The Seduction Game

by Maltezos, Anastasia

  The Seduction Game

  by Anastasia Maltezos

  Back Cover Copy

  Naughty or nice? What do men really want?

  Adam Tyler is gorgeous and charismatic, but his millionaire status attracts the wrong kind of woman. When his sister places a personals ad to help him meet a nice girl and settle down, he's downright furious--he enjoys his "singlehood." The ad attracts a pretty school teacher, but meeting her is the last thing he wants to do. However, when faced with his sister's persistence, he resigns himself to a dinner date. After all, A date with a quiet, unassuming teacher might be an interesting diversion. One evening won't jeopardize his coveted bachelorhood.

  Writer Kate Moore thinks the male subject is perfect. She'll first meet this eligible bachelor as "Kate the schoolteacher"--sweet, mildly appealing, and very, very nice. Then she'll meet him as "Katrina"-- exciting, sexy, and very, very naughty. She can test her theory, quietly disappear, and settle back with another bestseller under her belt.

  What could go wrong?

  Highlight

  “When my sister said I would have an interesting evening, somehow I don't think this is what she had in mind.”

  Kate spun around and found herself staring up at the stranger. His mouth was tense.

  “Excuse me?” she croaked.

  He handed her a white piece of lined paper. Her stomach jolted as she recognized it, the note she had given the maitre d’.

  “Care to explain this?”

  “You're...you're...”

  “Adam Tyler. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  “But your eyes aren’t blue,” she blurted.

  “Evidently,” he countered smoothly, but the muscle working along his jaw told her he was quite angry. “And you're not a schoolteacher.”

  “I…I’m not?” Kate responded weakly.

  “No. I’m beginning to think you’re some kind of witch who is hell bent on driving me mad. Would you mind explaining to me why you ran off like that?”

  He didn’t know. Thank God. “Mr. Tyler—”

  “Adam. Surely we can dispense with the formalities seeing there’s nothing formal about our relationship.”

  Kate stiffened. “We don’t have a relationship.”

  “Somehow I get the feeling having a relationship with you would be a full-time job.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked, irked.

  The Seduction Game

  9781616502850

  Copyright © 2011, Anastasia Maltezos

  Edited by Tiffany Maxwell

  Book design by Lyrical Press, Inc.

  Cover Art by Renee Rocco

  First Lyrical Press, Inc. electronic publication: June, 2011

  Lyrical Press, Incorporated

  17 Ludlow Street

  Staten Island, New York 10312

  http://www.lyricalpress.com

  eBooks are not transferable. All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission.

  PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  Published in the United States of America by Lyrical Press, Incorporated

  Dedication

  To my little sweetheart, Zoe.

  Chapter 1

  “The hell I am!” Adam Tyler yelled, his dark eyes glinting with anger.

  “Exactly. The hell you are,” his sister Dana replied calmly. “And don’t you dare say no. I went to a lot of trouble finding her.”

  Adam glowered at his sister sitting across from him. This time her meddling in his personal life had gone too far.

  “Have you completely lost your mind? Did you really think I’d agree to this?”

  Her blue eyes narrowed for an instant. “Since when do you turn down a date with a beautiful woman?”

  “Since my kid sister found her through the personal ads, that’s when.” He fought to control his temper and lowered his voice. His secretary was just beyond his door at her desk and the last thing he needed was her overhearing the mess Dana put him in. “My God, I can’t believe how flippant you are about this. What sister in her right mind would place an ad in the personals, interview the women who responded, choose one, and then expect her brother to go out with her? Hell, you didn’t even stop there. You had the gall to assume a phony identity on me.” He had to end this discussion now. “Forget it. I won’t deceive some innocent and unsuspecting schoolteacher into thinking I’m a car salesman. End of discussion.”

  Grim-faced, he crumpled the newspaper clipping and tossed it in the waste basket beside his mahogany desk. He wanted to think out of sight, out of mind, but in a million years he would never forget those words.

  Attractive thirty-six-year-old-male

  Tired of bad girls. Wants to meet a nice girl for lasting relationship.

  He wanted to groan and bury his face in his hands, but he was too busy glaring at his sister. “I repeat, I am not going out with Karen Myers tonight.”

  “Kate. Her name is Kate Moore.”

  “Kate. Karen. It doesn’t make a difference since you’re calling it off.”

  Dana’s pout was replaced with a scowl. “No. She’ll be waiting for you at Ricardo’s at seven o’clock.” Her scowl deepened. “You’ve been gallivanting about like an overgrown playboy for far too long. One day some unscrupulous woman will trap you into marrying her and take you for everything you have.”

  Adam shook his head. “You’re completely certifiable. The ad aspect I’m beginning to stomach, but all this undercover nonsense is still beyond my comprehension.”

  “I had to hide the fact you’re a millionaire. Weren’t you listening to me when I explained it all ten minutes ago?”

  “Right. You think all women are after my money. And here I thought it was my charming personality that attracted them.”

  “You’re gorgeous, women love the tall, dark, handsome types, smart, and a millionaire to boot, deadly combinations when it comes to women on the prowl. The white lie about you being a car salesman was just a precaution.” Dana narrowed her eyes. “What’s wrong with a quiet evening of stimulating conversation with a warm and compassionate woman? Can’t you see I’m only looking out for your best interests?”

