Too Hot to Handle: A Boys of Summer Novel by Katie Rose

is the worst possible thing that could happen! He is part of the team I’m representing. You know I don’t get romantically involved where business is concerned. And he’s a
baseball player
!”
    “I know it’s not ideal,” her sister said sympathetically. “But Nikki, how awful is it really? You’re young, and so is this guy. He’d have to be to be playing in MLB. But I haven’t heard you sound so excited in years. Is it so terrible to have some fun?” Her voice lowered. “Are you afraid he’s a kiss-and-tell type?”
    “I don’t think so.” She cringed. “He would be very reluctant to admit to his teammates that he was involved with me.”
    “Perfect. If the guy’s a player, then he knows what he’s doing. He’s not looking for anything serious, probably just a fling. You spent enough time with that loser husband of yours, and you paid your dues. You were the responsible one; you cleaned up his mess, just like you always do. It’s your turn now.”
    “But it could cost me this job! The director of communications hates me already. I’m sure he’d love to use something like this to get me thrown out.”
    “So what?” Natalie snorted. “You have more business than you know what to do with. You’ve made your name at this point. If this doesn’t work out, you move on to the next gig. It’s not like you’re in some big corporation and work for this guy. What else?”
    “But what if it’s…awesome?” She finally said what she feared the most.
    Natalie laughed. “Then you have a great memory. In my previous experience, when you feel this way about a guy you have to act on it sooner or later. And if you do and it’s not so great? Then you can put him out of your mind and get him out of your system. Chances are it’s the latter.”
    Nikki seriously doubted it. “But I’ve never been the type to just sleep around. I always fall in love when I get physically involved.”
    “That would be adorable if you were sixteen,” her sister said shrewdly. “At twenty-eight, with a divorce under your belt? Naïve doesn’t begin to address it. Come on, Nick, what are you waiting for? Your hymen to grow back? Can you imagine that all over again?”
    Nikki dissolved into laughter. “Thanks. I needed that.”
    “Anytime,” Natalie said brightly. “Just remember, don’t fall for him. That’s the only way you could get hurt. Think of this as a massage with benefits. Men have been doing that forever.”
    Nikki hung up the phone. Natalie had been the type who always lived in the moment. She drove Nikki insane when they were teenagers, for she couldn’t understand her sister’s thought process. Natalie never thought about sacrificing in the present to plan for the future; indeed, she had almost a fatalistic attitude that tomorrow would never come. But Nikki had to admit her own decisions hadn’t exactly worked out that well either.
    And physically, a hot one-night stand would do her good. She hadn’t been with a man in three years, and at her age, that was a long time. It wasn’t that she didn’t think about sex, or miss the feel of being in a man’s arms. It was just that she was so focused on becoming financially stable that the thought of a relationship was simply too much to wrap her brain around.
    In truth, she still wasn’t ready for the emotional part. She couldn’t bring herself to even think the “L” word. The loss of her marriage had meant not just the loss of Jack Case, but her dreams about the future, having her own children, creating a family. She was still recovering from the damage the divorce had caused her. She couldn’t risk that kind of pain again so soon.
    So maybe this was a solution. Jake was not the kind of guy looking to settle down. He wanted to have fun, enjoy himself, and would move on once the flame between them died. And while she didn’t know much about him yet, from the way Pete talked and the obvious admiration his teammates had for him, she didn’t think