Read Second Thoughts: A Hot Baseball Romance for Free Online

frantic.
    “Listen to me,” Jamie said to the babysitter. “You need to take care of yourself. Make sure you’re healthy so you’ll be there for Olivia in the future. Get in to see your doctor this afternoon, and we’ll figure out everything else going forward.”
    Jamie must have sounded convincing. Lauren finally gave in, apologizing another half a dozen times for being rear-ended. Jamie could hear the chaos in the background—a police siren, and a number of loud voices. The accident must have been a real mess. Thank heavens no one was seriously hurt, she thought as she hung up.
    But despite her insistence to Lauren, she was in a jam. Olivia’s school let out in an hour. Ashley couldn’t get her—she was already at Mangia, cooking up a storm for some office party behind held at the restaurant. Ordinarily, Jamie would consider sending Robert, but she needed him at Rockets Field, setting up the next calendar shoot, for one of the pitchers.
    No one else was on the school’s authorized list. She’d have to get Olivia herself.
    Just that morning, Jamie had been grateful that another ballplayer was in town, that she’d get another few hours of work under her belt. Now, she shoved down feelings of exasperation as she punched in Robert’s number, already fast-walking toward her car. “Change of plans,” she said. “I’ve got to swing by Polk and pick up Olivia.”
    “No problem,” her assistant said. “We should have great afternoon light in the dugout.”
    “Get the reflectors set up, and put makeup on the guy. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    “Yes, ma’am!” he said with an ironic lilt.
    “Don’t give me that,” she said. “You’re loving every minute of this.”
    “Men in tight pants, doing whatever I tell them to do? Poor Steven had better watch out, or I might leave him forever.”
    Jamie laughed and hung up the phone. Only then was she willing to admit the real problem that was making her pulse skyrocket. Olivia was the spitting image of her father. Nick would take one look at her daughter— their daughter—and know the truth. He’d know the lie of omission that Jamie had been telling for seven years.
    But she was being ridiculous.
    For one thing, Nick’s photos had all been finished the day before. There was absolutely no reason for him to set foot in the ballpark that afternoon, not in October.
    For another thing, so what if he did find out he was Olivia’s father? Jamie hadn’t broken any laws, keeping her secret. Nick was the one who’d chosen to walk out of her life, out of their lives.
    For a third thing, Jamie didn’t have any other choice, not when it came to picking up Olivia that afternoon. She was making mountains out of molehills, finding distractions just for the sake of distractions. She’d spent so many years demonizing Nick Durban that it was still a little unsettling to realize they actually lived in the same city, that she was working—at least for a little while—where he worked.
    Well, she was a big girl. She could handle Nick.
    Even if thinking his name was enough to make her remember that dream she’d had the other night. Dream, hell. She was reliving memories. She was feeling the ghosts of his palms stroking across her belly, making her arch against him. She was lost in the patter of his fingertips playing against the soft folds between her thighs, making her open to him, melt beneath him…
    She shook her head and ordered herself to forget about Nick Durban and his damned dream hands. She had a daughter to pick up from school. And then a job to finish at Rockets Field. She didn’t have time for ghosts from the past.
    She slipped her key into the ignition and turned it. The engine ground, but refused to catch. Jamie pounded on the steering wheel. “Not today!” she moaned. The car had been threatening to die for the past two months, but she’d always been able to cajole it back into starting.
    She took a deep breath and tried again. One more time. The