He touched her face. "You're wrong. There are a thousand places I could be. I'm here. With you."

She liked how that sounded. In the past, she'd always avoided making the effort. Maybe it was time to change that.

"I'll stay," she whispered.

"I'm glad."


* * *

DR. GRAYSON WAS a friendly woman who listened as Lori told her sad tale of being unable to wear contacts.

"How long has it been since you tried?" the doctor asked. "The new soft lenses are mostly water and many of my patients don't feel them at all."

"It's been about five years," Lori said. "Maybe longer."

"Do you want to try a pair now?"

Lori really didn't but somehow her makeover seemed incomplete. Besides, as spineless as it made her, her recent encounter with Reid had inspired her to go to the next level, or at least talk about it.

Dr. Grayson pulled out a plastic container of contacts. "You're a perfect candidate for Lasik," she said. "If that interests you."

Lori was too caught up in watching the doctor put liquid onto a seemingly innocent piece of flexible plastic to do more than murmur, "I'm not wild about the idea."

She swallowed hard, then tried to relax as the contact got closer and closer to her eye. When it was nearly touching, she flinched.

Dr. Grayson chuckled. "This goes better if you leave your eye open. Do you want to try putting it in yourself?"

"Not even for money."

"Okay. Deep breath. Here we go."

The contact slipped onto her eye. Lori could instantly see better out of that one eye, which was kind of nice. Maybe this wasn't so bad. Maybe she'd overreacted to the whole contact lenses issue. Then she blinked.

It was like having a boulder in her eye. Pain shot through to the back of head and tears poured down her cheek.

"Get it out, get it out," she said quickly.

"Okay. Look up. Keep your eye open."

Then it was gone. Dr. Grayson handed her a tissue. "So maybe contacts aren't for you."

"Maybe not."

"There are a lot of great styles in glasses."

Lori blinked several times to clear the tears, then looked down at her glasses. Maybe it was time to admit defeat.

Five minutes later she walked out into the waiting room. Madeline stood up.

"You're not wearing contacts."

"I'm not a good candidate."

"Oh. Okay. Now what?"

Lori pulled the appointment card out of her back pocket and tried not to hyperventilate.

"Now I get my corneas burned off by a stupid laser."


* * *

A TRUTH OF BASEBALL IS that the pitcher is going to get hit by a few balls. Either throws that go wild or an unexpected low hit that flies right down the middle. Reid had taken his share of knocks and he remembered how each one hurt like hell. The ones that hit him in the gut had pushed the air out of his lungs.

He felt like that now- as if he'd been sucker punched. He wondered if he would ever catch his breath again. Sure he'd done the right thing, but damn.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Lori making Gloria's lunch. She turned, smiled, then put down the knife she'd been using and hurried over to him.

"What's wrong? Do you feel okay? Are you sick?"

"I'm good."

"You look awful." She touched his forehead. "You don't have a temperature, but you're a little pale."

"I'm fine. Just getting used to the fact that I gave away one hundred and twenty-five million dollars."

Her eyes widened. "You did what?"

"Gave it away. I'm starting a foundation. Its mission is to help get kids involved with sports. We'll give away equipment, build play fields, send kids to camp, that sort of thing. At least that's what we're working out right now. The details."

Lori touched his arm. "Impressive. That's a lot of money."

"I'm just getting that."

She smiled. "So are you poor now? Do you have to get a job?"

"I'm trying to do the right thing, but I'm not crazy. I have money left. Besides, I have a job. I've quit the sports bar and now I'll be working at the foundation."

"Running it?"

"No. I'm hiring experts for that. I'm going to be the front man. I was talking to Cal about it. I want to do something. Those letters…" He shook his head. "They haunt me."

She squeezed his arm. "It wasn't your fault."

"It was my picture and fake signature that got sent to those kids. When I think of how disappointed they must have been…" He didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't seem to stop.

"I don't want it to happen again," he said firmly. "I'm going to make sure I get it right. I'm a celebrity of sorts. I can use that. I'll go out there and meet people. I'll get other donations, bring focus to important causes. Who knows- maybe I can even make a difference."

