Hot Ticket by Deirdre Martin, Julia London, Annette Blair, Geri Buckley Read Free Book Online Page A

the go-ahead run on second, and bam right to the warning track! That was off the hook !”
    “It was off the hook all right,” Kelly agreed in her sexy—and surprisingly genial—voice. “You wouldn’t think a guy that big could run that fast, but he ran like greased lightning. Guido and I were there to see it with our own two eyes.”
    “We saw it all right,” Guido agreed, and someone sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
    “I’m telling you, Guido, Parker Price hit what might have been the most spectacular infield homerun I’ve ever seen. There is no question that it saved the game.”
    “It may have saved the game, but Kelly, I have to give youprops,” Guido said. “If it wasn’t for your show, I don’t believe Price would have stepped up to the plate, pardon the pun.”
    Wait just a damn minute . . . Parker stared disbelievingly at the radio. Guido was going to give Kelly credit for his game-winning homerun?
    “Oh, Guido, that’s sweet, but I didn’t hit that homerun,” Kelly said.
    “Damn straight you didn’t,” Parker muttered.
    “No, no,” Guido responded, determined. “If you hadn’t called this guy on the carpet for his sucky performance this season, I don’t think he would have done what he did last night. That’s just one man’s opinion, but I defy someone to prove me wrong. Before your show, Price was sleep-walking through the season.”
    “Well,” Kelly said airily, “Sometimes, all it takes is a reality check. You know how these high-flying baseball players are—they’ve got so many managers and handlers that sometimes they don’t really know how they are playing in Peoria, right? But take a guy like Price, clue him in, and maybe it sinks in, maybe it doesn’t, but the Mets won last night!” she sang out.
    Parker kicked off the covers and stood up, his fists clenched, staring down at the radio.
    “Too bad you can’t get the Knicks team in here and do some talking,” Guido laughed. “They could use a turnaround, too!”
    “You have got to be kidding!” Parker roared at the radio. “Come on, Kelly! You had nothing to do with that hit!”
    Kelly laughed and said, “Let’s go to the phones. Hello, you’re on the air with Kelly O’Shay. Who are we speaking with?”
    “Hi, Kelly, this is Bill in Queens. Hey, thanks for bringing Parker Price on the show. I think that really shook him up, you know?”
    “That’s what I’m talking about!” Guido said and played some ridiculous cheering section.
    “He ought to call up and thank you,” Bill added. “Honestly, you saved that guy’s ass!”

    Parker roared again and swiped at the radio, sent it sailing to the floor, and the power cord whipped from the wall. He glared at the radio, marched to his closet, got a replacement, and threw it on the bed before heading to the shower. Saved his ass ! Clearly, he was going to have to go into the city and correct a couple of major misconceptions.

CHAPTER 07
    Rick shot Kelly a note on her laptop an hour after her show was over that Parker Price was waiting for her in the lobby.
    She surprised herself by being quite pleased by that news. Well really, he’d come all the way into the city—he must have really liked the show this morning. It had been a good show. Kelly usually wasn’t a fan of having to eat crow on the air, but then again, Parker had played so spectacularly last night that it was a glorious day for Mets fans everywhere, so she’d been happy to do it.
    It helped that he’d been so damned sexy on the ball field. The uniform fit him like a glove in all the right places, and she noticed, as she watched him play short stop, that she was even more curious about the ol’ cup than ever before.
    And now look, the guy had a heart. He’d come here just to tell her how much he appreciated the show. With an uncharacteristic giggle, Kelly pulled out a small mirror from her purse, checked her hair, and dabbed on some lipstick.

    But as she sailed down the hall to the