Former baseball superstar Dale McConnaughy is sexy as sin, charming as all get out and isn't the least bit interested in taking anything seriously. Which unfortunately pretty much describes Joanna Swann's ex-husband, too. So even if Dale does things like, oh, make her laugh. . .distract her from the million and one responsibilities that make up her life. . .remind her of what it's like to be a child again. . .what kind of fool would she be to let herself fall in love with a man so determined to remain a boy?

A man so determined not to give her any clues about his past?

For Dale, baseball hadn't been just a game, but a way out of a childhood riddled with betrayal and heartache. When injury took that away as well, he fulfilled a little boy fantasy and opened a toy store in Albuquerque, reclaiming in some measure an innocence he was never allowed. But even though he'd refused to let the past embitter him, it had left unseen scars, scars that one woman alone could help to erase. . .but only if he was willing to play for keeps.