Every coach has a client they should never have taken.

Every woman has a man she should never have noticed.

For Roxanne Cross, they turned out to be the same person.

Roxanne

I have a problem. I’ve been trying to land the Firebirds baseball organization as a client for my executive coaching business for forever. The Firebirds have a bigger problem – their newest player, the world’s oldest rookie, Amir Langston. He’s replaced the franchise’s most popular player in its history and is a walking PR distraction. I don’t coach ballplayers, I know better. But with the coveted contracts on the line, I break my rule.

He trots in from the ball field, carrying with him my favorite scents, sweat and freshly cut grass and I remember why I don’t coach ballplayers – he’s the reason.

Four weeks. Eleven Lessons. One notebook.

This is just a business arrangement. That’s what I tell myself because he’s exactly why the rule exists in the first place.

Amir

I’m a ball player. Put a bat in my hand and I know exactly what to do, swap it with a microphone and I’m clueless. After my latest media disaster, I’m assigned an executive presence coach. The minute she hands me the notebook called “The Rules of Flirting” I know I’m in trouble.

I’m stubborn. I don’t quit, and I’ve spent a lifetime with coaches.

She wants me to flirt to polish my image. Something about getting the world to fall in love with me. The problem. The lessons involve lots of practice … on her … and I’m a really good student.

*The Rookie and the Flirt* is a slow-burn sports romance about being seen, being worth it, and the particular courage it takes to believe both things at the same time. Book Two in the Love of the Game Series. Reads as a standalone.