Strikeout

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 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.