Page 54 of Two of a Kind
Spencer had real feelings for her.
Spencer thought she had betrayed him.
She couldn’t explain how she knew those things, but she did. It was all right there in his eyes, at least for someone who took the time to look past the polished exterior and see the man underneath.
She didn’t chase after him. Nor did she bother trying to explain. He wouldn’t be of a mind to listen. She couldn’t really blame him, either. Twice now she had told him she wasn’t interested. For him to assume she was invoking the “three strikes and you’re out” rule would be perfectly reasonable.
Besides, the man obviously had trust issues. If there was a downside to having all that wealth and power, it was that he had to be on his guard all the time. How many people had tried to use him for one thing or another, all while blowing sunshine up his ass?
Oh, Spencer Dumas was no poor little rich boy, she knew that. She had lived in the area long enough to have heard his name come up often in the local rumor mill. Most of the time, what people had to say about him was punctuated with clucks of their tongues and head shakes of disappointment.
As if all those tongue-clucking hypocrites had the right to pass judgment.
She and Spencer ... they had a lot in common, if she ignored the whole wealth and power thing. They were both considered “bad” people; their actions, admittedly not their proudest moments, frowned upon by local society. They both had manipulative, controlling parents who cared more about themselves than they did their offspring. They shared a love of creative, passionate sex ... and they were both really, really good at it.
Maybe that was how she had known what he felt when they had locked eyes—she knew exactly whatshewould have thought had their situations been reversed and she had seen him walking out of Dumas Senior’s office.
The question was: what was she going to do about it?
As Kayla drove home, she asked herself a lot of hard questions. Surprisingly enough, the answers turned out to be incredibly simple. All she had to do was listen to her heart.
Her mother was waiting for her, her eyes bright with greed and Scotch. “I am so proud of you! My daughter, the multi-millionaire! You’re set for life, and you didn’t even have to marry to do it!”
“Mom—”
“Where shall we go, hmm? I hear California is nice, or maybe Texas. Lots of oil men in Texas! Or the Keys. Yes, the Florida Keys!”
“Mom—”
“Oh, listen to me going on and on when my daughter is a travel agent! I bet you have some wonderful ideas. You’ll know all the best places, of course.”
“Mom,stop. I didn’t sign the contract.”
Patricia’s face went blank for a moment, then she laughed. “Good one, Kayla Rose. As if you would be stupid enough to walk away from five million dollars and a fresh start away from this Podunk town.”
Kayla’s lips thinned, and Patricia’s smile faded, her jubilation turning to horror.
“You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t. Oh, Kayla, how could you?”
“It wasn’t right, Mom.”
“Right!” Patricia was shrieking now. “Are you kidding me? What could possibly bewrongwithfive million dollars! Haven’t you learned anything from my mistakes?”
“That’s the thing, Mom; Ihavelearned something.”
Patricia let loose with a string of slightly slurred profanities until Kayla put her hand up.
“Enough. This ismylife, not yours. If you can’t accept that, there’s the door.”
Her mother’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You are throwing me out?”
“No, Mom, I’m giving you a choice.”
Patricia huffed. “Well, I guess I know where I stand. After all I’ve done for you! This was your chance, Kayla. A chance to make a better life for both of us, and you screwed it up, as usual. You are definitely your father’s daughter.”
The familiar stab didn’t hurt as much as it used to. Or maybe Kayla was just too numb to feel it.
Kayla didn’t remember a lot about her father. It was hard to picture his face; nearly impossible to recall what his bear hugs had felt like.
