She trembled and pulled the old afghan around her shoulders, cuddling up on her couch. Noodle lay at her feet, the dog's body heat warming Micki's toes from the air-conditioning blowing around her.

Tears fell freely and she wiped them with the knitted blanket, ignoring the knocking at the door, waiting for the person to go away. She shut her eyes, only to hear the rattling of a key chain and see the door open wide.

"Micki?" Sophie walked inside and slammed the door behind her. "As soon as I heard you bailed on your afternoon appointment, I knew something was wrong. What's going on?" Her sister walked over to the couch and knelt by Micki's side.

She didn't feel like talking about it so she remained silent.

"It's Damian, isn't it?' Sophie asked. "You've refused to talk about him ever since the day I sent him to find you in the park."

"It's Damian," she said, agreeing to the obvious.

Her sister nudged her in the side. "Come on, Mick. You're not going to feel better if you don't open up and talk about it."

Micki eyed Sophie knowingly. "You mean you're not going to feel better until I talk about it." Resigned, she pushed herself up against the armrest and faced her sister.

Sophie slid into the empty space on the sofa. "Same thing."

Even now, the words wouldn't come any easier. "Damian wanted to talk about us." She laid her chin on her bent knees and met Sophie's gaze. "He said he loves me.”

Her sister's eyes opened wide. "That's wonderful! It's everything you dreamed of! So why have you been moping around like you lost your best friend?" Sophie leaned back and really looked at Micki for the first time. "And why are you crying now? I'm really confused. You love him, too, yes?"

"Yes." Micki nodded. "But I still sent him on his way."

"I thought it was something like that, but what I don't get is why?"

"I have my reasons." Micki went on to list the excuses she'd fed Damian. Some of them, like the relief he'd feel when the reality of not being a father set in, she truly believed. Others, like him being used to having her around, she didn't buy for a minute. Because she loved him, too, and it wasn't that she'd gotten used to having him by her side. She enjoyed it. She wanted it forever. But she didn't believe it would last.

Sophie rose to her feet and planted her hands on the hips of her expensive suit jacket. "I could kill you! Who pushes away a good, kind, decent, sexy man with a bunch of bullshit excuses?"

From her tone and uncharacteristic use of foul language, Micki knew her sister's rant was just beginning and she hoped to head it off. "I guess the obvious answer is, I do. Now will you please respect my decision and leave me alone?"

"Let me ask you something."

"It's not like I have a choice, is it?"

Sophie shot her a scowl. "You came to me and asked if I'd help you make yourself over. I did. You specifically hoped to land Damian Fuller. You did. And now that you have him exactly where you want him, you push him away. I simply don't understand, so you're going to have to explain it to me." She waved her arms in a dramatic gesture that had Micki ducking to avoid being whacked in the head.

She rubbed her burning eyes and groaned. There was no way she'd get her sister to go away and leave her in peace without a long-winded talk.

"Millions of women would kill to have Damian say he loved them-" Sophie continued.

"Do you really want to know why I pushed him away?" Micki cut in. "Fine, I'll tell you. It's exactly what you said. It's because there's no way Damian Fuller wants a woman like me when he could have any woman just by snapping his ringers," she yelled, her cheeks hot at the embarrassing admission.

Sophie pulled her into a tight, sisterly hug. "Oh, Micki! You are so wrong about yourself. So wrong."

Micki's throat grew tight. "Have you seen the women he usually dates?"

"The ones like Carole with fake boobs and no morals? The ones who'd try and pass a kid off as his when she knew there was a fifty percent chance he wasn't the father? That kind of woman? Yeah, I can see why Damian would choose someone like that over you," Sophie said wryly. She grabbed Micki's hands. "He'd be lucky to have you. Why can't you see that?"

"Because I'm scared."

"Then get unscared and do it fast. Otherwise you'll make the same mistake Uncle Yank did."

Micki glanced at her sister. "It's not that easy."

"No, it isn't. But what good is your makeover if you're still the same insecure person on the inside?" Sophie shook her head. "And that's not you. You're the woman who can handle a locker room full of men with a shrill whistle. You can run a huge PR event and have everyone in the room kissing your ass. Come on! You're going to let the best thing that ever happened to you walk away because you're afraid to take a chance?"

Micki drew a deep breath and sought to explain. “I’ve never had to take a real chance before. I always had Uncle Yank and Annabelle to lean on. Lately you've had my back. With Damian it's like walking a tightrope with nobody to catch me," she said, expressing her greatest fear.

"Well then jump and trust in him," Sophie said, frustrated.

"Easy for you to say."

Sophie shrugged. "Maybe you'll get the opportunity to throw my advice back at me one day. In the meantime, you're my sister, I love you and I'd hate to see you miss an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Micki rubbed her bare arms and wondered if she had the faith in herself Sophie thought she should have.

Her phone rang and she picked it up. "Hello?" She listened to her uncle and then Lola and pure happiness filled her at the news.

She hung up and turned to her sister. "Uncle Yank and Lola are engaged," she said amazed.

"Wow. Hell hath officially frozen over!"

Micki laughed. "Yeah. What do you know?"

Sophie shook her head, a wide smile on her face. "I know I've just seen one miracle. Now it's time for another."

"I need time, Sophie." Tune to sort through her emotions and make sure she could handle any possibility where Damian was concerned. Time to be sure she could believe in her ability to hold on to Damian.

