with a smirk.
    As he had from the moment he’d met her, Troy felt completely unsure how to react. The woman was outrageous and confident. Brazen and funny. Cocky with moments of vulnerability. A complete contradiction. She confused him. She aroused him. She angered him. He’d never met anyone like her. He still wanted her so much it nearly caused him physical pain.
    As if completely oblivious to his reaction, Venusreached for the stereo and flipped it on. She punched a few buttons until a loud rock song filled the car. Then she closed her eyes and crossed her arms, silently dismissing him.
    Troy reluctantly shook his head and focused on the road. He’d been called a lot of things in his life, by a lot of different women…some of whom had been hurling objects at him as well as words.
    But he’d never known a woman whose insults made him want her even more.

4
    V ENUS GOT HER FIRST real indication about just how much Max Longotti might be worth when she saw his house. House, though, probably wasn’t the right word. Friggin’ mansion would be more appropriate.
    Her jaw fell open as they drove up the long, tree-lined driveway of the estate, which was just north of the city in a pretty, trendy area called Buckhead. “Holy crap, the old guy with the mail-order business lives here? Or is this a hotel?”
    “No, Max lives here. Alone. Longotti Lines is a little more than a mail-order business,” Troy replied, sounding amused. “It’s one of the top catalog retailers in the U.S. Right up there with Land’s End and the other biggies.”
    She whistled, tilting her head back to look to the top of the graceful, two-story house with the thick, round columns across the front. Maybe her Scarlett act hadn’t been so far off. The place did remind her of an old-fashioned plantation house, surrounded by rolling green lawn and lush landscaping.
    A small balcony with an intricate lattice railing ran across the entire front of the building, above the porch, and curved around the sides as well. Huge French doors provided access from what were probably upstairs bedrooms.
    A queasy knot formed in her