Page 4 of Playing with Temptation

Her heart clenched at the bitterness that laced his words. It took her back to that night. The night she’d made the biggest mistake of her life.

“I underestimated how difficult it was to be the wife of a pro athlete.”

“I’d been with the Marauders for a year by then. How would your life have been any different?”

“There’s a huge difference between being the live-in girlfriend and being the wife and mother of your children.”

“A marriage license is just a piece of paper, Kendra. Other than having it and my last name, nothing would’ve changed.”

She tipped her chin, determined to keep her emotions in check. “It isn’t a meaningless piece of paper. It’s a lifelong commitment. That means something to me.”

Nate snorted. “If it means so much to you, why’d you turn it down when I offered it?”

“I couldn’t be one of those football wives who doesn’t have a life of her own and pretends not to know what happens on the road.”

His expression morphed from anger to hurt again. “So it was about that girl who let herself into my room in Cleveland. I told you, I didn’t know her, and nothing happened between us. When I discovered her in my room, I called security and they sent her ass packing. End of story. I called you right away and told you about it. I wasn’t trying to hide anything.”

“The sports channels picked up the story. I would’ve heard about it.”

Nate ran a hand through his close-cropped curls and heaved a sigh. “So that’s what you think of me? That the minute I’m out of sight I can’t keep it in my pants? News flash, Kendra, if I’d wanted to be with someone else, I would’ve been. Football groupies have been throwing themselves at me since high school. I didn’t want them. I wanted you. I loved you. You obviously didn’t feel the same.”

“That isn’t true.” The accusation hit her like a bullet to the chest, piercing her heart and severing arteries. Nate was the only man she’d ever loved. She loved him still, but their time was past, and it was all her fault. “I’m a realist. You’re only human. A man can only take so much temptation.”

“If you felt that way, you should’ve come to me. We could’ve worked things out.”

“How, Nate? You weren’t going to leave the team, and I’d never ask you to give up your dream.” She hadn’t meant to stress the word.

Nate shifted in his seat, lowering his gaze. He hadn’t missed the implication. She’d supported his dream, but he hadn’t supported hers. He took another sip of his beer. “I never gave you any reason to doubt me.”

“It was my issue, not yours. I fully own that.”

“Just to be clear, you blew up our relationship, our family, because you thought I might eventually cheat on you?”

“It isn’t as simple as that.” She poked at the flounder she no longer had an appetite for. “My fears are very real, and I have them for good reason. That’s my problem, not yours.”

Nate laughed bitterly. “It sure as hell felt like my problem when you turned down my proposal in a roomful of our family and friends.”

She cringed, remembering the moment he dropped to one knee and presented her with a beautiful, custom diamond engagement ring. The memory of that moment was as vivid now as it was then. Euphoric joy immediately followed by debilitating fear and a panic attack that stole her breath.

Chest heaving and the room spinning, she had only one clear thought—she couldn’t marry Nate.

Until that moment, she’d anticipated the day he’d propose and dreamed of an intimate wedding ceremony on the beach. Then Nate asked her to marry him and the room went black.

Visions of ruthless groupies who’d do anything to get with a ballplayer filled her head. Her own father hadn’t been faithful to her mother. How could she expect Nate to do so with so much temptation?

She’d broken it off, packed her things and made the long drive back to Pleasure Cove. Weeks later, she discovered she was pregnant with Kai.

“You didn’t deserve that. I should’ve told you how I’d been feeling, but—”

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