Julia London by Lucky Charm

I be excited?”
    Parker arched a
brow, amused. “Do you really need me to answer that for you?”
    Kelly
nodded.
    “Then clearly, I have my work cut out for me,” he said, his gaze slipping to
her lips.
    His gaze was so smoldering that Kelly unthinkingly put a hand to her throat.
“Ah . . . when do you want to go on this big fat date?”
    “Now,” he said firmly.
    “Now?”
    “Why not now? I came all the way down here. You said you
are through for the day. We could make a day of it.”
    “Doing what?”
    He chuckled so
low that a shiver ran up her spine. “Any number of things come to mind. But I think I will
start with taking you to the Museum of Modern Art to try and infuse a little culture into
you. And then, over dinner, you can impress me with a recap of my most excellent
homerun.”
    “Wow,” Kelly whispered. “That sounds so romantic. I think I might be
excited.”
    “That’s because I’m a very romantic guy,” he said, grinning now, too,
dimples and all. “But I haven’t even gotten to the exciting part yet.”
    “Ooh, and a
little titillation to boot,” she muttered, staring at his mouth.
    His fingers
brushed hers, and the little shiver shot down her spine and into her groin. “I haven’t
even begun to titillate,” he whispered.
    Damn it if he hadn’t. Her knees were
getting wobbly. But she managed a smile. “Okay. You’re on. Just give me a half hour to
finish up here.”
    “Great,” he drawled. “I’ll wait for you on the street.”
He smiled again, and she noticed for the first time how his sexy smile crinkled the
corners of his eyes. Man.
    “I’ll be down in a few,” she responded, and stepped
back, out of the sphere of his magnetism, which was just one moment shy of sucking her
into its vortex.
    He gave her a smile that suggested he knew how he stirred her up inside and
then casually walked out of the office like a man who left women to melt in his wake all
the time. Kelly watched him go, admiring him until Guido scared the crap out of her.
“Kelly, are you hot for the Priceman ?” he cried and laughed loudly as he waltzed
into the reception area.
    “Shut up, Guido,” she shot back and marched in the opposite
direction of Parker, ignoring Guido’s guffaws.
    “That would make a great show!” he
shouted after her, but Kelly had already dived into her office and shut the door, still
smiling ridiculously.
    That was when she noticed the red light indicating a message on
her phone. She instantly picked up the receiver, punching in her voicemail
code.
    “Ah, hi,” a strange voice said. “This is Dan Brown at ESPN calling for Kelly
O’Shay. Kelly, we got your audition tape and thought it was absolutely
great.”
    Shocked, Kelly fell onto her chair.
    “You look great on camera, you’re
articulate and funny, and well, we’d love to talk to you about it. You or your agent can
give me a call at the following number.”
    With a shriek, Kelly grabbed a pen
and jotted down the number as best she could with a hand trembling with excitement. Then,
to be sure she’d clearly heard what he said, she played it again, and what the hell, two
more times. When she was at last convinced ESPN had really called her (and hadn’t
called to say anything about her being too fat or too hideous to be on TV, which, of
course, she had secretly feared), she twirled around in her chairuntil
her heart stopped pounding and before she made herself totally sick, and eagerly dialed
the number Dan Brown had left.
    “Hello?” she said when a woman answered the phone “ESPN.” “This
is Kelly O’Shay calling for Dan Brown.”
    “Hold please,” the woman said, and
Kelly pinched herself to keep from freaking out.
    “Kelly,” Dan said a moment later,
just like they were old friends and had worked together for years. “How’s it
going?”
    “It’s going great ,” she said. “I am so glad you called! I am so glad
you liked the tape!”
    “ Loved the tape! That was fantastic commentary.