Love on the Air by Sierra Donovan Read Free Book Online Page A

plain-strange. "Overnight listeners are a
different breed. They're not really... representative of
our main audience."
    "So what are overnights for?" She didn't quite hide
the frustration in her voice, but it was a good try.
    He looked at the pretty redhead perched on the chair
in front of him. No wonder he'd avoided her. She was
a fascinating mix of determination and vulnerability.
He admired the determination, but the vulnerability
killed him.

    That wouldn't do. He collected his thoughts and
dealt the final blow.
    "Overnights? They're life support for the station,"
he answered flatly. "Radio is a twenty-four hour business, so we need a live body on the premises twentyfour hours a day. It's also a place where advertisers
can buy commercial time at inexpensive rates. And,
of course, if there's ever a fire or flood, we're the local
Emergency Alert station."
    "So I'm here in case of a disaster." Christie maintained eye contact, but her glassy look struck right at
the center of Rick's conscience. He'd been way too
blunt. There was a difference between being realistic
and being sadistic.
    Rick contemplated her steadily, and his voice softened. "No. It's also a place where talented newcomers
can sharpen their craft. Make all those beginner's mistakes in front of a smaller audience. It's a starting
point."
    Christie thought she was beginning to read his expression, and it looked suspiciously like compassion.
Just what she didn't want. She scraped up her remaining dignity and stood.
    "Okay," she said. "Fair enough." She faked a smile.
"It doesn't hurt to ask, right?"
    Rick stood, too. Another display of gentlemanly
manners. "No, it doesn't hurt to ask." He looked as if
he were going to say something more. For no good
reason, Christie flashed back to the way he'd steadied
her after their crash in the break room. Yet for the
most part, it seemed his mission in life was to cut her
off at the knees.

    He was talking again, something about not needing
to set the world on fire her first month. She didn't want
to hear it. All she wanted was to get out of there.
    She didn't need anyone to feel sorry for her. She
could do it herself, thank you very much. She hurried
out to find a place where she could do just that, in
private.
    Rick returned to the production room to record the
commercial he'd been too tongue-tied to finish after
his collision with Christie. This time he did it in one
take, but his mind was elsewhere.
    He'd given his troublesome rookie her first disappointment. Well, at least she hadn't taken it out on
him, although he could tell she'd been tempted. She'd
put a good face on, the way professionals were supposed to do. And he'd given her the right answer, the
same answer he would have given any other jock. He
wasn't any harder on Christie than he was on anyone
else.
    Was he?
    Hard to say. No one else had approached him about
anything similar. Rob had his requests and dedications. Yvonne did a noon feature on Fridays, one hour
that he let her have free rein with. Of course, Yvonne
had more experience.
    Okay, so Christie's idea, kept within limits,
wouldn't have hurt anything. Major-market stations
weren't as flexible as this one. He'd given her a realistic idea of what she could expect somewhere else.
    He loaded the commercial into the computer and
went back to his office for his jacket. Picking it up from the back of his chair, he looked up to see Christie
framed in the doorway. If it was possible, she looked
more crestfallen than she had a few minutes ago.

    She said, "Do you have jumper cables?"

     

Rick almost laughed. He understood the look on
Christie's face perfectly. It was such a clear-cut case
of adding insult to injury.
    "I tried Rob first," she added.
    I'm sure you did, he thought. "Wouldn't have
worked anyway. I don't think we have a song long
enough for him to get clear over to the parking structure and jump a car." Rick picked up his keys. "It's
okay, I've got