Hot Number (Hot Zone 2)

First she e-mailed Sophie to see if she wanted to have dinner tonight, then she picked up the phone and scheduled a few appointments she had on her to-do list. Just when she couldn't think of anything else to occupy her mind, her office intercom rang.

She pushed the reply button. "Yes?"

"You have an unscheduled visitor," her secretary announced.

She shrugged. Whoever it was, it was better than sitting alone. "Send them in."

Micki stood at the same time the door opened and Damian walked in. Her heart leaped inside her chest and an amazing feeling of happiness surrounded her,lifting the cloud that had settled on her shoulders since they'd parted at the airport.

She'd been deprived and now she wasn't, and she shamelessly took in his appearance. He wore a pair of faded Levi's that did little to disguise the muscles beneath the jeans, along with a solid white T-shirt that accented his tan. He still had the scruffy beard she loved but his eyes were dim and he looked troubled. More troubled than the man she'd last seen worrying about his career, and she wondered what was bothering him.

She couldn't suppress the fleeting hope that maybe he'd missed her and that was why he'd come by. Heaven knew she'd missed him.

She strode around her desk, trying for a casually unaffected tone as she greeted him. "Hi there."

"Hey." He shut the door behind him. As he smiled, his gaze scanned her body for as long as she'd studied his. "You look great," he said at last.

She glanced down at her short pleated skirt and low-cut top. After leaving the island, she'd taken his advice and purchased more clothes that accentuated her feminine side. "Sophie and I went on a shopping spree."

He nodded approvingly. "Works for me," he said, his tone deeper than before.

He stepped closer and captured her in his arms, pulling her close and before she could blink, his lips came down hard on hers. His tongue plunged into her waiting mouth and she opened wide, accepting him because he had come for her. If she could have scripted the scenario, she couldn’t have planned it any better.

She blinked and reality set in. Damian still stood before her.

She shivered and shook her head hard. "So what brings you by?”

He drew a deep breath and lowered himself into the nearest chair. "I have an appointment with your uncle."

"Oh”

"And I also need to talk to you.”

She narrowed her gaze. "Okay "

He ran a hand through his hair. She'd never seen him so flustered before. "I need a friend."

She wanted to be more but knew she had to settle for whatever he offered. "You know I'm that”

He bowed his head. Almost as if he couldn't face her, Micki thought and her throat filled with fear. "What is it?”

A knock sounded on her door and Micki’s secretary entered. 'Today's papers are here," Amy said, interrupting them.

"Thanks." Micki didn't look over her shoulder at the other woman.

"I'll just leave them on your desk." Amy walked in and placed the papers down before taking off again.

"Sorry. Papers are a publicist's lifeblood," Micki explained.

He nodded. "That's sort of why I'm here."

She raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"There's no easy way to say this so… Just take a look." He gestured toward the stack of dailies. "Start with the News. They're the most creative with the headlines"

Micki picked up the top paper, The Daily News, and flipped it to the back page. The headline read Miami Love Machine. Beneath it, the caption elaborated, "Miami legal secretary claims New York Renegades center fielder Damian Fuller is the father of her unborn child. Full story p. 72." The photo, which took up much of the back page, showed the woman Micki recognized as Damian's date from Tampa, leaving the Marriott Marquis on Broadway.

Micki's head swam with so many emotions she couldn't sort through them all. Shock, disbelief, pain and a completely unreasonable sense of betrayal all ricocheted around her mind and buffeted her body.