Carly Phillips
Hot Item
The third book in the Hot Zone series, 2006
To everyone at Harlequin-
Donna Hayes, Randall Toye, Dianne Moggy, Katherine Orr, Marleah Stout and Tracy Farrell for believing in me. And a special thank-you to Brenda Chin for pushing me harder and making me better (I hope!) with each book.
PROLOGUE
YANK MORGAN LEANED back in his favorite chair and puffed on a Monte Cristo cigar. Damn, life was good. At least, as good as it could be with his three nieces sick with colds and too quiet for his peace of mind. He’d been caring for the girls since their parents died in a plane crash a little over a year ago and he’d done his best to maintain normalcy for them and for himself. Hence, his weekly poker night with the guys.
“Hey, Morgan. You folding or what?” Curly asked.
“Depends on your hand.”
Curly glanced at his cards and rubbed his hand over his bald head, a sure sign the man’s hand sucked. “What the hell. I’m in.”
“Me, too.” Spencer Atkins, Yank’s friend and business rival, tossed his bet onto the pile of chips in the center of the table and pulled a long drag of his cigar.
“Better not inhale,” a small female voice warned.
Yank frowned and turned to the doorway. His middle niece, Sophie, stood in her flannel nightgown and glared, arms folded across her chest.
“You’re supposed to be resting,” Yank said.
She shrugged. “My nose is stuffed. I want Lola,” she said, speaking of his assistant and one-time lover, not that any of the girls knew that last part. Lola was the only female influence the girls had.
Yank didn’t discourage their relationship. But the woman complicated his life to no end and reminded him of their once-hot affair. He had his hands full with three little women. He didn’t need a fourth female making demands on his time and forcing him to give up the important things. Things like cigars and poker.