Private Scandals

eyes dark and focused, he reached out, rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone. “Yes, you do.”
    Her heart stuttered. Annoyed at herself, she exhaled slowly. “Finn, I should make it clear that I’m not interested in getting involved, with anyone. I have to put all my energies, all my emotions into making the show work.”
    “You look like a woman with enough emotion to go around to me.” He sipped, studying her over the rim. “Why don’t we just see what develops?”
    The waitress slid the platter of antipasto on the table. “Ready to order?”
    “I’m ready.” Finn smiled again. “How about you?”
    Flustered, Deanna picked up the plastic-coated menu. Odd, she thought, she couldn’t seem to comprehend a thing written there. It might as well have been in Greek. “I’ll go for the spaghetti.”
    “Make it two.”
    “Gotcha.” The waitress winked at Finn. “White Sox are up by two in the third.”
    “White Sox?” Deanna arched a brow as the waitress toddled off. “You’re a White Sox fan?”
    “Yeah. You into baseball?”
    “I played first base in Little League, batted three thirty-nine my best season.”
    “No shit.” Impressed, and pleased, he tapped a thumb to his chest. “Shortstop. Went all-state in high school. Three-fifty my top season.”
    With deliberate care, she chose an olive. “And you like the Sox. Too bad.”
    “Why?”
    “Seeing as we’re in the same profession, I’ll overlook it. But if we go out again, I’m wearing my Cubs hat.”
    “Cubs.” He shut his eyes and groaned. “And I was nearly in love. Deanna, I thought you were a practical woman.”
    “Their day’s coming.”
    “Yeah, right. In the next millennium. Tell you what. When I get back in town, we’ll take in a game.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “At Comiskey or Wrigley?”
    “We’ll flip for it.”
    “You’re on.” She nibbled on a pepperoncini, enjoying the bite. “I’m still ticked about them putting lights in at Wrigley.”
    “They should have done it years ago.”
    “It was tradition.”
    “It was sentiment,” he corrected. “And you put sentiment up against ticket sales, sales win every time.”
    “Cynic.” Her smile froze suddenly. “Maybe I could get baseball wives on the show. Cubs and Sox. You’d have viewer interest right off, people taking sides. God knows all you have to do is mention sports or politics in this town to get people going. And we could talk about being married to someone who’s on the road weeks at a time during the season. How they deal with slumps, injuries, Baseball Annies.”
    “Hey.” Finn snapped his fingers in front of her face and made her blink.
    “Oh, sorry.”
    “No problem. It’s an education to watch you think.” It was also, to his surprise, arousing. It made a man wonder—hope—that she would concentrate as fiercely on sex. “And it’s a good idea.”
    Her smile spread inch by inch until her face glowed with it. “It’d be a hell of a kickoff, wouldn’t it?”
    “Yeah, but you’re mixing your sports metaphors.”
    “I’m going to love this.” With her wine in one hand, she settled back against the booth. “I’m really going to love this. The whole process is so fascinating.”
    “And news wasn’t?”
    “It was, but this is more—I don’t know. Personal and exciting. It’s an adventure. Is that how you feel about flying off to one country after another?”
    “Most of the time. Different place, different people, different stories. It’s hard to get into a rut.”
    “I can’t imagine you worrying about that.”
    “It happens. You get cozy, lose the edge.”
    Cozy? In war zones, disaster areas, international summits? She didn’t see how. “Is that why you didn’t stay in London?”
    “Part of it. When I stop feeling like a foreigner, I know it’s time to come home. Have you ever been to London?”
    “No. What’s it like?”
    It was easy to tell her, easy for her to listen. They talkedover pasta and red wine, over cappuccino and cannoli until the candle in the bottle beside them began to gutter, and the juke fell silent. It was the lack of noise that made Deanna glance around. The restaurant was almost empty.
    “It’s late,” she said, surprised when she glanced at her watch. “You have a plane to catch in less than eight hours.”
    “I’ll manage.” But he slid out of the booth as she did.
    “You were right about the food. It was fabulous.” But her smile faded when he reached out and cupped the nape of her