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Saturday, April 14, 2018

Spotlight Tour: Excerpt of Play for Keeps by Maggie Wells


Author: Maggie Wells
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Date of publication: April 2018

Mixing business and pleasure is a dangerous game…

Tyrell Ransom, the new men’s basketball coach, is ready to whip his team into shape and start winning some games. But when compromising photos of his soon-to-be-ex-wife with one of his players go viral, everything comes crashing down. With reporters thick on the ground, Ty and his team need some serious damage control—now.

When public relations guru Millie Jenkins arrives in her leopard-print cape to save the day, things really heat up... Soon they’re going to have to work double time to keep their white-hot chemistry out of the headlines.

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Enjoy this excerpt:

“I didn’t plan this, and I certainly didn’t want it to happen like this. I mean, you’re right about the timing…but as Millie pointed out, this might be the only chance I get to have a kid. She can’t have any, and I…” He trailed off, using only a helpless shrug as punctuation.
Danny nodded. “You don’t want to be with anyone else.”
“Right.”
“Does she know? About the test, I mean.”
Ty shook his head, incapable of voicing any more denial.
“When are you going to tell her?”
Again, Ty had no words.
“You can’t wait, man. The longer you wait, the worse it’ll be. She’s been on pins and needles too,” Danny reminded him.
“I know.” Ty wrung his hands, then chanced a look at the man beside him. “But how? How do I do this? How can I have a relationship with Millie and be a good father to my kid? Will she still even want a relationship with me? She didn’t sign on for dealing with a kid…and Mari. Hell, she’s hardly signed on for anything.”
“It’s a lot to think about, but you’ll figure it out,” Danny assured him.
“Do you really think so?” he asked bluntly.
Danny clapped him hard on the shoulder, then rose, grunting a bit as his knee popped audibly. “I think you’re a good guy who tries to live a good life.” He surveyed the band members scurrying around in what looked to be complete disarray. “You know, it’s always like this.” He waved a hand in the direction of the field. “On Wednesday, they look like a pack of blind ants scrambling around for the last crumb. By Saturday evening, that mess will be a tribute to David Bowie complete with rocket ship and guitar formations.”
Ty raised his eyebrows, surprised the football coach paid any attention at all to the band director’s plans. “Will it?”
Danny nodded. “I started having a couple of film and television students video band practice and the halftime shows. I make the team watch them every Monday before we review game film.”
“You do?”
Stepping down a row, Danny chuckled. “They hate being compared to the band kids, but I think they’re starting to see the point.”
Ty blinked up at him. “Which is?”
Danny gestured to the field, where chaos seemed to reign. “If they can play ‘Heroes,’ then the sad, sorry bunch of misfit jocks I inherited can try to be heroes.”
“Just for one day?” Ty challenged.
Danny laughed and shook his head as he proceeded to step from bleacher to bleacher. “Hell no. I need five more Saturdays out of them.”
“Don’t forget the bowl game,” Ty called out to him.
Raising both hands over his head, Danny held up six fingers. At the bottom, he squinted up at Ty, shielding his eyes from the lowering sun with one hand. “Hey, Ty?”
“Yeah?”
“Congratulations, man.”
And the fist in his chest was back. Resisting the urge to cover the sore spot with his hand, he waved and called down a gruff, “Thanks.”

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About the author:

By day, Maggie Wells is buried in spreadsheets. At night she pens tales of people tangling up the sheets. The product of a charming rogue and a shameless flirt, you only have to scratch the surface of this mild-mannered married lady to find a naughty streak a mile wide. She has a passion for college football, processed cheese foods, and happy endings. Not necessarily in that order. She lives in Arkansas.

Find Maggie Online:


1 comment:

Margaret said...

Thanks for featuring Play for Keeps!