Page 1 of Taming Her Temptations

CHAPTER ONE

Ruby

Breaking and entering isn’t one of my normal Easter traditions, but at the rate things are going, it might become one.

I look up at the camera that I know is there because I chose the placement. I plaster on a ridiculous fake smile and wave.

Hello Shithead Steve. My wave morphs into a middle finger.

Is it embarrassing that I’ve stooped this low? Yes. But do you know what is more embarrassing? Cheating on your wife and then, when she finds out, kicking her out of the house without any of her stuff. As I glide through the halls on the dark wood planks that I picked out five years ago, I don’t feel shame.

No. But I do feel anger.

And every step unveils an awful new surprise: a blank spot where our wedding pictures used to be, my favorite coffee mug dirty in the sink, and an overbearing new scent to the house. I grit my teeth thinking about how I’ll have to wash every single thing I own to get it to stop smelling like… What even is that? Bubblegum? Who chooses bubblegum as the scent they want their home to smell like? Steven’s mistress, it would seem.

I take a deep breath. I’m here for one thing only.

Even though my mouth waters imagining smashing my cheating husband’s new TV. I take a step closer to the living room where he has the ridiculously large flatscreen hung. I could use the fire poker. That would probably do some serious damage. Or maybe I release it from the wall and let it crash to the floor?

Focus, Ruby. I remind myself.

I sprint up the stairs and force my eyes away from the open door to the main bedroom. I’m not ready to see whatever is going on in there. It might cause me to set the entire house on fire and people would be really judgy in this town if I go to jail.

Instead, I beeline to the guest room and slip inside. I bend down to unlatch the room’s crawl space door and breathe a sigh of relief when I find everything exactly as I left it. Shithead Steve probably doesn’t even know that this space exists, let alone that it’s where I store the holiday decorations.

I get down on my hands and knees and crawl past the Christmas boxes. I wince at the version of myself who put those decorations back a few months ago, excited to take them out again next year.

I stretch out awkwardly, trying to get further enough in without having to pull everything out. I slide one big box over and find the smaller box that I’m looking for exactly where I left it.

“Bingo,” I say as I hook my fingers under the lid and pull it back with me.

“Bingo is right,” an unfamiliar deep voice makes me jump up. I hit my head on the low ceiling and swear. I reverse clumsily as I try to hurry and defend myself against whoever the hell broke in here at the same time as me.

I scramble to my feet and assess the man in front of me. My eyes glide up from his imposing frame to his face. I know who he is immediately. There isn’t even a trace of delay in my recognition. Because I’ve seen his face a million times, albeit only once in person.

Levi Wilde. Famous frontman of the Midnight Sons. And, to add even more salt to the wound, the brother of my soon-to-be ex-husband’s new 22-year-old girlfriend. I had met him once when I was still with my ex, formerly known as Steven and currently known as Shithead Steve. He and I took the band out to dinner so he could close the deal to be their wealth manager. And a few months later, somehow Shithead Steve tripped and landed inside Levi’s sister’s vagina.

“What are you doing here?” I scowl at him and gather my box under my arm.

He cocks an eyebrow at me under his perfectly tousled mahogany hair. His face is an impossible mix of boyish beauty and devastating man, a combination that has made charming the hottest starlets in Hollywood easy work for him. I even used to like his music until I realized that he must have Satan’s blood running in his veins to be related to his sister, Madison.

“I think you should be the one answering the questions, don’t you think?” He says with a laugh that I find completely condescending.

“This is none of your business,” anger edges my voice. I stomp past him to leave, but he blocks the door with his hand. We’re so close that I can feel the heat emanating from him. I could easily kick him in the balls and run.

“What are you going to do?” I sigh, choosing the non-violent route for now. “Keep me locked in here until they get back from their vacation? I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“Give me the box.” He says firmly. His mossy green eyes dance with entertainment.

I’m glad he finds my demise so entertaining. See? Satan’s blood in his veins.

“No.” I dip under his arm and keep walking.

“Everything okay up there, Lev?” A voice shouts up the stairs. Great, more people to witness this low point in my life.

“Yes, just a tiny thief headed your way,” Levi shouts back.

“I’m not a thief and I’m definitely not tiny,” I shout to hell knows who else is in this house.

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