I placed my plate in the sink and ran some water over it. “I hate to eat and run, but—”
“Don’t be silly. You go and get that job.” Grandma Joyce gave me a thumbs-up, which made me smile. “They know a good thing when they see it. Speaking of which, I am so happy that you and Zachary aren’t together anymore. He wasn’t the one for you.”
I pulled away from her hug, surprised. “I thought you liked him.”
“Nahhh. I never saw a spark with you two. It was almost like you were friends. And you never held hands, and that just seemed odd to me! Who doesn’t like to hold hands? I want a man who’s not afraid to show his feelings. Take me in your arms and kiss me, you big stud!”
I laughed.
“Or at least grab my hand and hold it like you mean it. Anyway, Zachary wasn’t for you, end of story.” She hugged me and then pulled away, keeping both hands on my shoulders. “Call me later after they offer you the job.”
I grabbed my purse and pulled the strap over my shoulder. “Will do.”
Grandma Joyce was always positive and caring—it wasn’t a surprise she was my best friend.
Thirty minutes later, I walked into the radio station, surprised how much bigger and fancier it was compared to the one I used to work for.
The receptionist smiled. “Good morning.”
I gave her a smile back. “Good morning. I’m here to see Kyle Jacobs.”
“Lori Martin, right?”
I nodded, surprised. “Yes . . .”
She stood and held her hand over the counter, shaking my hand enthusiastically. “I loved your show.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m Debbie, by the way. If you ever need anything at all, or need to know something, just ask. Oh . . .” She looked around to make sure nobody was listening and leaned in. “And let me tell you, your boyfriend didn’t deserve you.”
I hesitated. “Oh, you heard about that?”
“Of course! You’re already legendary around here.” She pumped her fist in the air. “Love stinks!” She laughed and glanced toward the front door. “It’s pretty quiet at the moment, so I can take you back to Kyle’s office.”
“Sounds great. Thank you.”
I followed Debbie down the hallway and into an enormous open area with monitors of all sizes on every wall and on every desk. There must have been over a hundred of them.
I froze. “Holy guacamole.” I scanned the room from one side to the other, in awe of the newsroom. “I can’t believe this.” I eyed the six giant monitors on one particular wall, each of them showing traffic congestion on the busiest sections of San Diego freeways.
The vibe for a news-talk radio station was much more serious than a music station.
Quieter.
Everyone looked serious, monitoring what was on one of the screens, typing on the computer, or talking on the phone.
Debbie smiled proudly, gesturing around. “We’ve got news, sports, and traffic anchors over there. Then there are the writers, editors, production assistants, and producers.” She pointed to the three offices on the other side. “And the managers over there.” She smiled. “Impressive, huh?”
I nodded. “Absolutely.” I pointed to a row of cubicles with people wearing headphones. “What are they doing over there?”
“Monitoring the police scanner, feeds from the national network, other stations, helicopter and airplane feeds for fires and police chases. Anything newsworthy.”
She pointed to the other end of the newsroom. “Just right through there to Kyle’s office. Follow me.” We got to Kyle’s office and Debbie peeked her head inside. “Kyle, Lori Martin is here.”
A man who looked like a college freshman turned around and waved me in. “Come on in, Lori.” I stepped inside his office and he held out his hand. “I’m Kyle. Thanks for coming down on such short notice.”
“My pleasure.”
Kyle gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Grab a seat.”
“Thank you.” I sat down and glanced around his office at the awards on the walls. It was very impressive for someone who was so young.
Kyle typed something on his laptop and then slapped it shut. “Can you start tomorrow?”
I laughed. “You’re joking, right?”
“Not at all.”
I thought about it, finding it odd that he wasn’t going to interview me. “You don’t have any questions for me or want to interview me?”
Kyle thought about it. “No, not really. I just wanted to meet you in person—it’s a formality, more than anything. And of course you’ll need to fill out some paperwork for Human Resources. But I already know everything I need to know about you, especially that you’ve been number one in your time slot since you started almost ten years ago.”
“And that my boyfriend broke up with me live on the air.”
He held up his index finger. “That wouldn’t have gotten you fired if you were working here.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Not even if a caller said something bad about one of your top advertisers?”
What was I doing?
Trying to talk him out of hiring me?
I guess I was just surprised that he wanted to hire me on the spot, without an interview.
Kyle shook his head. “As long as it wasn’t coming out of your mouth, you would’ve been fine and I would’ve fixed it. You wouldn’t believe some of the things that come out of Dr. Tough Love’s mouth, but it’s entertainment. His listeners eat it up.”
I studied Kyle for a moment. “Then why are you letting him go?”
He creased his eyebrows. “Who? Dr. Tough Love?”
I nodded.
Kyle stared at me. “He’s not going anywhere. Who told you he was leaving?”
“Well . . . I just assumed he was gone since you had a morning show opening.”
“Well, there is an opening, but as his cohost.”
I froze. “What?”
“Speak of the devil . . .” Kyle gestured toward the door behind me. “Ben Baxter, meet Lori Martin, your new cohost.”
I twisted around so fast I was surprised I didn’t get a case of vertigo.
Ben was frozen in the doorway, staring at me. “Please tell me this is a joke.”
I crossed my arms. “I was just about to say the exact same thing.”
Chapter Five
BEN
A nightmare was unfolding right before my eyes. It was bad enough the radio station thought I needed a sidekick to get the ratings back up, but the last person in the world I would’ve chosen was the one sitting in front of me.
Lori Martin.
The queen of silly love songs.
What were the chances that she was the same woman I had bought a mocha for? I would have poured a bucket of ice water over anyone’s head if they had told me it was destiny.
It was a nightmare.
I snapped out of my temporary coma and looked her square in the eyes. “No offense, but this isn’t happening.”
Lori stood up and took a step toward me, confident, crossing her arms. “No offense, but I agree with you. Not happening. And don’t think that I didn’t hear you call me a dog on the radio this morning.”