Hot Stuff Read online

  Hot Stuff

  Carly Phillips

  From Publishers Weekly

  Phillips (Under the Boardwalk, etc.) kicks off Harlequin's new single-title romance line, HQN, with a sizzling but somewhat insubstantial tale, the first in her new trilogy involving three orphaned sisters left in the care of their tough-talking uncle Yank Morgan. A ladies' man with a penchant for gambling, Uncle Yank hasn't a clue what to do with three little girls, so he trains them to become major players at his Manhattan sports agency. Annabelle, the eldest, has become a powerhouse in the PR department, but her attraction to egocentric bad boys has proven to be a problem. After her latest boyfriend dumps her for an actress, Annabelle takes a personal vow of celibacy that lasts about as long as an ice cube in August when she meets her newest client, ex-football star Brandon Vaughn. Annabelle initially writes Brandon off as another handsome jock, but she soon discovers that he's different than the rest. He's building a lodge for kids with learning disabilities and, since someone seems intent on sabotaging his efforts, he needs positive publicity fast. The bland mystery doesn't add much zest to Phillips's predictable plot line, but this breezy book will likely score a touchdown with readers looking for sexy thrills and instant gratification.

  Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  Carly Phillips

  Hot Stuff

  The first book in the Hot Zone series, 2004

  The "Hot" series is about family and this book is dedicated to mine. I love you all.

  As always, to Phil, Jackie, Jen and Buddy; and to Mom and Dad.

  To my brother Ross and Shari, Jillian and Charlotte.

  To Roz and Ron for giving me my husband, the best man in the world.

  To Sam, Debbie, Jordan and Ben.

  To Jessie, and to Grandma Eisa, who loves reading as much as I do.

  To Uncle Marty and my California cousins, Todd, Jill, Maddie and Ben; and to Debbie, Joel and Josh, Teddi and Nathaniel.

  And to my # 1 fan Aunt Andi, and to Uncle Larry and to my Thanksgiving clan, Glenn, Michele and Maddie; and to Rick, Connie and MacKenzie.

  Finally, to Grandma Sylvia, who has taught me about macular degeneration and the meaning of independence.

  And in loving memory of my grandparents watching over me and who love me still, Grandma Charlotte, Grandpa Henry and Grandpa Jack (the real Grandpa Yank).

  PROLOGUE

  YANK MORGAN WAS A BACHELOR, a gambler, a ladies' man and completely unprepared for the sight sitting before him. Three little girls in descending height and matching dresses stared at him with wide eyes and expectant expressions. Ages twelve, ten and eight, they were his sister's children. Nieces his assistant Lola bought birthday and holiday gifts for, signing his name to the cards. Kids he saw a few times a year for an hour at a time. That was about to change.

  Thanks to a chartered plane crash in the Andes, his sister and her husband were gone, leaving Yank as guardian of their three girls. Frustrated by the notion and emotionally devastated by the loss, Yank balled up the note left by the attorney and tossed it across the room, not even aiming for the garbage can.

  The oldest girl, Annabelle, shot him a scowl, then quickly schooled her features into an unreadable expression. He wondered if she was afraid of him but before he could ask, one of her sisters chimed in.

  "Mama was right about him. Uncle Yank's a pig," Sophie, the middle one, said.

  "Shh." Annabelle placed a hand over her lips. "Don't be rude. He's the only relative we got left." Her eyes, big and wide, showed all the fear inherent in those words. So much so that he was determined to do his best by all three of them.

  The youngest, whose name he thought was Michelle, bent down and picked the paper up off the floor. Before she tossed it into the trash, Yank caught sight of her white panties beneath her short dress.

  "Well I'll be damned. You've got a bow on your butt," he muttered aloud.

  His niece turned. "You have a foul mouth, Uncle Yack."

  "That's Yank and you're darned right I do. Any of you got a problem with that?" he asked all three girls.

  Annabelle immediately shook her head. She obviously understood the value of staying on his good side. He liked her intelligence in a bad situation, but worried about how he'd handle her as she got older. It wouldn't do to have a kid smarter than him living in the house, he thought wryly. Maybe the other two weren't as swift.

