The Kitchen Rule
A Pro Pickleball Romance

About this book:

Mallory Cruz plays pickleball like chess—calculated, controlled, and entirely alone. Jax Montgomery plays like a house fire—flashy, reckless, and impossible to ignore. They've spent three years on the pro tour trading barbs across the net, but when a seven-figure endorsement deal from Apex Kinetic lands on the table, the offer is simple: fake a partnership, win a few tournaments, and cash the checks that will save both their careers. The catch? They have to convince the world—and each other—that the sparks flying between them are strictly professional.

Thrown into the high-stakes world of mixed doubles, Mallory's surgical precision clashes with Jax's highlight-reel swagger at every practice, every press conference, every shared hotel lobby. But the longer they drill the soft game and navigate the "stack," the harder it becomes to remember where the performance ends and the truth begins. His hands are steady when he catches her mid-fall; her voice drops to a whisper when she admits she's scared to trust anyone with her backhand side. And somewhere between the kitchen line and the baseline, the line between rival and partner blurs into something neither of them knows how to return.

With the Newport Beach Open looming and Apex executives watching from the VIP box, Mallory and Jax have two weeks to turn mutual loathing into championship chemistry. But in a sport decided by millimeters and milliseconds, the most dangerous shot isn't the one that paints the sideline—it's the one that catches you off guard and steals the breath right out of your lungs. Game on.