Tuesday Club

Ask any new parent; no one is ever actually ready to become one, are they? Even with nine months to prepare, it's still a shock. Still mind-blowing that this tiny, little thing is now your sole responsibility. Except try coming home to find a baby on your doorstep, wearing a pink striped hat and attached to a note saying she belongs to you. Then you can say parenthood is a shock. Overnight my bachelor life ceased to exist; my heart now owned by one woman. My daughter. Until Kit Hawkes knocked on my door; the sexiest nanny in existence and every single dad's nightmare. A not-so-welcome gift from my meddling, interfering sisters. The more time we spend together, the harder it becomes to resist her. Resist her infectious charm, chocolate brown eyes, and mouth that looked like it was made for kissing. No matter what my heart wants, Kit doesn't belong to me. She belongs to my daughter. Because I can't have both, can I?

Have you ever met someone who makes your blood boil simply by existing? Or turn your notorious, ice-cool demeanor volcanic in a nanosecond? Perhaps smother your usual air of indifference with a lightning-charged thundercloud, threatening to strike at any moment? Because that's what she does. It's been seven peaceful years since I last saw Beulah Holmes. Seven peaceful years of practicing the law without her arguing against me, and if I never saw her again it would be too soon; but I'm not that fortunate. She hasn't changed a bit. Still the same shouty mouth threatening to burst my eardrums. Still the same murderous eyes which laser through me, promising to reign Hell. Except this time, the longer I have to sit opposite her, the longer I have to notice that the murderous eyes are also the most beautiful I've ever seen. And that shouty mouth with its full lips curled up in a snarl? I want to know what else it can do. As each day passes, hating her isn't the only thing becoming harder. Beulah Holmes was my own personal devil, until the day I realized she wasn't . . . And then I made it my mission to bring her back from Hell.

As any true sports fan will tell you, once you have an allegiance to a team it's set in stone. It's unwavering. It's finite. You never leave. Yet somehow, I've been asked to do just that. To set aside my love for The Yankees and take ownership of The New York Lions-the worst team in Major League Baseball. Oh, yes, and turn them into winners. An impossible job I don't want, from a gift I couldn't get a refund on. But bring me a challenge and I will rise to it... Never, in all my thirty-one years, have I shied away. And, technically, I still haven't. Because, technically, I haven't accepted this particular challenge. Or two. Enter Lowe Slater. The woman of my dreams. The woman I've loved from afar since I knew what love meant. My sister's best friend and the one who's been tasked to help me. Twenty-five years I've kept Lowe at arm's length. Now she's everywhere I go. I have a team to build and somehow, I'm doing it with Lowe by my side. The walls I've so carefully constructed are falling down brick by brick, and soon it's not just the Commissioner's Trophy at stake. It's my heart, too.