Sizzling. Сьюзен Мэллери

won’t. I still believe her family helped make her the way she is. She’s alone and lonely.”

      “She’s crabby, difficult and mean.”

      “She’s not mean. Not to me.”

      “You don’t know her well enough,” Reid said as he slid the folded tortilla onto the hot pan.

      Lori set down her empty glass and tried to find something to look at other than the man at the stove. If she didn’t distract herself, she was afraid she’d start drooling.

      It didn’t seem to matter that his character was suspect. Her body wasn’t interested in the three thousand other women he’d had sex with. It just wanted to be number three thousand and one. How sad was that?

      She picked up the top sheet of paper from the stack Reid had been going through.

      “What’s this?” she asked as she scanned a letter from a boy wanting an autograph.

      “A bunch of crap sent over by my manager,” Reid grumbled. “I let his office handle all my fan mail, which might have been a mistake.”

      Lori remembered the slams about Reid ignoring kids in need in the newspaper article.

      He flipped the tortilla. “I didn’t want to bother,” he said grimly. “That’s my big crime. So I trusted others to take care of things and apparently they did a piss-poor job. Seth’s response to everything was to send a check.”

      “Seth’s the business manager?”

      He nodded. “I was invited to a hospital opening and didn’t know. They put me on the program and everything. That’s not good.”

      “But if you didn’t know, it’s not your fault.” Wait! Was she defending him? She resisted the need to slap herself. Didn’t she consider him useless? Hello, naked pictures. That had to mean something.

      “Tell that to the people waiting for me to show up.” He grabbed a plate from the cupboard and slid the quesadilla onto it. “It gets worse. Some kid who was dying wanted to meet me as his last wish. But I didn’t show up. Instead he got an autographed picture and a signed baseball.”

      Reid handed her the food, then slumped down across from her. “It all just sucks.”

      She was torn, both feeling sorry for him and wanting to shake him. “You’re some famous baseball player, right?” she asked before taking a bite. The quesadilla was perfect—hot, with melted cheese, grilled chicken and just a hint of spice.

      “Used to be.”

      “Then you’re in a position to make a difference on a much bigger scale than most people. Things went bad. You can’t change that, but you can fix things. The paper mentioned some kids who got stranded with no return ticket. Pay them back. Call the kid and go see him now. Manage your fan mail, yell at your manager or fire him. Get involved.”

      Reid stared out the window over the sink. “It’s not that easy.”

      Okay, now shaking him had a definite priority over pity. “It can be. I know you were too busy with your exciting life before, but you don’t have that excuse anymore. You have a responsibility. Be the person everyone expects you to be. Grow up. You might surprise yourself.”

      “You don’t think much of me, do you?”

      “No.”

      He gave her a slow, sexy smile. One that gave a whole new meaning to the phrase blown away. If he’d shown her the slightest bit of interest, she would have ripped off her clothes and done it with him right there on the kitchen table.

      Of course, according to Cassie’s article, Reid wasn’t all that great in bed. Except she had a feeling Cassie was lying. She had to be. Everything about Reid, the way he moved, he teased, he spoke, declared that the man loved women. All women.

      Well, all women except her.

      Reality splashed over her like cold water. Time to end the fantasy fest. She wasn’t his type. She would never be someone he could see as appealing. If he knew how he got to her, he would only pity her.

      The thought of that shamed her and she spoke before she could stop herself.

      “Just so we’re clear, I’m not interested in you,” she said coolly. “Or anyone like you. You’re no one I could like or respect.”

      The words hung there in the silence. She desperately wanted to call them back. What had she been thinking? He was Reid Buchanan—he could emotionally eviscerate her with a couple of well chosen words.

      She braced herself for the attack as he rose and stared down at her. But he didn’t say what she’d expected.

      “I thought you were different,” he said quietly. “I didn’t think you were the type to kick me when I was down. Guess I was wrong.”

      And then he was gone and she was alone.

      Shame returned, but this time it had nothing to do with wanting a man she could never have. Instead it was about hurting someone who didn’t deserve to be hurt.

      She’d been trying to make herself feel better by saying he was nothing more than an empty shell—a pretty façade, not a real person. But she’d been wrong. Reid was very real.

      She’d been disrespectful and dismissive. Pretty much acting the way she’d expected him to act. The way others had acted toward her.

      She’d become someone she didn’t like and she didn’t know how to fix that.

      Chapter Four

      LORI STARED at the ringing phone. “Are you going to get that?” she asked.

      Gloria continued to flip through the DVD magazine. “There’s no one I want to talk to.”

      “Then I guess I’ll talk to them.” Lori grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

      “This is Cal Buchanan. You’re, ah…”

      “Lori Johnston. We spoke when you called before. Hi. How are you?”

      “Good. I’m phoning to check on my grandmother. I thought I might come by later and visit.”

      “That’s great.” Lori covered the phone and smiled at Gloria. “It’s Cal. He wants to see you.”

      Gloria didn’t bother looking up. “No. Tell him to go away.”

      Lori uncovered the phone. “She’s thrilled and can’t wait to see you.”

      Cal chuckled. “Want to let me hear her say that?”

      “Not really. She doesn’t always say what she means. You have to read between the lines.”

      Gloria glared at Lori. “Hang up this instant. You will not answer my phone again, nor will you speak for me.”

      Lori took a step back so she was out of reach. “Your grandmother is doing great. She’s making progress every day. Even her physical therapist is impressed and he’s one tough guy to please. She’s gained a little weight. Not as much as I would like, but then I’m just bitter at how good she must look in her clothes.”

      Gloria’s scowl didn’t soften. “You’re annoying me. Hang up. Or tell Cal he can visit, but just him. Not that whore he married or her horrible baby.”

      Lori winced. She hadn’t had the phone covered and based on how Cal swore, he’d heard every word.

      “Why do I bother?” he asked before he hung up.

      Lori put down the phone. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “Why would you do that? He’s your grandson. This is the second time he’s called, wanting to come see you. To me that shows an impressive level of commitment. If he was just being polite, he would have stopped after one call.”

      Instead