  "If you can curse, does that mean I get to do what I want, too?" The youngest faced him, hands on her hips, a determined tilt to her chin.

  She obviously had gumption. "That depends. What do you want to do?"

  "Ditch the dress!"

  Yank chuckled. Maybe this parenting business wouldn't be so hard after all. "I think that can be arranged. You're Michelle?" he asked.

  She nodded. "But you can call me Micki."

  "Nobody calls you Micki and besides that's a boy's name," her middle sister complained.

  "Micki it is," Yank said, thinking of his idol, Mickey Mantle.

  Sophie rolled her eyes. "Tomboy," she called her sister.

  "Barbie doll," Micki yelled back.

  With each word, their voices escalated and Yank cringed. Annabelle jumped between them and stamped her feet. "You two behave," she said, but in trying too hard, the words came out just as loud and whiny as her sisters'.

  And that was Yank's introduction into the world of little women. He had no clue what to do with any of them.

  CHAPTER ONE

  "THE MEETING WILL COME TO ORDER." Yank Morgan slammed the gavel against the rubber plate, calling The Hot Zone weekly meeting to order. His dark, wiry, hair liberally sprinkled with gray was full and shaggy on a normal day, but after continually running his hands through it in frustration while he waited for his nieces to settle down, it was considerably more disheveled.

  As president of their sports agency/PR firm located in a high-rise in midtown Manhattan, Uncle Yank liked to assert his authority. He used the gavel, an engraved birthday gift given to him by Judge Judy, often and with zeal. Unfortunately the gavel didn't change the fact that he was a man outnumbered by three women. Four if he counted Lola, his personal assistant, who liked to tell him what to do and when to do it.

  Annabelle Jordan glanced at her sisters who also studied their uncle with fond amusement. As teenagers, they'd paid little attention to Uncle Yank's rules, mainly because he didn't have any. The older the girls became, the more their uncle searched for a way to pretend he hadn't let his personal and professional life go to hell in a handbasket, as he liked to say. The gavel seemed to give him a measure of pride and confidence, and was a small price to pay for him to feel in control with his new partners.

  He'd continued the sports agency, but on Annabelle's graduation from business school, he'd allowed her to make her dream of a family business into reality. None of the sisters wanted to be sports agents, but they'd all desired to get into public relations. It was Annabelle who'd seen a means to tie the agency to PR and expand the reach of Uncle Yank's clients beyond their limited career on the field.

  Her vision had been a success. The PR side of The Hot Zone specialized in handling professional athletes both in the prime of their careers and into retirement, forced or otherwise. And as each niece had graduated business school, Uncle Yank had rewarded them with a position and piece of his firm. Together they'd created a family business which fed Annabelle's need to keep her siblings and small family together.

  "So let's go through today's agenda," Lola said, pen in hand to document the meeting. As usual, her attitude indicated she was ready to do business, even if her longing gazes toward Yank spoke of something entirely more personal. Lola, with her business demeanor, buttoned-up dress and raven hair pulled into a bun, was in l
ove with Uncle Yank. Everyone knew it.

  Everyone except Uncle Yank. Neither was over the hill and Annabelle felt bad for Lola. After all, the other woman had wasted most of her life waiting for the ultimate bachelor to notice her as something more than a prize assistant and a surrogate mother for his nieces.

  "First order of business. Our annual summer party is scheduled for the third Saturday in July. Does everyone have it on their calendar?" Lola asked.

  All nodded. Annabelle already had the date jotted on her agenda. The annual Hot Zone party was as much a family event as a business one.

  "Okay then. On to the clients," Lola said.

  "Micki? What's going on with Roper?" Uncle Yank asked of their star baseball player. Even when he was questioning the girls about their social lives, Uncle Yank always started with Micki, the youngest and worked his way up to Annabelle, the oldest.

