Page 10 of Taming Her Temptations

“Luckily, I’m willing to be your friend, so it’s okay.” Dean smiles and winks at me, completely unphased by my authoritative voice. I can’t totally blame him for that one, though. I sound more like a mouse commanding an army of wolves.

“Just one more cold plunge and I’ll be done,” Levi announces as he makes his way up the stone steps of the hot tub. I shield my eyes just as the waterline dips below his muscular lower back, about to reveal his ass.

“Two more sets and I’m done,” Asher shouts with a guttural grunt as he raises the barbell back up.

“I’ll just wait inside!” I shout and turn away before I see anything I’m not prepared to see.

Dean opens the glass door and extends his arm so I can step in before him. I’m careful not to look at him as I walk through the door. Too many muscles in this house and not enough clothes. I’m not trying to ogle these guys like every other woman in America. Well, okay, I’ve already ogled them. But they took me off-guard. No more ogling from here on out, and even more importantly, I’m not going to ever let them see me ogling if some rogue ogling still accidentally occurs. Mostly because I don’t like stroking male egos, and theirs’ certainly don’t need any more stroking. Oh god, I need to not say the word “stroking” in my head anymore.

Dean leads me to the kitchen and pulls out a wooden barstool for me.

“Thank you,” I say as I slip onto the seat.

“Now, Miss Rivers. What can I offer you on this fine Monday morning?” Dean settles himself in front of me, leaning forward against the white marble kitchen counter. I avoid the sight as if looking at him would be staring directly at the sun.

“You should put on a shirt,” I suggest. “It’s polite to be dressed in the presence of company.”

He grins a wide, playful grin and now I’m not just looking at the sun, but smack dab in the middle, being burned alive. He looks so handsome, smiling so openly. And to make matters worse, the door slides open and Levi and Asher join. Levi struts up next to Dean on one side, with nothing on but a fluffy white towel wrapped around his waist. And Asher settles on the other side, his sweaty grey t-shirt clinging to his muscles.

Now I’m dust, incinerated on the surface of the sun and blowing in the wind.

These three men are in their twenties and gorgeous and have their whole successful lives in front of them. A part of me aches in jealousy for the scores of women they undoubtedly bring to their bed after their shows. It’s a new feeling to me. I’ve shut myself off for so long from even thinking about what it would be like to be with other men, and I’m surprised by the thoughts that are racing through my head right now that the floodgates have come open.

But I’ve also never been alone in a house with any half-naked men besides my husband before. I don’t have the proper defenses up against these guys, the same guys that make women take off their underwear and throw it on stage. I didn’t even know I could want other men until about five minutes ago…

Wait, do I want them? That seems a bit extreme.

“You can have anything you want, Ruby. Just ask.” Asher’s kind, crescent-shaped eyes meet mine with the offer.

“What?” I say defensively, breaking eye contact.

“To eat and drink,” he clarifies.

“Right. Thanks, Asher.” I take a deep breath. What happened to cool and composed Ruby? “I’ll just have a water or coffee. Either is fine.”

“We can manage both.” Asher nods as he heads to the cupboard.

“Let’s use today to make our plans.” I sit taller on my stool, ready to get my head out of the gutter and get down to business. “There’s a fundraising event at the Greenfield Country Club on Thursday night. I thought this could be a good way to introduce you to people and a way for me to assess your strengths and weaknesses.”

“Strengths and weaknesses, huh?” Levi says as he packs espresso grounds into the espresso machine. “Are you going to grade us?”

“I can if you want. It’s what I do with my middle school students. Either way, I’ll give you some lessons on basic etiquette before the event, so I’ll at least be watching to see if you use the information.”

A small smile spreads across Levi’s face, exposing that devilish boyish beauty he possesses. “Yes, ma’am.” He nods.

I narrow my eyes at his mocking tone. This job might be harder than I thought.

“And now the matter of dress code,” I continue. “You guys possess tuxedos, I’m assuming? Or a suit appropriate for a black tie dress code?”

“Unfortunately,” Dean deadpans.

“And our other end of the bargain? I’ll need my clothes back to have something to wear for the gala.”

“Hold on,” Levi shouts as he turns on some insanely loud contraption.

After what feels like forever, he turns around with a beautiful cappuccino and places it in front of me.

“You like it?” He asks.

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