Even saying the words felt uncomfortable. While he'd tried to be a decent guy, he'd really only ever cared about himself and his family. Taking on the world's troubles seemed daunting. So he would start small. One problem at a time.

"You'll be great," she said. "Maybe this was your destiny all along. Maybe you were supposed to end up here, doing this kind of work."

He wasn't a big believer in destiny, but maybe she was right. But if all this was his destiny, what did that make her?

He stared into Lori's eyes, liking the way the colors swirled together. She was so beautiful, he thought. Beautiful and bossy and sexy as hell.

He dropped his gaze to her mouth and thought about kissing her. Kissing Lori was a great way to spend a day. Of course there was the issue of Gloria, and Lori being in the middle of preparing lunch, but…

He stared more intently. Something was different. Something was…

"You're not wearing your glasses," he said.

She nodded, her mouth pulling into a slight smile. "I know."

"Contacts?"

"We're not compatible."

"Then?"

"Lasik surgery."

He winced. "I thought you were never going to do that."

"I changed my mind. It wasn't bad at all. They gave me a tranquilizer and I let them burn away. The whole thing took about fifteen minutes. There isn't any downtime at all. Madeline even watched."

He grimaced. "Eye surgery? No, thanks. When did you have this done?"

"Yesterday."

"And you're okay?"

"I'm great. I can see perfectly." Her smile broadened. "It's kind of a miracle. And no more glasses."

He sensed he was on dangerous territory. If he said or did the wrong thing, he could really piss her off.

"I'm glad you're happy," he said carefully. "You looked great before and you look great now."

"You're so politically correct."

"I don't want you to beat me."

She laughed. "When have I ever beaten you?"

"You were very disapproving when we first met."

"I thought you were useless."

"Plus you were wildly attracted to me and you hated that."

He'd been teasing and expected her to deny his statement. Instead she looked away. "I need to finish Gloria's lunch."

"Lori?"

She shrugged. "It was stupid, but, yes, I did kind of have a crush on you. I hated that I did. Men like you never notice women like me."

"All evidence to the contrary," he said. He wanted to jump up and down and yell that Lori liked him, but he had a reputation for being cool, so he didn't.

"If you hadn't had to hang out here, nothing would have happened," she said.

"My loss."

She looked at him, her eyes wide. So many emotions raced across her face, he couldn't read any one of them.

"I don't know how to deal with you," she admitted.

"Why do I have to be dealt with?"

She sighed. "I don't know what's going on. We're not dating. We're friends, I guess. It's confusing. I'm confused."

"Me, too." He kissed her.

He liked her. He liked being with her. He wanted to keep being with her. But if she was asking him to define what they had, he was the wrong guy.

"I have something to ask you," he said. "Something important."

"Okay."

"I want you to think it through before you answer."

"You're making me nervous."

"No reason to be. Will you be on the board of directors for my foundation?"

She looked as stunned as if he'd just transformed into a cartoon character.

"What? I don't know anything about being on a board. I don't know anything about sports or charity work. Reid, you don't have to do this. Seriously."

"It's not about experience," he said. "You don't have to worry about that. The other members of the board are pros at this sort of thing. But I want you on the board as well. You won't let me get away with any crap. I trust you to kick my ass when I need it. You're the most down-to-earth person I know. You'll keep me and the foundation grounded. It's only a few hours a month. You'll get paid for your time, but it's not big bucks."

Lori couldn't believe what he was saying. Reid actually wanted her to serve on an advisory board for a new foundation funded by a hundred and twenty-five million dollars? Her?

"That's kind of a long-term commitment," she said. "If things don't go well between us, you'd be stuck with me."

"I'm good with that. No matter how much I pissed you off personally, you'd never mess with the foundation."

She wouldn't, of course, but she appreciated that he knew it, too.

Making a difference had a lot of appeal. Who wouldn't enjoy being in that position? It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, compliments of a man she'd once thought of as having the emotional depth of a cookie sheet.

She walked into his embrace and hung on tight.

"I was wrong about you," she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder. "You're much more than a pretty face."

"I'm overwhelmed by your flattery."