"Well don't take too long. Now that he's announcing his retirement, he'll have more free time on his hands than he knows what to do with. And a guy like Damian Fuller won't stay unattached forever."

DAMIAN WAITED UNTIL A DAY OFF to clean out his locker. A travel day when nobody would be around. The day after he announced his retirement to the world. With Sophie acting as his publicist, and Yank, his coach and the Renegades owners by his side, Damian had held a press conference at the stadium. The timing had been perfect. Coming right after the game when the Renegades clinched a place in the postseason, Damian Fuller announced his permanent leave from the game he loved.

The Renegades retired his number, twenty-two, which would hang on a stadium wall in honor of his career. He was proud, he was sad, and though he had a broadcasting job waiting for him beginning with the play-offs, he still felt at loose ends. A trip to the island was just what he needed to get his head back on straight, Damian thought.

Outside it rained, a torrential summer soaking that darkened the sky and matched his mood as he began pulling mementos out of his locker. From a distance, heard the familiar sound of the creaking locker-room doors Swinging open wide. Annoyance shot through him. He'd asked the equipment manager to make sure nobody bothered him so he could take me time to empty his locker in peace.

If they'd let a reporter in…He shook his head and returned to his job, removing one thing at a time,from baseballs to old jocks, to sunscreen and bubble gum that'd turned hard a long time ago. He'd collected a lot of crap, Damian thought.

"I thought I'd find you here."

"Micki?" At the sound of her voice, Damian turned around fast.

"Surprise," she said somewhat sheepishly.

"It sure is." He hadn't seen her in weeks nor had he heard from her since she'd turned him down back in Central Park.

He'd spent the past few weeks not only arranging his future but trying to put Micki in his past. Now she was here on the second most difficult day of his life and, though a part of him welcomed her, another part immediately erected barriers a mile high. No way would he let her slice his heart out again.

He leaned against the metal bank of lockers and stared. He wasn't about to make this easy for her-no matter how good she looked in a short pink skirt and tie-dyed tank under a white top that fell over her shoulders in the old Flashdance style. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair spread over her shoulders in a tangled mass of curls. She was more appealing than she had a right to be, all things considered,

"So what brings you by the locker room? Looking for a jock to represent now that you have a free slot in your schedule? You ought to know the team's on the road." He winced at his callous tone and deliberate sarcasm. Obviously he was more hurt and angry than he'd wanted to admit, even to himself.

Her eyes flashed with hurt. "That was mean."

He cleared his throat. "Yeah."

"But not entirely uncalled for." She pursed her lips in a thin line. "I came here to talk."

She piqued his curiosity. "It's not the most comfortable place but have a seat." He gestured to the wooden bench he'd spent years using to lace his shoes. She lowered herself to the bench and he joined her.

"I caught the press conference yesterday," she said. "I'm not sure what to say first. I'm sorry it happened so soon and at the same time I was really proud of the way you handled yourself with the media. I know it wasn't easy."

Her soft, approving gaze warmed his heart. "It wasn't. Want to know why I was able to do it?"

She nodded.

"Because you told me I could handle it. Just like you told me I could handle being a father. When you say it, I'm able to believe."

"I'm glad. At least I've been good for something other than ego bashing," she said wryly. She folded one leg beneath her. "Seriously, watching you was impressive. You faced the very thing you feared most You stood up to your fear of losing baseball and you answered every reporter's question without flinching.”

He shrugged. "Years of training, I guess."

"Did you hear that Uncle Yank and Lola got engaged?" she asked, an excited grin lighting up her face.

"I sure did." He didn't see any point in mentioning he and Yank had agreed to go for it at the same time. "I'm glad he hit a home run."

She laughed. "Love the baseball analogy. To me, he's an example of another person facing his fears."

Damian wasn't in a talkative mood and he had a lot on his mind. Small talk with a woman he wanted and couldn't have wasn't his idea of a good time.

He met her gaze with a serious one of his own. "Micki, what do you want from me?"

"I want to do what you and Uncle Yank did. I want to face my fears." She paused. "When you and I got together that first time, I knew the rules. I did. I admit at the time I hoped I'd be that one woman who caused you to change your mind, the one you'd fall in love with, you know? I knew it was a ridiculous wish. I mean how many women in your life thought the same thing?"

Damian didn't speak. He didn't move, he didn't breathe, afraid that somehow he'd mess up and she'd walk out and he'd never hear what else she had to say. He didn't know how this was going to end, but he didn't want to miss a second of what came before it did. Because she hadbeen the one special woman who'd changed his mind and then she'd bolted on him anyway.

Micki drew a steadying breath. "I guess I never thought my fantasy had much of a chance of becoming reality because when it did, I panicked."

"You ran."

She nodded. "Afraid to face my fears."

She was on the edge, Damian realized. She could still explain and refuse to take a chance on them or she could jump off that cliff and see if he would catch her. He needed her to believe he'd be waiting when she made the leap.

He reached out and grasped her hand, ignoring the slight pain in his wrist and focusing solely on Micki. On keeping her right here with him and convincing her that this was where she belonged.

"What exactly are you afraid of?" he asked. "Because God knows if anyone has experience in avoiding commitment and relationships and being afraid of putting himself out there, it's me."

She gave him her bravest smile. "But you have a lifetime's experience of going out there every day in front of a crowd and facing possible defeat. It may have taken a pregnancy scare to show you what you really wanted in life, but once you realized, you went after it the same way you went after your career. With your whole heart. And I broke it in return." She glanced away.