Free Recipe for Temptation by Maureen Smith Page A

Sterling grinned like the proverbial cat that ate the canary.
    “What doctor?” Marcus demanded, looking from one to the other. “What’d I miss?”
    “Nothing,” Michael grumbled.
    “Plenty,” Sterling said at the same time.
    A slow, knowing grin crawled across Marcus’s face. “I’ll take your word for it, Dad. So what happened?”
    “Well, on Wednesday I overheard an argument between—”
    Michael snorted. “ Overheard? Pops, you were eavesdropping.”
    Sterling looked disgruntled. “It ain’t eavesdropping—”
    “—if the conversation takes place under your roof,” Michael and Marcus finished, then laughed. How many times had their father used that line to justify eavesdropping on their phone conversations when they were growing up? He’d given the same rationale for snooping through their belongings to make sure they weren’t hiding any drugs, though he’d always assured them that someday they would thank him for his vigilance. The Wolf brothers were the only kids in the neighborhood who’d been subjected to random drug testing until they left home for college.
    “As I was saying,” Sterling continued pointedly, “I overheard an argument between Mike and a woman he’d met at the restaurant. Apparently he’d ticked her off pretty good by accusing her of impersonating a food critic.”
    “What?” Marcus’s surprised gaze swung to his brother. “Why’d you do something like that?”
    Biting back an impatient oath, Michael quickly and succinctly explained what had happened that Tuesday night, glossing over the kiss he and Reese had shared. When he’d finished his account, Marcus shook his head in amused disbelief.
    “Is she unattractive?” he asked.
    “Far from it,” Michael grudgingly admitted.
    “Then why would you even think she’d have to resort to a stunt like that?”
    “Like I said,” Michael ground out, “it was an honest mistake, one that could have happened to anyone. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. She got her revenge.”
    “How so?” Sterling and Marcus asked in unison.
    Michael smiled grimly. “She’s going to be my new apprentice.”
    His father and brother listened with rapt attention as he told them about the riveting audition performance that had made Reese a shoo-in to win the competition. By the time he’d finished describing her sassy comedic shtick, both men were laughing uproariously.
    “Man, I wish I could’ve been there to see it,” Marcus said.
    “Me, too,” Sterling agreed. “That young lady sounds like quite a pistol.”
    “Oh, she is,” Michael muttered as a memory of glittering, defiant eyes flashed though his mind. And the mouth on her. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been both infuriated and aroused while sparring with a woman. “She’s definitely going to be a handful.”
    Marcus gave him a knowing grin. “Think you’re up for the challenge?”
    “Of course,” Michael said, thinking, God help me if I’m wrong!

Chapter 7
    R eese drew a deep, fortifying breath, then raised her hand and pressed the doorbell.
    As she waited for a response, her heart hammered so hard she thought it might bulldoze its way right out of her chest. Not for the first time that morning, she questioned the sanity of what she was doing. She must be crazy for coming here like this, uninvited. Maybe she should just—
    A scrape of movement inside the apartment forestalled any thoughts of escape.
    Then suddenly the door opened.
    Michael stood there in a sleeveless white T-shirt and dark pajama bottoms, his long feet bare. Dark stubble covered his jaw, and his eyes were heavy lidded and bleary. He squinted down at her for a long moment, then closed his eyes as if he expected her to be gone when he reopened them.
    Which, of course, she wasn’t.
    “Good morning,” she said cheerfully.
    “What time is it?” His voice was a low, husky rasp that made her stomach clench.
    “It’s, um, nine o’clock,” she answered sheepishly.
    He cursed under his