  Her youngest sister rolled the pen between her palms. "I'm trying to counter some bad media. He'll be fine. He just needs to watch what he says to the press," she said in a soothing voice. With her blond, curly hair and deliberately casual dress, Micki always presented the epitome of relaxed confidence.

  "Admitting to having his nails done and a full body wrap at St. Lauren's spa on his day off will definitely put a kink in his reputation as a ladies' man," Annabelle murmured.

  "He isn't gay, he just likes the finer things. He needs to learn discretion," Micki insisted. "I'll stick by his side for a few weeks and he'll learn how to handle the media. We' 11 spin things in his favor," she assured them.

  "He'd be better off pulling a Hugh Grant than acting the part of a sissy boy," Uncle Yank said. "Handle him, Mick."

  Sophie snickered and Micki shot her a dirty look. "Don't worry. I will."

  Annabelle had no doubt her sister would accomplish her goal. All three of them usually did. Although each took on a client as their own, they worked as a team, brainstorming and formulating a PR plan together. The only division occurred in how they assigned clients.

  As every guy's friend, Micki preferred to tackle the difficult athletes. She enjoyed cultivating trust, smoothing ruffled feathers and keeping an athlete looking good to the media. Sophie, the brains in the family, thought, dressed and acted above it all. Her hair was always perfectly set, either professionally blown-dried or pulled into a conservative updo and her designer suits complemented the appearance she sought to present. Not surprisingly, photo shoots and an athlete's upscale ventures were more her terrain.

  Annabelle preferred the guy's guy. The sweat-soaked, masculine football player who made a female look and feel feminine in comparison to his size, bulk and scent. She enjoyed being on the field and in the company of jocks, a weakness that tended to land her in trouble, starting with the high school captain of the football team who'd dated her, but then broken her heart when he'd cheated on her with her best friend.

  Her bad luck with men had continued with the star quarterback at the University of Miami, who it turned out had only screwed her in order to have a pretty woman on his arm, and get closer to her uncle Yank at the same time. After her first real broken heart, she'd decided since men desired arm candy, she'd darn well give them arm candy and enjoy herself at the same time. With her emotional walls firmly in place, she'd graduated with honors, received her MBA and come home to New York. Expanding the agency had been a real accomplishment and she took pride in working in its luxury offices with views of the East River, located in the heart of Manhattan.

  Life had been great until Randy Dalton, linebacker for the N.Y. Giants, had slipped past her defenses. For the first time since college she'd allowed herself to think a man could care for more than what he saw on the outside, more than what her family business connections could bring. She'd indulged in an affair, knowing her heart would likely follow, and it had.

  Since Randy was one of the wealthiest, most eligible bachelors in New York City, their romance had played out in public, dominating the media. When he'd moved on to a younger actress, Annabelle had been left behind, her heart hurt once more and the gossip rags only too eager to report the story in their unique way. In the six months since, Annabelle sometimes wondered if her ego had taken the bigger hit, but the end result was the same. She was finished with men. She was going to focus on her job, period.

  "Sophie?" Uncle Yank barked, snapping Annabelle out of her daydreaming, philosophical funk.

  "What's on your agenda?" he asked, moving along to the middle sister.

  All the information was on the pages in his hands, but since he seemed to want more frequent face-to-face meetings, the sisters agreed to humor him.

  "I'm just trying to keep the peace between Dalton and O' Keefe," Sophie said, of Annabelle's ex and the Giants' new owner.

  Randy was the type of jock client Sophie would normally avoid, but after Annabelle's public breakup, Micki had been tied up so Sophie had been all too willing to take over representing Randy Dalton. Annabelle didn't envy Randy.

  "Like I told Dalton, he's too stupid to understand discretion and the fact that he's got contract negotiations coming up," Sophie said, confirming Annabelle's hunch that her middle sister enjoyed making the man feel like an ass day in and day out. "He's also too much of a jerk-off to remember that he broke Annie's heart and nobody in this family cares about anything more than the bottom line," Sophie said, defending her sister.

  "Mouth, Sophie " Uncle Yank muttered. "Watch the mouth."

