Page 30 of Playing with Temptation

Kendra stood taller. This time she’d be smarter. Stronger. Use better judgment. Then everything would be fine. “The place looks great.”

“Thanks.” Nate set her bags near the bottom of the stairs. “I’ll take your bags up in a few minutes, but I was just about to get a beer. I could use one right now. Can I get you something?”

“Glass of wine?”

“Red or white?” he asked, then quickly answered his own question, echoing her response. “Rosé, of course.”

She smiled. “If you have it. If not, a glass of white wine would be fine.”

“Think I’ve got something in the cooler.”

She followed him into the kitchen. “So, what was public enemy number one doing here?”

Nate’s delts tensed visibly and he paused for a moment before reaching into the wine cooler. He dug through the bottles silently, then pulled out her favorite bottle of rosé. He opened the bottle. “Proposing a truce of sorts.”

“So she acknowledges this is a vendetta against you?” Kendra sat at the kitchen table.

“Stephanie wanted me to know she was the one who took me down.” He poured a glass of wine and handed it to Kendra. “She knows I can’t do anything with the information.”

Kendra thanked Nate for the rosé and took a sip. “Unfortunately, she’s right. It would do more harm than good. You’ll come off as a whiny athlete blaming someone else for your screwup.”

Nate twisted the cap off his beer and sat at the table. He took a swig. “She’s probably banking on me using that excuse at the press conference tomorrow. Bet she’s already got a segment taped, just waiting for sound bites from the conference.”

“Cunning, vindictive and determined. She’s a real winner,” Kendra muttered, then sipped her wine.

“Yeah, I can really pick ’em.” He cut his gaze at her, then drank more of his beer.

Touché.

Kendra straightened her shoulders. “So this truce she offered, what was it?”

“She wanted me to give her an exclusive interview before the press conference. Said if I did, she wouldn’t press the issue further.”

“Indicating that if you don’t, she’ll keep fanning the flames.” Kendra’s stomach flipped. That meant she’d be doing more than just cleaning up the mess that was already made, she’d be putting out fires intentionally set by Stephanie. “Do you think she’d keep her word if you gave her the interview?”

“Not as far as I could throw her conniving ass.”

Kendra nodded. “I suspected as much. If you don’t mind my asking—”

“What did I see in her in the first place?” He finished her question. When she nodded, he continued, “I was out with an injury, feeling down on myself when I ran into Steph at the grocery store. I was struggling with my leg in a cast. She offered to help me shop and to make dinner for me that night. We were on friendly terms. Figured, what the hell? It could be fun.”

“I’m sure it didn’t hurt that she’s very pretty. Wasn’t she a beauty contestant or something?”

“Miss Connecticut. Third runner-up for Miss America that year.” He didn’t meet her gaze.

“Not judging.” Kendra held her hands up. “But she obviously isn’t as pretty on the inside.”

Nate grunted. “Got that right.”

“Okay, so taking the deal isn’t an option. We’ll have to be prepared for whatever she slings our way.” Kendra paused before asking the thing she needed to know, but didn’t want to ask. “She doesn’t have anything on you, does she? No secretly recorded audio, no sex tapes?”

“No,” he said emphatically, sitting up straight as a rod, then dropping his gaze. “I mean, not that I’m aware of.”

Fair enough. Anyone could set up a secret camera in their bedroom.

“Anything you might have told her about a teammate or your family that she might use?”

“Not that I recall.” His response wasn’t as convincing. “Like I said, we were only together a few months. The time we did spend together…we spent very little of it talking.”

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