  “And who’s looking out for...” Adam frowned trying to recall her name.

  Dana sighed. “Kate Moore.”

  “Who’s looking out for Kate Moore’s interests? Don’t you see you’re setting her up for a let down? It doesn’t take a genius to know a woman who responds to the personals is desperate for companionship, possibly marriage, and having her hang onto my shirt sleeve all evening is not my idea of a good time regardless of how extraordinary her conversation skills are. You’ve set her up for a fall and implicated me in the process.”

  “Who said anything about marriage?” Dana asked innocently.

  He expelled a heavy sigh. What was the use? His sister wasn’t budging and he had to get back to work. “You win. I’ll meet her, but I warn you, Dana. Pull a stunt like this again and I don’t care if you’re the only
family I have left. I’ll disown you.”

  Dana looked pleased as she rose. “You won’t regret it, Adam.”

  A thought struck him as he watched her walk to the door. “Wait a minute. How will I recognize her?”

  She paused with her hand on the door knob. “Her eyes.”

  “As in she has them?”

  “Cute. No. I meant she has these remarkable gray eyes, like dark storm clouds. They were very striking.” Her expression softened. “Adam, I really like her. I felt like I was talking to the older sister I never had.”

  For the first time, Adam wondered about this faceless woman with bewitching gray eyes, and the hold she had over his younger sister. “Are you sure you weren’t being manipulated?” He grimaced, immediately regretting his cynical reaction. He didn’t have to take his anger out on Kate Moore. He had to remember she was as much a victim in Dana’s ruse as he was.

  “Kate was kind, and her eyes generated warmth, something your ex-girlfriends with appetites for millionaires lacked.”

  Adam’s irritation began to simmer again. He had been with enough women to know that eyes were not necessarily the mirror to the soul. If they were, he would have taken one look at Noelle’s baby blues and hightailed it in the opposite direction. He hadn’t even seen it coming when the blond, leggy super model had turned from a pleasant companion to a jealousy-driven control freak overnight. He dragged his thoughts from his high-maintenance ex and focused on the more sedate Kate Moore.

  “You have to give me more than that, Dana.”

  “She’s thirty-two years old, five foot six inches and had her hair pulled up in a knot behind her head. Judging by the thickness of it I could tell her hair’s long, maybe past her shoulder blades. Actually it was a shame to have it tied up like that. The color is a really nice shade of dark blonde.” Dana paused. “And I think she’s slim, but I’m not sure under the loose-fitting shirt dress she wore. My guess is she dresses more for comfort than style.”

  “The bun, the baggy dress, sounds like the proverbial schoolteacher to me.” He reached for a thick folder, hoping his sister would take the hint and leave. “Next, I expect you to tell me she had wiry glasses looped around a thin chain dangling from her neck.”

  “She did.” Adam’s dark gaze snapped up and Dana giggled at his expression. “But they weren’t on a chain. They were in her purse and she only put them on to read the menu. She has an inner beauty, an earthy appeal all the model-perfect Noelles couldn’t possess with all the makeup, glitter, and hair spray in the world…why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I’m trying to figure out what the devil you’re talking about.” He was beginning to think Kate Moore was directly responsible for this mess, but he quickly stomped down that idea. She was the victim here, he reminded himself, and he felt another tinge of pity for her.

  Dana sighed as though she were trying to explain something difficult to a child. “I’m talking about simplicity, Adam. Kate Moore is a natural beauty.” She grabbed her purse and rose. “I’m going to get out of your hair now.” She went to the door. “Don’t forget. Seven o’clock, Ricardo’s,” she said over her shoulder.

  He stared at the door for a full minute after she left, irritated that his plans for the evening had to be rescheduled. He’d been looking forward to going out for a couple of drinks with Kyle, and now he was forced to go out on a blind date.

  Yet, he wasn’t without total conscious. He still felt sorry for Kate Moore and wrestled with his problem. How was he going to let her down without hurting her feelings? God only knew what his sister told her. He hoped Dana hadn’t set up the mild-mannered schoolteacher into thinking he was looking for a serious relationship. Hell, as far as commitment went, he didn’t even buy real plants.

  He cursed as he thought of the words in the ad. “Want to meet a nice girl for lasting relationship.”

  Well Kate Moore certainly sounded like a nice woman. Sweet-tempered and docile, albeit in a school-marmish way and Adam found himself cornered into playing the big bad wolf, a role he never liked to assume. The women he dated knew the score from the start. He never lied to them or gave them false hopes. Adam enjoyed his freedom and wasn’t about to give it up because his little sister said it was time. He clenched and unclenched his jaw as his thoughts went back to Kate Moore.

  She sounded like an innocent, a lonely, gentle innocent. Adam grimaced. He wasn’t looking forward to the rock and the hard place Dana had neatly placed him between.

  * * * *

  Adam Tyler was just the man she’d been looking for. Kate felt another rise of excitement as she stared at his ad. It was almost uncanny how perfect he was for her. Her whole theory was based on how men preferred nice girls over bad girls, and here was Adam Tyler in print expressing his need for just that! She had to calm down. She was too excited about her date and it wouldn’t do if she showed up a nervous wreck.