  All three sisters rolled their eyes. "We learned our words from you," Annabelle reminded him. "And thanks for treating Dalton like the jerk he is, Soph." Still, Annabelle understood that business held sway and The Hot Zone would continue to represent the louse until either Dalton fired them or they could contractually cut him loose.

  "Annabelle? What's going on in your end of things?" her uncle asked.

  Annabelle looked forward to the twinkle in his eye when he glanced at her. Despite his grumbling, Annabelle knew just how much he adored her. "I just wrapped up overseeing Ernesto Mendoza's Nike commercial and put him on a plane back to Dallas. Last night I accompanied the chairman of NYCT's son to a charity gala. I made sure they know we've got the stars they want to support their cause. They'll turn to us before they look to Atkins for sponsors," she said, winking at her uncle.

  Despite his long-standing friendship with Spencer Atkins, they were business rivals of the deepest sort, Annabelle knew. And she always looked out for Uncle Yank's best interest.

  "That's my girl," Yank said in a voice infused with warmth and pride.

  "Did you wear the Louis Vuitton dress?" Sophie asked, referring to Annabelle's newest acquisition.

  Annabelle grinned. "You know it, sister." The dress, with its low vee in the back was perfect for keeping a man's attention on her, especially when his hand lay on the small of her bare back.

  The banging gavel startled Annabelle and she jumped in her seat.

  "Back to business," Uncle Yank grumbled and all three sisters laughed.

  "Well besides all that, I've got the usual insanity waiting for me in my office," Annabelle said, wrapping up her summary.

  "Micki?" Uncle Yank asked. "Got any openings for a new client?"

  Micki shot her uncle a regretful glance. "Not right away. My schedule's booked. Armando's got the United Way shoot coming up and he made me promise I'd be there myself. And until the Post backs off the gossip and innuendo on Roper, I'm busy 24/7."

  Uncle Yank rolled his eyes. "Hire him a hooker and book a photographer to take pictures of him in the act," he muttered. "Sophie?" Uncle Yank asked.

  She spread her hands wide, also indicating there wasn't much she could do. "My schedule's pretty tight, too. Besides I'm not sure I can deal with another dumb jock ogling my boobs and trying to get into my pants while I'm attempting to book him for charity work."

  "You need to lighten up," Micki said, offering her usual refrain. "You're such a stick in the mud, it's no wonder you haven't had a decent date in ages." She ribbed her sister and Annabel
le awaited the fallout.

  Sophie scowled. "I've dated plenty. Just not someone who rather smack another guy's behind than a woman's."

  Micki let out an exaggerated sigh. "There's no way I'll ever buy that those intellectual types you go for do anything for you," she said as the two sisters launched into their typical bickering.

  "Would you two save the personal stuff for after work?" Annabelle asked.

  "Annie's right." The sound of the gavel broke the argument. "No sex talk in the boardroom," Yank said, his face beet-red as it always was when his nieces got on a roll.

  The problem was, the girls never took him seriously. Not about the opposite sex, anyway. How could they when he'd never married and never tried to hide his string of women from them as they'd grown up?

  From the time they'd moved in with their bachelor uncle, he'd used them to pick up women-until Lola had gotten wind of his chick-magnet scheme and taken over, joining them on trips to the park, the mall, and the playground, making them appear to be one big happy family. And putting a serious dent in Uncle Yank's social life in the process. The sisters loved Lola as their surrogate mom and Uncle Yank couldn't function a day in his life without her. He was just too stubborn to see how much he needed and loved her, too.

  "Lola and I can handle whatever business comes up until Micki and Sophie's schedules clear," Annabelle said, returning them to the discussion at hand.

  "But I think we should consider bringing in new publicists," Micki said. "We've discussed expanding before and I think we're getting close to having no choice."

  Sophie and Annabelle murmured in agreement. They were getting too successful to handle everything themselves.

  "We'll talk about it," Yank promised.

  "Next meeting?" Annabelle insisted, knowing he'd avoid it otherwise. She would, too, for much the same reasons. Annabelle hated to lose the family atmosphere that now dominated The Hot Zone.