Hot Ticket by Deirdre Martin, Julia London, Annette Blair, Geri Buckley Page B

you,” she said, beaming. “Parker, I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I can’t wait ! I’m going to be on ESPN with my own talk show! I mean, assuming everything goes all right and it tests out okay and they like the segments I tape and I don’t come across as a big dork. Can you believe it? I have dreamed of this for years!”
    “Of course I can believe it. You’re smart as hell and witty and gorgeous to boot. You’re the best,” he said, meaning it. “So how long will you be gone?”
    “Two or three weeks. Maybe longer. I’m not sure.”
    Maybe longer . . . that pinprick of panic was beginning to spread into a real fissure. Parker was happy for Kelly, of course he was, terribly happy . . . but . . . but she was his lucky charm.
    “I guess I should ask them exactly how long. Guido and theproducers of Sports Day decided I should just tell my listeners I’m going on vacation and have a couple of rotating guest hosts sit in. That way, if ESPN doesn’t like the show, or doesn’t pick it up for very long, I have a place to land. Isn’t that nice of them?” she chirped, and patted Parker on the chest before popping up off the couch.
    She went into the kitchen and started bustling around, gathering lasagna and salad. “I know you must be hungry. I don’t know what to wear.”
    “What?” he asked, confused.
    Kelly’s laugh was bright and vibrant and reverberated in the apartment. “The two statements are not related,” she said, giggling. “I mean, I don’t know what to wear for the tests. Should I go casual? Or formal? Maybe a hip look?”
    “Yeah, that sounds good,” he said, having no clue how a hip or casual look would differ. He got up and walked into the kitchen to help her. “So . . . after you do this testing, you’re definitely coming back, right?”
    “Of course!’ she cried, and paused to put her hand to his face and kiss him. “If I get the show, I will be taping in Connecticut. If I don’t, I will be back in New York. Don’t worry, Parker. I’m definitely coming back,” she said sweetly. “Come on. This lasagna has been sitting around too long.”
    Parker made himself eat, but he’d lost his appetite. He wasn’t sure why he had such a bad sense of foreboding, but he did—a feeling that was based on absolutely nothing and bordered on highly selfish. Nevertheless, he couldn’t seem to shake it.
    And as the evening progressed, nothing could make it go away. Not fabulous love-making, not Kelly’s show the next day, not batting practice where he was knocking them out of the park. He just couldn’t shake that quiet, persistent unease that he couldn’t be the same without her.
    And when he left a few days later, bound for St. Louis and then Houston, he held a bubbly Kelly tightly to him, reluctant to let go,because if he did, he feared everything he’d only just found would be lost. But Kelly laughingly assured him, “It’s okay, Parker. Everything is going to be just fine.”
    He honestly wanted to believe her. He honestly tried to believe her.

CHAPTER 11
    The first couple weeks she was in L.A., Kelly woke up every morning and pinched herself. And though she left a trail of bruises, she kept doing it because she couldn’t imagine what in the hell she’d ever done to deserve this fabulous new life.
    First came her makeover: new haircut by Frankie Petronova, the hairdresser to the stars; thread lift on her brows to make her green eyes really pop; and microdermabrasion to rid her face of a couple freckles, which were not, apparently, what America wanted to see in their talk show hosts. Plus she was presented a hip new wardrobe from all the best designers, put together just for her by Melania Chenowith, the woman who dressed anyone who was anyone in Hollywood.
    And last but not least, she got shoes. Shoes ! Boxes and boxes of really cool high-heeled shoes to go with each outfit, even though there was no plan for the viewing audience to see her feet. But she’d