  She tucked his ad in her purse and reached for her Coke. “Honey, I was thinking of taking you to Toyland after our pizza,” she said to her nine-year-old niece who was attempting to lift a large wedge of pizza off her paper plate.

  Lindsay’s her eyes lit up. “Toyland!” She darted a hopeful look to the store left of the food court. “For the Nintendo DS?”

  Kate smiled. “Yes. Your mom told me how you aced your last English test and I thought a little celebration was in order.” She paused, giving her niece an apologetic look and continued softy. “She also told me how you’ve been complaining I haven’t been around much lately. I’m sorry I’ve been missing out on all your fun, honey, but I’ve been very busy at my practice and with the deadline of my new book, and I’m afraid I haven’t had any extra time.”

  Lindsay frowned as she chewed her pizza. “I wish you didn’t have to be so famous. I wish you were a normal aunt.”

  Kate laughed. “Normal? I never thought I was abnormal.”

  “Mom says,” Lindsay continued with her mouth full, “you’re too famous, that’s why you can’t find a decent man to marry.” Kate nearly choked on her Coke. “I heard her telling Gran you should concentrate more on your fern…feminini wel…feminine wales, than your head. She said if you paid more attention to your own love life than everyone else’s, you wouldn’t be miserable. Aunt Kate, what’s a feminine wales?”

  “That’s feminine wiles, honey.” She pushed her plate away. Suddenly she had no appetite. “And it’s something I would never resort to.”

  How could Gail have said that? And what was all this nonsense about her being miserable? She wasn’t miserable. Just because she didn’t have a man in her life didn’t mean—

  “Are you going to answer that, Aunt Kate?”

  “Hm?”

  Lindsay grinned. “Your purse is ringing.”

  “Smarty pants.” She retrieved her cell from her purse. “Doctor Moore here.”

  “Sis! I’m back!”

  Relief coursed through her veins. Thank God Barbara was back from her vacation. She tried to detect any censure or displeasure in her younger sister’s voice, but found none. “How was it?”

  “Fab! Ben and I loved Greece.” Barbara sighed dramatically. “Too bad we only stayed a month…but enough about me,” she added with flourish. “How’s the reigning queen of self-help books? I just picked up the paper from the airport. Wow, forty-three weeks on the best sellers list. Isn’t it exciting?”

  Kate handed Lindsay a napkin. “You have a glob of sauce on your chin, honey,” she murmured. “Yes. It’s very exciting. I’m glad my books are making an impact.”

  “Impact? You’re making it sound like a fender bender. You’re like the messiah to single women everywhere who are looking for Mr. Right. Who’s got sauce on their chin? A date?”

  “Lindsay. We’re at the mall.” A dart of unease gave her pause. “Er…Barb, did you get a chance to listen to your voice mail at home yet?”

  “No. We’re headed there now. Why?”

  For the first time Kate was getting cold feet. What she was
going to do with Adam Tyler was in no way immoral or bad, she reiterated silently for the hundredth time. “I…I left you a message last night. Call me when you get it.”

  “Can’t you tell me now what it is?”

  “No. And listen to your message alone. Don’t let Ben hear it.”

  “You know you’re beginning to worry me, sis.”

  Kate laughed, but it sounded nervous even to her ears. “Don’t worry.”

  She said goodbye to Barbara and slipped her cellphone back in her purse. Lindsay was giving her a curious look.

  “Are you in trouble, Aunt Kate?”

  “You, my dear,” she said as she reached across the table and ruffled her niece’s blond curls, “have got to stop eavesdropping on adult conversations. How was the pizza, by the way?”

  “Yummy. Can I have another piece?”

  “Can you handle it?”

  Lindsay nodded eagerly. “Yes. I want to grow up big like you and mommy. Aunt Barbara’s too skinny.”

  Kate didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Barbara has to be thin, honey. Models can’t afford extra weight on their bodies because the clothes they wear wouldn’t look perfect on them.”

  “Did she bring me something back from vacation?”

  Kate smiled. “I’m sure she did, sweetie. Now let’s get your second slice, and then go to Toyland for your Nintendo DS.”

  An hour later she dropped off a contented Lindsay and went to her own home, a house she had purchased in the quiet suburbs that was conveniently six blocks from her practice, a two-story building she shared with a dentist and a chiropractor.

  Her life would have been complete if Simon hadn’t—

  She struggled to keep the thoughts from forming, but it was hard. He had been creeping back into her mind lately, ever since she started her latest book, Nice Girls. Bad Girls. An In-depth Look at What Men Really Want, and more than once she had spent a sleepless night thinking about what ifs.

  There were no what ifs for her, she thought. He had made his choice by betraying her and there was no point rehashing one of the worst moments of her life. Her mouth tensed as she recalled the shock of seeing Simon naked, straddled by Miranda Payne, their bodies drenched in sweat, their movements rough and quick, his guttural moan of climax. She’d fled the apartment before she’d vomited. One month later, she’d seen a wedding picture of them in the society page.