Playing For Keeps

Playing For Keeps
Karen Templeton

Single mother Joanna Swan had already married one man with a Peter Pan complex, and one was her limit. So now she is determined that romance is for dreamers–and she is one woman with her feet firmly planted on the ground. Even if she does design custom-made Santa Clauses for a living.And that's where Dale McConnaughy comes in. The sexy-as-sin former baseball superstar–now a toy store mogul–might be irresistible to most women, but Joanna had to resist him. Because after all that she'd been through, what kind of fool would she be to let herself fall in love with another man so determined to remain a boy?For Dale, though, baseball hadn't been a game but a way out of a childhood filled with betrayal and heartache. And even though he'd refused to let the past embitter him, it had left its share of scars–scars that perhaps one woman could help to erase. But only if he could prove to Joanna that, where the game of love was concerned, he was willing to risk all….

Here’s what critics had to say about Karen Templeton’s Loose Screws:

“…bustles with characters and surprises.”

—Publishers Weekly

“An inventive and consistently surprising plot as well as a smart and likable heroine set this romance apart from the pack.”

—Booklist

“…filled with lovable characters and their hilarious quirks…a fun book and a perfect beach read.”

—Romantic Times

“Well written, warm-hearted and funny…an example of Chick Lit at its best…reminiscent of Jennifer Crusie’s work, perhaps crossed with a bit of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum for good measure….”

—Susan Scribner, The Romance Reader

“Get ready to laugh until there are tears! Karen Templeton makes the move from series romance to chick lit with élan.”

—Judith Ripplemeyer, The Word on Romance

Dear Reader,

While I love a good edge-of-your-seat, action-packed thriller as much as the next person, I’ve long believed the most compelling stories are those found in everyday life—the day-to-day challenges of raising kids and dealing with family relationships; the way life forces us to grow in ways we never expected to; the breath-stealing awe of finding new love. To this end, I tend to write about people the average reader might know, or even be, characters no less exceptional simply because they do eight loads of laundry a week or worry about a learning disabled child or sometimes wonder how they’re going to make it to the next payday. These are people who find joy in the scent of a roasting turkey, the feel of a child in their arms, the satisfaction of knowing that beat-up old minivan in the driveway is theirs. And these are people no less worthy of finding true love simply because they’re “ordinary.”

This book, my first single title for Silhouette, is no exception. Since the story is set in my adopted hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, these people see what I see every day, shop where I shop, deal with many of the same issues I—and most of you—face every day. Yet for five months, as they revealed their fears and hopes and deepest desires to me, their quiet drama kept me on the edge of my seat. I pray they do the same for you.

Playing for Keeps

Karen Templeton

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

ISBN: 978-1-474-02531-7

PLAYING FOR KEEPS

© 2003 Karen Templeton

Published in Great Britain 2014

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited

Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ®are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

Version: 2018-07-18

To everyone who hangs out in the AOL Books Community Writing Series Romance folder—thanks for seven years (and counting)of cheers and commiseration. (Not to mention answers to any off-the-wall question I can think up!) I love you guys.

And to Trish, Holly, Susan and Alice, for reassuring me the story made sense.

And to Gail—I’m holding you to that promise to edit my next three hundred books!

Contents

Chapter 1 (#u39718724-20df-5d79-96a9-14113d0b690d)

Chapter 2 (#u5e8b473b-55ba-5fb5-9dea-8a5c4775437b)

Chapter 3 (#u9d674bdf-5553-51f9-be47-af71163e4229)

Chapter 4 (#u3812bc93-ccf3-546e-a142-964a49c60aad)

Chapter 5 (#u93281b62-b1c5-5d56-8eee-64710dc6c291)

Chapter 6 (#u1a948391-2667-5160-b503-73369ae95dd0)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)