Page 29 of Burning with Desire (Forbidden Heat 1)

Ricky

“Ah! You moron! Who throws home? The play is at first! There are two outs you lamebrain!”

I watched Ben having a total conniption fit and tried not to laugh too loudly as to rile him up more. My friend was one of the nicest, most polite guys I’d ever met, but when he was watching sports he would turn into a totally different guy.

He sat down and snarled, crossing his arms over his chest. I took a sip of my beer and waited for him to calm down a second. “You ok, buddy?” I asked very politely just to mess with him.

“Yeah. I know. It’s stupid to get so worked up, but this is the same team that won the World Series a few years ago. How do they make bonehead plays like that?”

“I know. It’s one of life’s biggest mysteries.”

“It’s not actually. The imbeciles keep trading off their best players hoping it will save them a few bucks. Well, I’ll tell you, it won’t save a dime when they star

t losing and this stadium starts to resemble a barren, deserted landscape.”

I couldn’t hold back the chuckles. Ben had a high stress, mind numbing—but high paying—corporate job, and there was little that kept his head on straight. It was good for him to get away and vent his anger at a sporting event. It was healthy. And it was healthy for me, too.

I watched the game for a moment until I was getting disgusted with the circus I was seeing, too. I was having fun. I was glad I was out of the house, and it was always a good time to reconnect with my best friend, but I had a few things on my mind. And most of them had to do with Julie.

She’d been working for me almost two weeks now and my attraction to her had only grown by leaps and bounds. I could hardly stand to be around her without fear of just passing out into a dead faint at her feet. The woman was breathtaking in every way. Every night after we had dinner and put Zoe to bed, she stayed and talked with me for a while. I’d gotten to know more about her and every night our talks seemed to get a bit longer and more in depth. I was really falling hard for her. With each passing day, I knew that I was falling more in love with this woman. What was I going to do?

“I got a problem,” I said.

“What?” Ben asked.

“I’m in love with my nanny.”

His eyebrows rose. “What?”

“Yeah, you heard me. You can tell Becky that her little plan worked. Hell, it worked so well I can hardly go a night without dreaming about Julie.”

Ben was all smiles now. “This is great! I’m very happy for you, my friend.”

“No. This is terrible.”

He now looked confused. “Why?”

“Because she is my nanny. Zoe loves her to death. Julie is perfect with her. And Julie is my employee. I could probably get sued for sexual harassment just by admitting to another living, breathing person that I’m having these thoughts to begin with.”

He laughed. “You are overreacting. I know there is a fine line between being a boss and becoming a suitor, but if the two of you feel a strong connection and things happen slowly, organically together—I don’t see the problem. You can ask her to dinner or something. You don’t have to ask her into bed.”

“I guess you’re right, but I can’t stop thinking about getting her into bed,” I said.

“Yeah, she is a beautiful, young woman. Damn,” Ben said.

“You’re married.”

“Yeah, Becky knows I have a crush on Julie. She also knows I would never in a million years stray from the vows of my marriage. We are very secure.”

“Good for you. But we are talking about my problems here.”

“Fair enough,” Ben said. “Just stop beating around the bush already. Tell her how you feel and see what happens.”

“What if she says she isn’t interested?” I asked. “Then it becomes weird every time we see each other. She would now know that I’m attracted to her.”

“When has that ever been a problem for you? I’ve seen you flirt with and give women those horny eyes until they were totally ready for you, only to ignore them later and leave the bar. You have a power that you don’t even know anything about.”

“What are you even talking about?” I asked. He wasn’t making sense.

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