Leslie LaFoy - Blindsided

She touched her lower lip with her tongue and took a shaky breath. “I didn’t wear this dress just to distract Ralph. I also wanted to knock your socks off.”

Whoa. If she could be that honest, so could he. “You succeeded. My toes are kinda curled, too.”

“I also wanted you to know that I’m not a Pollyanna.”

The jury was still out on that one, but he knew what he was supposed to say. “I got the message, loud and clear.”

Her smile was faint. She didn’t move. God, he’d only thought her laugh had made him warm. The kiss me look was smokin’. It was also an invitation and he decided to take it. “Wondering,” he asked softly, “just how much further you can go and still be safe?”

She blinked. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s what I’m wondering.”

Dear Reader,

Most of us look forward to October for the end-of-the-month treats, but we here at Silhouette Special Edition want you to experience those treats all month long—beginning, this time around, with the next book in our MOST LIKELY TO…series. In The Pregnancy Project by Victoria Pade, a woman who’s used to getting what she wants, wants a baby. And the man she’s earmarked to help her is her arrogant ex-classmate, now a brilliant, if brash, fertility expert.

Popular author Gina Wilkins brings back her acclaimed FAMILY FOUND series with Adding to the Family, in which a party girl turned single mother of twins needs help—and her handsome accountant (accountant?), a single father himself, is just the one to give it. In She’s Having a Baby, bestselling author Marie Ferrarella continues her miniseries, THE CAMEO, with this story of a vivacious, single, pregnant woman and her devastatingly handsome—if reserved—next-door neighbor. Special Edition welcomes author Brenda Harlen and her poignant novel Once and Again, a heartwarming story of homecoming and second chances. About the Boy by Sharon DeVita is the story of a beautiful single mother, a widowed chief of police…and a matchmaking little boy. And Silhouette is thrilled to have Blindsided by talented author Leslie LaFoy in our lineup. When a woman who’s inherited a hockey team decides that they need the best coach in the business, she applies to a man who thought he’d put his hockey days behind him. But he’s been…blindsided!

So enjoy, be safe and come back in November for more. This is my favorite time of year (well, the beginning of it, anyway).

Regards,

Gail Chasan

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For Garrett

Who picked up a hockey stick eight years ago

and changed the course of our lives.

Thank you, Son.

A former high school history teacher with wide ranging interests, Leslie collects antique silver and loves to work with stained glass. She admits to being one of the last women in America who considers sewing a recreational activity. And home rehabbing—major, major fun. She’s married—twenty-one years—to David and they have a teenage son who plays hockey and lacrosse.

In her spare time , Leslie has written nine historical romantic suspense novels and one novella. She’s now adding contemporaries into the writing mix just for the fun of doing something different.

There are four basic types of hockey players.

The Goalie. He’s the guy standing in front of the net and looking like the Road Warrior version of the Michelin Man. Under those pads is a man who has the single-mindedness of a medic dragging a wounded soldier to safety. Off ice… They can be a bit oblivious to what’s going on around them. If you want their attention, try tossing a puck across their seemingly blank stare.

The Center. Speed. Drive. Confidence. Loads and loads of confidence. While these tendencies can be a bit off-putting off ice, it is possible to drop his jaw. Off ice… Just sweetly move around him and go on like he isn’t there. They’re so not used to that that they’ll come after you out of sheer curiosity.

The Wingers (Left and Right). They’re every bit as good as the center; they just don’t usually get the spotlight. Which is fine by them. It’s not that they lack confidence, it’s that they prefer to play strong supporting roles. Off ice… Invite the whole team over for dinner and ask him to help. He’ll adore you forever.

The Defensemen. aka The Rescuers. They charge into the fray and put not only their bodies, but also their hearts and souls between the puck and the net. They’re usually the most unassuming guys on the ice. “It’s no big deal. It’s just my job.” Off ice… They live to be needed. Just don’t gush publicly over their rescue exploits. Privately… Everyone likes to be appreciated.

Prologue

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

That had gone as well as could be expected, Catherine Talbott decided as she watched the team’s now former general manager storm out of the office. The door could probably be put back on the hinges. And if it couldn’t, she could live without one. She’d lived without a lot lately. She was actually getting good at it.

John Ingram—he who had just joined the ranks of disgruntled former employees—was somewhere in the administrative office shouting about Cat pretending to have a penis when Lakisha Leonard sauntered in through the mangled doorway.

Cat’s assistant flipped her assortment of beaded braids over her shoulder and arched a glitter-spangled brow. “He’s not happy.”

The understatement of the year. “People who get fired usually aren’t,” Cat pointed out, organizing the pile of bills on the desk in front of her and trying not to fixate on the huge, red PAST DUEs stamped on them.

“Carl isn’t going to be happy, either,” Lakisha said warily. “The two of them go way back together.”

“Yeah, well,” Catherine countered, setting aside the neat stack of bills with a sigh, “if I could find another coach willing to work for stale peanuts and flat beer, they could go forward together, too.”

Lakisha drew back slightly, puckered her lips and wiggled her nose back and forth. In the month since Catherine had inherited her brother’s hockey franchise, she’d seen Lakisha’s “rabbit look” often enough to know that there was something to be said. “What?” she asked, her pulse racing. “You know a decent coach who can be had cheap?”

“I didn’t want to mention it right off,” Lakisha began, looking like she really wasn’t all that excited about mentioning it now. “Your plate being as full as it is and all. You’ve barely had time to get your feet under you.”

“But?” Catherine pressed.

“Your brother was working on a plan.”

Of course he was. Tom had always been working on The Next Big Thing. All the intricate details of his various plots to take over the economic world had been scribbled on napkins from one end of his office to the other. Putting them together to actually understand the grand plan was proving to be a bit difficult, though. “I must have missed that particular note,” Catherine quipped, eyeing the pile on the credenza. “Do you happen to know which restaurant he had the brainstorm in?”