Read an excerpt from Playing for Keeps by Lisa B. Kamps
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Tyler Bowie is the serious and focused goalie for the York Bombers. He has his mind on the game and his eye on the future. And he always plays by the rules--until he meets Jennifer Emory, his teammate's sister. What is it about the troubled woman that tempts him to break the biggest rule of all?
Jennifer Emory is looking to start a new life and finds the distraction she needs in Tyler Bowie, her brother's intensely sexy teammate. But the distraction quickly turns to something else. She knows all about the bro code, but there's just something about Tyler that makes her want to take a chance and risk so much more than her brother's ire.
Will the couple find the strength and courage to put it all on the line when love means playing for keeps?
Excerpt
But God, she hated it. Hated running away. Hated having to rely on her brother. Hated feeling like a burden.
Hated knowing that no matter where she went, one tiny little mistake could follow her forever.
She sighed and drew her knees up to her chest. It didn't matter how gorgeous Tyler Bowie was, or how much she was attracted to him, or even if she had a tiny little crush on him. She couldn't allow anything to happen. Not that he was interested but still…no, nothing would happen. He was a hockey player. He was her brother's teammate.
No—no matter how hot Tyler was, it was strictly a case of look but don't touch. She didn't think he was like her ex but she couldn't be sure because she didn't know him that well. And she couldn't trust her own judgement, not anymore. Not after what her ex had done.
Except it had been ten long months and Tyler was so gorgeous. Would it really hurt, just to sample a small taste?
And oh God, what was she thinking? No, absolutely not. She could not think like that, couldn't even afford to pretend to think like that. No matter how much—
She heard the muffled sound of footsteps against the thick carpeting and turned on the sofa, her eyes widening at the sight of Tyler shuffling up the short hall toward her. His thick hair was tousled, his lids half-lowered over dark, sleepy eyes. He paused and ran a hand over his broad chest, which caused the hem of the thin t-shirt to lift. Her mouth dried as she caught a glimpse of smooth skin pulled tight over the hard muscle of defined abs.
Smooth skin broken only by a thin line of dark hair that disappeared into the waistband of the loose gym shorts riding low on his lean hips.
Jenny blinked, her face heating as her gaze travelled down his sturdy legs, taking in the long muscles of strong thighs, lightly dusted with dark hair. Even his bare feet were sexy. Since when did she ever notice a man's feet? Since never, that's when.
She tore her gaze away, forcing herself to look anywhere else. At the generic prints scattered on the wall behind him. At the small dinette table with its two chairs and pile of mail sitting on top of a dark green placemat. At the television, its screen now dark because she had turned it off.
Anywhere except at Tyler.
Oh God, she was in so much trouble.
Look but don't touch? No, she couldn't even do that, not when the simple act of just looking made her want to do so much more.
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About the Author
Lisa B. Kamps is the author of the best-selling series The Baltimore Banners, featuring "hard-hitting, heart-melting hockey players" [USA Today], on and off the ice. Her Firehouse Fourteen series features hot and heroic firefighters who put more than their lives on the line. She's introduced a whole new team of hot hockey players who play hard and love even harder in her newest series, The York Bombers.
In a previous life, she worked as a firefighter with the Baltimore County Fire Department then did a very brief (and not very successful) stint at bartending in east Baltimore, and finally served as the Director of Retail Operations for a busy Civil War non-profit.
Lisa currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two sons (who are mostly sorta-kinda out of the house), one very spoiled Border Collie, two cats with major attitude, several head of cattle, and entirely too many chickens to count. When she's not busy writing or chasing animals, she's cheering loudly for her favorite hockey team, the Washington Capitals--or going through withdrawal and waiting for October to roll back around!
