her hips, Brooke stared after him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting her own smile escape. ''Location, one hour,'' she called out. Brooke had been right in thinking that the third brief scene of the commercial would be the most difficult to film. She shot the second scene next, crowding lights, equipment and crew into the Kings locker room. Claire had arranged, with a little negotiating, to have a few of the better-known of Parks's teammates available for background or cameos. Once Brooke got them settled down so that they stopped waving at the camera or making fictitious announcements into the mike, it began to work. And work well.
Because of the relative ease with which the segment was progressing, Brooke found the headache growing at the base of her skull unexplainable. True, the locker room was noisy between takes, and after the first hour of many bodies under hot lights, it smelled like a locker room, but this headache was pure tension.
At first she simply ignored it; then, when that became impossible, she grew annoyed with herself.
There was nothing to be tense about. Parks did what he was told, pulling the cashmere sweater over his naked chest for each take. And every time he smiled at her, Brooke felt the headache pulse.
By the time the crew was setting up for the scene on the diamond, Brooke had convinced herself she had it under control. It was just a nagging ache, something she would take care of with a couple of aspirin when she got home. As she watched the sound technician work on a mike, she felt a beefy arm slip over her shoulders.
'Hi.' Snyder grinned down at her, drawing an automatic smile of response from Brooke. He was, she thought, about as dangerous as a cocker spaniel.
''Ready for the next scene, George? You did very well before. Of course, you won't be on camera this time.'
'Yeah, I wanted to mention that you're making a big mistake using Parks. Too skinny.' He flexed a well- muscled arm.
Brooke gave his biceps a nod of approval. 'I'm afraid I don't have anything to do with the casting.' 'Too bad. Hey, now that I'm a star, are you going to pick me up at the airport?''
'Forget it, Snyder.' Before Brooke could answer, Kinjinsky strolled over, a bat in one hand, a ball in the other. 'She's out of your league.' He grinned at Brooke, jerking his head at his teammate. 'He specializes in belly dancers.'
'Lies.' Snyder looked amazingly like an overgrown choirboy. 'All lies.'
'When my daughter grows up,' Kinjinsky said mildly, 'I'm going to warn her about men like him.' Walking to the plate, he tossed the ball up in the air then drilled it out to center field.
'Kinjinsky's the best fungo hitter on the team,' Snyder told Brooke. 'Too bad he has such trouble with a pitched ball.'
'At least I can make it from first to second in under two and a half minutes,' Kinjinsky tossed back.
Snyder, well used to ribbing about his base running, feigned an offended look. 'I have this genetic anatomical problem,' he explained to Brooke.
'Oh.' Playing along, she looked sympathetic. 'That's too bad.'
'It's called a lead foot,' Parks commented as he came up behind them.
Hearing his voice had the headache she'd nearly forgotten drumming again. She turned to find him watching her and his teammates with a lazily amused smile. Parks wore full uniform, the blazing white that brought out the gold of his skin. The navy cap shaded his eyes, giving him a cocky, assured look. Quietly possessive, his eyes skimmed over her. This time Brooke felt a flutter in her stomach in addition to the throb at the base of her neck.
'Just keeping your woman entertained,' Snyder said genially.
'Brooke's her own woman.' But there was something unmistakably proprietary in the disclaimer.
Hearing it, Snyder realized there was something deeper here than he had imagined. So the lightning's finally hit the Iceman, he thought. Snyder had the wit to rib unmercifully and the nature of a man who mends the broken wings of small birds. 'When she sees how good I come across on camera, you're going to be out of a job.'
'De Marco doesn't have a line for sumo wrestlers,' Parks countered.
'Gentlemen,' Brooke spoke, cutting them off.
'The crew's ready. George, if you'd take your place at first to give Parks his target.'
'Ouch.' He winced. 'Try not to take that literally, Jones. I don't want to be on the disabled list next week.'
'Mike.' Brooke stepped over to Kinjinsky. 'If you'll just hit them to Parks-don't make it too easy for him, I want to see a little effort.'
With a grin, Kinjinsky tossed up another ball. 'I'll see what I can do.'
Nodding, Brooke walked toward the crew. 'Places. Parks, any questions?'
'I think I can handle this one.' He stepped up to third, automatically kicking up a bit of dust with his spikes.
She looked through the lens, feeling another flutter in her stomach as she focused on Parks. Shifting his weight to one hip, he grinned at her, Brooke stepped back, gesturing to E.J.
'Hey, boss, you okay?'
'Yes, I'm fine. Roll film.'
It went perfectly. Brooke knew she could have used the first take without a hitch, but opted for two more. They were equally smooth. Kinjinsky blasted the ball at Parks, enough to make him dive or leap before Parks in turn fired the ball at Snyder on first.
'Third take's the winner,' E.J. announced when Brooke called the session a wrap.
'Yes.' Unconsciously, she rubbed the back of her neck.
'He shouldn't have even caught it,' E.J. went on, watching Brooke as he began to load his equipment. 'He seems to excel at doing the impossible,' she murmured.
'Headache?'
'What?' Glancing down, she found E.J. watching her steadily. 'It's nothing.' Annoyed, she dropped her hand. Parks was already in a conference on the mound with his two teammates. He had his glove hand on his hip, grinning at Snyder's newest concept for a practical joke. 'It's nothing,' Brooke repeated in a mutter, reaching for one of the sodas in the ice chest.
It had to be nothing, she told herself as she tipped the bottle and drank deeply. Whatever was rolling around inside her was just a product of fatigue after a long day's work. She needed aspirin, a decent meal and eight hours' sleep. She needed to stay away from Parks.
The minute the thought entered her head, Brooke was infuriated. He has nothing to do with it, she told herself fiercely. I'm tired, I've been working too hard, I've- She caught E.J.'s speculative stare and bristled. 'Would you get out of here?'
His face cleared with a wide grin. 'On my way. I'll drop off the film at editing.'
With a curt nod, Brooke strode out to the mound to thank Snyder and Kinjinsky. She heard the tail of Snyder's brainstorm, something about frogs in the bullpen, before Parks turned to her.
'How'd it go?'
'Very well.' Heat was running along her skin now, too physical, too tangible. She gave her attention to his teammates. 'I want to thank both of you. Without your help, it never would have gone so smoothly.'
Snyder leaned his elbow on Kinjinsky's shoulder. 'Just keep me in mind when you want something more than a pretty face in one of these commercials.' 'I'll do that, George.'
Parks waited through the rest of the small talk, adding comments easily though his concentration was all for Brooke. He waited until the ball players had wandered off toward the locker room before he took Brooke's chin in his hand. Closely, patiently, he examined her. 'What's wrong?'
Brooke stepped away so that they were no longer touching. 'Why should anything be wrong?' she countered. Her nerves had gone off like bells in her head at his touch. 'It went very well. I think you'll be pleased with it when it's edited. With the two spots running throughout the series, we won't shoot another until November.' Turning, she noted that most of the crew had gone. She found she wanted to be away before she and Parks were completely alone. 'I have a few things to clear up back at the office, so-'
'Brooke.' Parks cut her off cleanly. 'Why are you upset?'
'I'm not upset!' Biting back fury, she whirled back to him. 'It's been a long day, I'm tired. That's all.'
Slowly, Parks shook his head. 'Try again.'
'Leave me alone,' she said in a trembling undertone that told her, and him, just how close she was to the
