Styles of Seduction - Jacquelin Thomas

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She talks about you all of the time.”

      He chuckled. “All good things, I hope.”

      Zoe smiled. “Bailey’s said nothing but good things about you. By the way, I’m also a huge fan of your mother’s designs. She’s incredible.”

      Nelson broke into a grin. “She’s indeed gifted.”

      Kyle nodded in agreement, but his eyes never left Zoe’s face.

      His intense gaze unnerved her, but she was not going to give Kyle the satisfaction of knowing he could still affect her in any way. She wanted him to see that he really did not exist in her world.

      “So I hear you are very talented, as well,” Nelson said.

      “Fashion design is what I was born to do,” she said. “I love it.”

      “What do you do for fun or when you are not in creative mode?”

      “I rest,” she said with a short chuckle. “Or my roommate and I check out new movies or we see a play on Broadway.”

      Kyle’s eyes were sharp and assessing, but Zoe continued to ignore his presence.

      “Perhaps you won’t mind showing me around sometime,” Nelson said smoothly.

      “Sure,” Zoe said.

      She stole a peek at Kyle. His gaze glittered with anger. The tension between them was drawn so tight that Zoe half expected the lights to go out.

      She tapped her foot softly on the floor, silently willing the elevator to the lobby. Zoe did not want to spend another minute with the man who had once crushed her heart without a care. Although she had grown what Zoe considered a New Yorker’s hard shell, she was still affected by the hurt Kyle had inflicted upon her.

      She glanced over at Nelson. She shouldn’t have flirted with him like that, but Zoe wanted to see if it would bother Kyle.

      Apparently it did.

      “RHD is hosting a party on Wednesday,” Kyle said, cutting through the heavy silence. “Why don’t you come, Zoe? I know my parents would love to see you. Jerry’s invited, as well.”

      “Only if you consider coming to Guava’s cocktail party,” Zoe said with a polite smile. “It’s actually a couple of hours earlier than your event. Roberta mentioned it when we booked ours. And don’t forget to bring your cousin,” she couldn’t help adding.

      “Thank you for the invitation, but I’ll need to check my schedule,” he told her. “If I can make it, I’ll definitely be there.”

      “I’m looking forward to it,” Nelson interjected. “My schedule’s clear.”

      She awarded him another smile. “Good. I’ll be looking for you.”

      Zoe was pleased at the sullen expression on Kyle’s face. It served him right after the way that he’d treated her.

      Feeling his gaze on her, she pulled out her iPhone and scanned through her emails.

      It won’t be long before we reach the lobby. I just want to get out of here. I can’t handle being this close to him.

      After what seemed like an eternity in the elevator, the doors opened.

      Zoe stepped out first, thrilled to be out of the confined space. Clearly Kyle still had the ability to make her weak at the knees, and the last thing she wanted to do was fall at his feet.

      “It was nice seeing you both,” she said coolly before walking briskly away.

      She was angry with herself for inviting Kyle to the cocktail party, and for flirting with Nelson to make him jealous. She had often accused Jerry of being childish when it came to Kyle, but Zoe couldn’t deny that she’d behaved in much the same way. It was just...wrong.

      Kyle Hamilton seemed to bring out the worst in her.

      But then again, Zoe already knew that.

      Chapter 3

      “What did you do to Zoe?” Nelson inquired as soon as she was out of hearing range. “She acted as if she couldn’t bear to be around you.” He chuckled. “I guess you were right—there is at least one woman who is immune to your charms.”

      Kyle was in no mood to laugh about Zoe Sinclair with his cousin. “She used to work for RHD, but Guava made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. I don’t think she really liked working for me.”

      Nelson shook his head. “I feel like there is something more between you two. I got the feeling that her interest in me was only to garner a reaction from you.”

      “No,” Kyle insisted. “There’s never been anything between me and Zoe.”

      He saw no need to mention that they had once shared a kiss one sultry night more than five years ago. Zoe’s undeniable charm had been too much for him to ignore in a weakened moment.

      “I don’t know, man,” Nelson said, looking as if he didn’t completely believe Kyle. “There was just too much tension in that elevator. She wasn’t fired, so what happened?”

      Kyle shrugged. “I’m not sure. She’s always had a chip on her shoulder.”

      “What’s up with you?”

      “Excuse me?”

      Nelson repeated his question. “I’ve never seen you react this way around a woman.”

      “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      Kyle would never admit it, but seeing Zoe bat her eyelashes and flirt with Nelson had really bothered him. He wasn’t sure if she was really interested in his cousin or if Nelson’s suspicions were correct. Regardless, he did not like it one way or the other.

      * * *

      Zoe walked into her office and closed the door behind her. Her purse fell to the floor as she leaned against her desk, then sat. She closed her eyes as vivid images churned through her mind of her time at RHD working under Kyle.

      There was a part of Zoe that wanted to hate Kyle for turning her world upside down with a scorching kiss and then acting as though nothing had ever happened between them, but the fact was there was much that she admired about him, such as his love for family. Although her Baltimore upbringing was not privileged in the way that Kyle’s was, Zoe was raised by loving parents with whom she remained close. She had inherited her love of fashion from her mother. Some of Zoe’s earliest memories were of playing in her parents’ closet, trying on her mother’s high heels and scarves. Her mom claimed that the first word Zoe ever spoke was shoe.

      Zoe and her mother used to go shopping together almost every weekend as she got older. They never bought much because her parents made just enough money to make ends meet and had very little extra. Still it was fun trying on clothes and putting together outfits. By the time Zoe was in high school, she had started making her own clothes and earning extra money by designing for her friends.

      When she was studying at FIT, Zoe devoured fashion magazines and articles on trends in the industry. Although she could not afford a subscription to Women’s Wear Daily, she read every copy in FIT’s library and kept abreast of the industry. That was how she heard about the RHD internship. Zoe had leaped at the chance to work for such a prominent design house.

      From the moment she’d first walked through the doors of RHD, Zoe had felt as if she had finally arrived where she was meant to be. Like a sponge, she’d soaked up every detail of the business. Everyone at RHD worked hard, but Zoe worked harder. She was intent on proving her worth, and her efforts did not go unnoticed. There were three other FIT interns at RHD that semester—girls with sterling pedigrees and family connections—but Zoe was the only one who was offered a job upon graduation.

      Most of Zoe’s coworkers had embraced her from the beginning, praising her work ethic and her creativity, but Kyle had seemed unimpressed

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