Laura Marie - Daddy Daycare

“Us?” Travis gave Kit a cautious half smile that reminded her so much of when they’d been kids. Back when it had taken her a minute to breathe after he’d shyly confessed his attraction for her.

“Well…” She licked her lips. “She said us, you and me together, but I’m sure she meant me in the short-term, then you for the long-term.”

“Sure.”

“Because otherwise, she would’ve meant us as a couple, only Marlene was never really the matchmaking type. Besides, she knew I’m happy with Levi.”

“Right. And that I’m not the relationship type.”

“Of course.” Travis had stopped at an intersection, and though the cars whizzed along the paved highway they faced, flooding the truck’s cab with a much-needed breeze, for Kit, the temperature under Travis’s hooded gaze blazed as hot as ever.

“So what do you want, Travis?”

Dear Reader,

What’s more fun than a summer fling? Late-night walks, holding hands to the accompaniment of moonlight and crickets—or mosquitoes if you’re in my neck of the woods! Luckily for Kit and Travis, they live in a fictional Arkansas town, where there are no whiny bugs—just romance.

Back before I became old and married, summer romances were always my favorite. I was a “Bandie,” meaning every summer I packed up my clarinet and headed off to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville campus for band camp. Sure, we were supposed to be practicing our instruments, but what we mostly got practice on was scoping new guys!

The best part of camp was always the dance held at week’s end. Sure, it was sad, knowing you’d soon say goodbye to all your new friends, but the poignancy of the moment seemed to add urgency, accelerating relationships that ordinarily might take all year. After a few sweet kisses, it was over, save for letter writing that eventually faded along with summer’s heat.

Travis and Kit first met the summer he was seventeen and she was sixteen. Now they’re all grown-up and it’s summer again. Will things work out any better for them this time? Hmm…Beats me. You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Happy reading,

Laura Marie ;-)

Daddy Daycare

Laura Marie Altom

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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After college (Go Hogs!), bestselling, award-winning author Laura Marie Altom did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at-home mom to boy/girl twins. Always an avid romance reader, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps.

When not immersed in her next story, Laura enjoys an almost glamorous lifestyle of zipping around in a convertible while trying to keep her dog from leaping out, and constantly striving to reach the bottom of the laundry basket—a feat she may never accomplish! For real fun, Laura is content to read, do needlepoint and cuddle with her kids and handsome hubby.

Laura loves hearing from readers at either P.O. Box 2074, Tulsa, OK 74101, or e-mail: BaliPalm@aol.com. Or check out lauramariealtom.com.

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

1028—BABIES AND BADGES

1043—SANTA BABY

1074—TEMPORARY DAD

1086—SAVING JOE *

1099—MARRYING THE MARSHAL *

1110—HIS BABY BONUS *

1123—TO CATCH A HUSBAND *

For Betty Anne Miller and Dixie Miller—There aren’t enough words to describe how thankful I am to you two for being such great temp moms to my Hannah! (Not to mention such super friends to me!) We wouldn’t have made it through middle school without you!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

“Ouch,” Kit Wells said with a whimper, rubbing the back of her throbbing head. Never had she known such pain.

Well…at least physical pain. The emotional pain of losing her best friend in a freak car accident—that was still as crushing as it had been yesterday when Marlene died in her arms.

Focusing on the task at hand, which was fishing one of her best gold earrings out from under CEO Travis Callahan’s desk, she snatched the errant piece of jewelry, then backed up, only to slam the top of her head when she rose too early.

She was still on the floor when the office’s door creaked open. Between the stars flashing before her eyes and the ball-and-claw feet of navy leather wing chairs she spied a pair of obviously expensive black, highly polished wingtip shoes. Wearing those were long, long legs encased in creased black dress pants. As her gaze traveled up, she saw a matching black jacket, starched white shirt and red-striped power tie. After a quick gulp, Kit summoned the courage to finish her visual sweep. Precision-cut short dark hair, chiseled features and eyes the shade of fresh-ground coffee made it official—the man was gorgeous. Even better than thirteen years earlier, when he’d last visited her hometown of IdaBelle Falls.

“Um, hi,” she said with a faint smile. “Remember me? I’m Kit. The girl you, um…well, you know, under your grandmother’s backyard mulberry tree.” Though she felt like conking herself on her already swimming head for blurting that bit of inane history—despite that to date, his kisses, among other things, were still some of her best in memory—Kit yanked down the hem of her brown prairie-style skirt, then tried scrambling to her feet. In fact, Travis’s kisses had been so dreamy, his technique had even topped that of Brad Foley, the B-movie actor who’d finished the job of demolishing what had been left of Kit’s heart after Travis left town. But that was a long story best forgotten.

As of late, she’d settled into a nice, safe engagement with local hardware store owner Levi Petty. What Levi lacked in animal magnetism and flash, he more than made up for in good old-fashioned family values and stability.

“Need help?” She looked up to see Travis’s proffered hand, which she took, only to regret it. No way were her sparks for him as intense as when she’d been a gangly teen and he’d been equally handsome. Both of which were entirely inappropriate observations considering the task she’d flown all the way from IdaBelle Falls to downtown Chicago to do.

“Um, please,” she said, releasing him the instant she was back on her sturdy sandals. Never had she wished she was more the polished sophisticate like all the other women she’d seen in the building, but since she was only going to be here long enough to tell Travis her news, then be out on an afternoon flight, it really hadn’t made sense to blow much-needed cash on some swanky outfit she’d wear only once. She really shouldn’t have spent the money to come here. But when her friend Alex, who was on the IdaBelle Falls police force, said they’d intended to tell Travis the news over the phone, out of love for his sister Kit had begged Mitch to let her break the news herself.