Page 29 of Playing with Temptation

“You didn’t have any qualms about ruining mine.” She narrowed her eyes, the irises the color of muddy water, and pressed her thin lips into a tight line. “This time, I had indisputable proof, and it’s you who came out looking like the fool.”

Nate clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Swallowed back all the things he wanted to say to this woman. Things his mama would whup his behind for if she heard him utter them in mixed company. “Get off my property. Now. Believe me, I’d enjoy watching the cops drag you out of here.”

Stephanie shrugged, then flipped her shoulder-length dark hair. “Fine, but I came here to offer a truce. Give me an exclusive interview before your press conference tomorrow, and I’ll back off. Let this thing die down.”

Nate laughed bitterly. “Be a clown in the circus you created? No thanks.”

“What are you worried about? You’ll come out smelling like a rose. You always do.”

“I’ll take option two.” His patience was gone. “Now, get the fuck off my property.”

“War it is then.” Stephanie grinned, tying the belt of her red wool coat. She turned and walked away, calling over her shoulder, “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance to end this thing peacefully.”

Nate slammed the door and pressed his back to it, running his fingers through his hair. He’d screwed himself over big-time when he’d messed around with her. Aside from letting Kendra walk away, getting with Stephanie Weiss was his biggest regret.

His friends had warned him that breaking a big story would always be her first priority, putting all of them in jeopardy. He hadn’t listened. Now he was paying the price.

Stephanie had lost her career and her credibility as a sideline reporter for a major network when things had gone sideways three years before. Seemed she’d spent those years plotting her payback.

Nate picked up his beer and drained the bottle, then headed to the kitchen for another. The doorbell rang again.

He turned, his jaw clenched and his fist balled at his side.

All bets were off. Stephanie Weiss was about to get a piece of his mind—unfiltered. He’d just have to apologize to his mother later.

* * *

Kendra shifted her bag on her shoulder, her luggage at her side and her heart racing.

Nate wouldn’t be happy to see her. Not when he’d dropped her at the hotel like she was a sack of flaming potatoes and pulled off, barely muttering two words.

When the door swung open, he looked angrier than she’d ever seen him. Like he was prepared for a fight. His shoulders drooped, a look of confusion on his face as he glanced around. “Kendra, what are you doing here?”

Nice to see you, too.

Kendra pulled her wrap around her to combat the chill in the air and the one rolling off her ex. “They were booked, except for a presidential suite. Same story with every other hotel I called. There are a couple of trade conventions in town this week.”

“Forgot about that,” he muttered, still blocking the doorway. He glanced over her shoulder again.

“If you’re looking for your friend who just left, I passed her in the driveway.”

“She isn’t my friend. That was Stephanie Weiss.”

“Your ex?” Kendra asked, then shifted under Nate’s withering stare. “I mean, the reporter who started all of this?”

“Seems there are a lot of my exes showing up at my door tonight.” He raised an eyebrow, then sighed. He grabbed her bags off the doorstep, opening the door wide enough for her to enter. “Come in.”

Kendra stepped inside tentatively, glancing around the house. Despite the tension between them, she couldn’t help smiling. She had so many great memories in this house. She remembered when Nate first bought the place. The weeks of house hunting before they’d finally settled on it. The times they’d shared there.

She glanced toward the den, where they’d last made love one weekend when she’d brought Kai to visit his father. They’d been in the middle of a heated argument about where Kai would spend Christmas. Then he’d kissed her, and they’d ended up making love on the sofa while their son slept blissfully unaware upstairs.

They’d almost made the same mistake in Montana.

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