Play Me by Diane Alberts
Take a Chance, #3
Entangled Publishing - July 2013
Book Summary:
Even the best-laid plans can go awry.
Single-mom Kiersten Worth knows a bottle of champagne and night of hot,
no-strings-attached sex is the perfect solution to her jilted bride blues…and
Garrett Kelly, long-time friend and her teenaged son’s sexy basketball coach,
is just the stud for the job.
Garrett wants more from the elusive temptress than a casual affair, but
he never expects it to come in the form of an unexpected pregnancy. When he
proposes an unorthodox solution—move in and raise their baby together—Kiersten
has to decide whether to let down her guard and open her heart to the man who
secretly loved her for years, or risk losing his tender embrace for good.
Excerpt:
Three
months, two weeks, one day, and nineteen hours.
That’s
how long it had been since Garrett walked away from Kiersten. She barely even spoke
to him anymore, other than a soft hello as they passed on the court after
practices. It was probably better that way. Anything more than a brief
encounter hurt too much. He’d spent most of his life pretending not to care
about her. Pretending he was fine without her. But now that he’d had one night
in her arms, he knew he wasn’t.
And
he wanted her more than he could ever possibly describe.
Oh
well. Tough shit. He wasn’t going to get her on his terms. And he wouldn’t
accept hers.
He
needed a drink. Or three.
He
unlocked the door to his apartment and froze. Pots clanged in the kitchen.
Dropping his gym bag to the carpet, he walked around the corner. Only his buddy
Mike had a copy of his key, and that was just in case of an emergency or if he
somehow lost his own set. But why would Mike let himself in and then cook? To
the best of his knowledge, Mike didn’t even know how to cook.
“Mike?”
he called out.
“Uh,
no,” Kiersten replied. “It’s me.”
He
tensed and walked slowly into his kitchen, his heart beating rapidly in his
ears. “How did you get in here?”
She
flushed. “I asked Mike for the key. Told him I needed something for Chris to
practice at home.” She waved a hand. “He didn’t question me, thank God. My
story was weak.”
He
studied her. “Why are you here? You could have just knocked.”
“I
was worried you wouldn’t let me in,” she said softly, averting her eyes. “So I
took matters into my own hands.”
“And
the dinner?”
“A
way to try to make up for what I did. It’s pathetic and not big enough, I know,
but I had to do something.”
He
raised his brows. “You could give me space, like I asked. Why cook for me? What
do you want?”
She
looked at him. “I thought you might like to eat some food. Last time I checked,
you were human.”
“It’s
been over three months since we talked or hung out.” He crossed his arms over
his chest, not sure what her sudden reemergence in his life meant. What game
did she play? “And last time I checked, we weren’t really on speaking terms.
Yet here you are. Cooking me dinner.”
“Yep.”
She set down the spoon she was stirring the sauce with, shoulders tight as she
leaned on the counter. “Pretty much.”
He
looked away from her and swallowed hard. Did she realize how much it hurt him
just to see her face or to hear her voice? Probably not, since he’d been the
only idiot who had wanted more. Every woman paled in comparison to her. No
matter how hard he tried to move on, to be attracted to another woman, there
was only one person on his mind. Kiersten. But if she was here…
He
shoved his hands into his pockets. “Have you changed your mind about us?”
She
paled and he cursed himself for jumping to foolish, optimistic conclusions. “I—no,
not yet. But—”
“Then
you need to leave,” he said. He raised his head and met her eyes, unwilling to
back down. “I haven’t changed my mind, either. I need space.”
“It’s
been three months.
Isn’t that enough space?”
“No.”
He drew in a ragged breath. “It’s not. Now please leave.”
She
bit her lip. “No.”
“Yes.”
He stalked toward her, picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and headed
for the door. He tired not to remember that the last time he’d carried her like
this, they’d been going up to her bedroom. “If you won’t walk out on your own, then
I’ll carry you out.”
She
punched his back and squirmed. “Let me down. We need to talk.”
“The
time for talking is over. I need distance right now. Eventually we can be
friends again. But for now?” He opened the door, set her in the hallway, and
closed the door in her face. “Please go home.”
He
turned away and stomped into the kitchen. Damn it, he wasn’t doing this anymore.
He may have played the part of the lovesick friend for months—hell, years—now, but he was done
with being a benchwarmer she pulled out when it suited her mood.
From
now on, it needed to be a starting position for him…or nothing at all.
Shutting
off the stove, he picked up the pot and peeked inside. She’d made his favorite
meal. Cheese ravioli. Vodka sauce bubbled away in a different pot and he could
smell the garlic bread in the oven.
“Listen,
Garrett, we need to talk,” Kiersten said.
Garrett
jumped and faced her with a glare. “What are you doing in here—again?”
“I
have a key.” She waved a gold key under his nose, her nose tilted up in the air
stubbornly. “And I know how to open a door on my own. I’ve been doing it since
I was three.”
“Congratulations.”
He snatched the key out of her hand and reached for her, determined to put her
right back where he had left her. “But you need to go. I’m serious.”
She
jumped out of his reach and sprinted behind the relative
safety of his favorite chair. “Not until you listen to me. Sit down and shut up
for a second, will you?”
He
pursued her, ready to stick her back out in the hallway, sans key this time. “All
I asked for was a break. Can’t you respect that?”
He
bolted around the chair, reaching for her arm. Her eyes widened and she darted
to the side when he feinted left and ran right, hoping to fool her into his
arms. “I can’t leave until we talk,” she replied.
“Why
not?” he asked in exasperation, holding his hands up. “What could possibly be
so damn important?”
She blinked at him, wringing her hands. “I’m
pregnant.”
Giveaway
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She is a
multi-published, bestselling author with Entangled Publishing, Swoon Romance,
and Decadent Publishing. ON ONE CONDITION hit #18 on
the Barnes and Noble Bestseller List, and TRY
ME hit
#76 on Amazon. CAPTIVATED BY YOU hit #31 on
the Barnes and Noble bestseller list. Her goal is to write so many
fantastic books that even a non-romance book fan will know her name. She also
writes New Adult books under the name Jen McLaughlin. Diane is represented by
Louise Fury from the L. Perkins Agency.
