Mateo Martinez is many things. The starting pitcher of the New York Monarchs, a devoted single father, and most recently, my new boss. When the opportunity to finally move out of my parent’s cramped apartment and into his swanky home to nanny for his daughter arose, I simply couldn’t pass it up. Until I made the silly suggestion for him to keep me on a three strikes system, and I’m racking them up at lightning speed. I should know better than to fantasize about silly things like love, but curiosity is getting the best of me, and our stolen touches don’t feel so innocent anymore. When the three strikes are up, I wonder… will I step up to the plate, or conform to living life on the sidelines? Isabella Morales is toying with my self control. She’s my daughter’s nanny, a fact I often have to remind myself of when I’m around her. Because the second she stepped into my world, it’s been mayhem in my heart. I’ve never had any interest in dating ever since my little girl came into my world. Never, not once. That is until Isabella came along and set my world on fire. Because try as I might, I can’t ignore her lingering stares, or the way she taunts me when she defies me at every turn. Little does she know that we’re playing the same game, by different rules. Because once I call three strikes, I’m claiming her as mine.

Nicholas Stonehaven is the devil. The man was supposed to remain a stranger. A fond memory of a night I’ll never forget. Instead, I’m mortified to learn that my dirty little secret is now the new owner of the New York Monarchs, making him my boss. I tell myself I can handle this new development. I didn’t become the first female general manager in Major League Baseball without knowing how to handle a curveball. I make trades and close deals better than any other GM in the league. But when the arrogant billionaire offers me a contract I can’t refuse, it seems like I’ve earned myself another fancy, although temporary wife. Luisa Álvarez is heaven sent. When she’s not calling me Lucifer, that is. I can be a lot to handle. Hell, I use that to my advantage in the boardroom. But my experience as the CEO of a media enterprise did me no good when I inherited a professional baseball team from my estranged grandfather. I would have sold it off immediately, but even from six feet under, the old man held something over my head, and I couldn’t let it slip through my fingers. That’s how I found myself married to my Angel. She may be hung up on the fact that we made a deal and signed on the dotted line. But there is nothing fake about the way I feel for her or how she comes alive under my touch. We agreed to a fair trade, but now it’s time to renegotiate. Because when it comes to my wife, I never vowed to play fair.