Page 71 of 7 Days and 7 Nights

“And I was wondering, too.” The boy’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Is it true that you can go blind from too much...”

Olivia opened her mouth to answer, while Matt’s memory slipped backward again. He and Adam had been twelve when they discovered the joint marvels ofPlayboymagazine and their own anatomies. If that old wives’ tale had been true, he would have required a seeing-eye dog by the age of fifteen.

“How old did you say you were?” Olivia asked.

There was a telling pause while Jason evidently tried to figure out how many years to pad.

“Seventeen. I’m seventeen.”

“Right,” she said. “Well then...” Olivia tried once again to reassure her caller that his vision was safe, but suddenly Jason’s already urgent tone turned frantic.

“Sorry, I have to go.” And then, with all the anguish of adolescence, he wailed, “I think my mother’s coming.”

Olivia laughed. “Hang in there, Jason. I promise you what you’re experiencing is extremely normal. Everything will, uh, ultimately calm down.”

Still smiling, Olivia took the next call. And the next. And the one after that.

Matt’s own smile over her deft handling of the boy began to fade as he listened to his callers lap Olivia up like cream. They called in unprecedented numbers, pledged huge quantities of food, and then waited their turn to spill their guts, thanking her for her sage advice when she was done.

The very same men who had screamed for her blood when her advice interfered with their love lives now couldn’t wait to beg her advice. They were Benedict Arnolds the whole bunch of them, thought Matt. Put a pretty woman with a Ph.D. in front of them, and they fell all over themselves to share their most intimate secrets.

Or else they called to hit on her. Like Beau from Beaufort, South Carolina, who spent a nauseating amount of time explaining just how easy it would be to pop into the Mercedes and head on down to Atlanta. And who apparently had nothing more pressing to share than his lust for Olivia Moore.

“So, Dr. O.” Beau’s voice was Southern and smooth. “From what I can see on the live stream, you are looking lovely tonight. Are you feeling better?”

“I’m just fine,” Olivia drawled back, her voice like honey. “I think you could say I’ve recovered fully from what ailed me.” She shot Matt a “take that” kind of look. “Is there something you want to discuss with me?”

“Well, I’d rather talk over drinks and dinner.”

“All right, already.” Matt jumped up from the couch. “What is this,The Dating Game?”

Olivia ignored him. “Did you have a question, Beau? Or are you just trying to make my heart go pitter-pat?”

“I’d like to know if there’s something going on between you and Ransom. Because if there isn’t, I’d like to ask you out.”

“Olivia?” Matt strode over toward the control board, covering the floor in two angry strides. “Do you really think this is appropriate on-air behavior?”

Olivia spoke into the microphone, but her gaze stayed on Matt. “There is nothingimportantgoing on between my colleague and myself. But I don’t date listeners any more than I would date patients. That would be inappropriate behavior.”

“Well, damn,” said Beau as Olivia dumped his call. Her obvious lack of interest in the man cheered Matt considerably.

And so it went until well after midnight, Matt’s irritation growing with each fawning caller, his hackles rising with every flirtation and sexual innuendo. For a man who believed he didn’t have a jealous bone in his body, it was downright disconcerting.

At 1:45 AM Dawg called in. Olivia had been drinking coffee since midnight, but Matt could see the fatigue setting in. He had the strangest urge to lift her in his arms and tuck her into bed. It took him a full minute to pull himself out of that fantasy and into the conversation with her last caller of the night.

“Okay, Dawg. You’re on the air. I’ve been waiting to hear what’s happening with you and JoBeth.”

“Oh, lots of things are happening, and none of them are good.”

“Why do you say that?”

“JoBeth went out with her old boyfriend today—the one her parents thought walked on water.”

“And why does that bother you? When she told you she needed a commitment, you told her no. What’s the problem?”

“I love her, Dr. O. I told her that. I was very clear.”

“And?”

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