CHAPTER 3

“We have to do something.”

          Heath’s voice echoed against the impersonal walls of the conference room. He sat in the padded seat to Timothy’s right and looked across at the two gentlemen he’d asked to join them, the station manager and their attorney.

“We agree. The entire show was dominated by calls about… Alissa for the third day in a row. Even though your ratings are up this can’t continue. If we take no action, there will be a backlash against the show eventually. Your listeners want and expect you to do something.”

“Something we all know I can’t do.”

          He leaned over the conference table and studied the two men opposite him.  They walked around, their mouths pulled down into perpetual frowns as if their every decision affected the balance of the world.

          Only, today their decisions affected him.

          Heath hadn’t felt this out of control in years. Yes, he had money, fast cars, and a house he owned outright and had remodeled with his own two hands. But it was his show that was his security and stability. And at the moment, that security felt more like a smoke screen than something solid.

          If the show ended, he had nothing to fall back on. The role of Dr. Lovejoy had landed in his lap. That kind of miracle wasn’t likely to happen twice. Which was why he normally kept a tight rein on his life and his show.

          But sometime in the past two days, he’d lost that control. With or without the agreement of the men before him, he’d do whatever he needed to get it back.

          He never again wanted to experience the sickening sense of helplessness he had at sixteen when he and his mother had been evicted. One random, unfair event which was her illness and inability to work, had cost them everything. He would never be that vulnerable again.

          Timothy chimed in.

“The listeners will eventually become less concerned and more forceful. And while I normally wouldn’t worry, we’ve just moved into several major markets. If our ratings begin to slip, we’re liable to lose them as fast as we gained them.”

          Heath’s stomach clenched for one brief moment at the thought before he pushed it away. That wasn’t going to happen.

“Tim is right. We need to do something, but I’ll be damned if I know what. I obviously can’t have sex with that girl!”

          The attorney’s face flushed hot before returning to its regular mottled red.

“Absolutely not! In fact, I’d advise against it.”

“What if… I took her out to dinner? A nice, impersonal meal. She said she hadn’t been on a date in a while. That would help in one area without moving us into dangerous territory.”

          Three sets of eyebrows shot straight up, but he watched as they all rolled the thought around and considered.

“It might work.”

          Timothy spoke first, his enthusiasm for the idea gaining ground.

“It would be a chance for her to meet you face-to-face… You could charm her, give her a T-shirt or something. At the same time, it would give us the opportunity to make a statement on air, something to the effect that we’re doing everything we can to help.”

          Looking questioningly at Nicholas, the attorney, Heath waited. The man spoke slowly, weighing things out as he went.

“We’d need to keep the details from your listeners. A simple announcement that you heard their concerns and that we’re getting Alissa the help she needs. For her protection, you can’t reveal specifics, but want to assure everyone that you and the station are committed to helping this bright young woman through a traumatic experience.”

          Despite having made the suggestion, Heath wasn’t entirely convinced it was the best idea. In fact, he wasn’t exactly sure where it had come from…

          Certainly, he’d taken female listeners to dinner before. More than he cared to count over the past five years actually. At first, he’d enjoyed the attention Dr. Lovejoy received from the female population. He’d wanted sex, and the women had wanted a brush with fame.

          Everyone had walked away satisfied.

          But lately, satisfaction hadn’t been enough. Obviously, this would be different. He wouldn’t expect sex when the night was done, and he would make it clear to Alissa that it wasn’t his intention, for her sake, as well as his.

          Heath turned the idea over one more time, examining it for pitfalls. If eating a simple meal with her allowed him to lose the sense of guilt he’d been fighting for the past few days, got his audience off his back, and helped Alissa, well, then maybe it would be worth a few hours out of his life.

          The station manager jumped in as devil’s advocate.

“I was wondering… Couldn’t we simply say that without actually doing anything? I mean, we did offer her information on therapists.”

          The attorney countered immediately.

“Certainly, if we could guarantee Alissa won’t come forward to discredit the statement. If that happened, the show and the station would look worse than you already do.”

          Heath pushed up from the table, walked to the window, and looked at Seattle’s Space Needle. Ruffling a hand through his hair, he could feel the tight pinch of a headache coming on.

“We don’t know how to get in touch with her, that’s certainly a problem.”

          Papers rustled behind his back before Heath talked again.

“We had her call-in number traced. We have her real name, address, and phone number.”

          Heath turned and stared at the station manager before moving his gaze to the attorney.

“What? Is that even legal?”

          Nicholas shifted in his chair but met Heath’s ice-blue stare.

“It’s a bit… gray, but nothing that could land anyone in jail.”

“Isn’t that a relief…”

          Heath narrowed his eyes, boring holes into the other man.

“You should do it, Heath. It’s the best way out of this. One night… and it’s over. Charm the pan…”

          Timothy stalled and cleared his throat.

“Charm her a little. Just another day in the office for Dr. Lovejoy.”

          The impish grin he gave rubbed Heath the wrong way. But whatever Timothy’s faults, and they were many, the man did have his back when it mattered. At the moment, he was making it difficult to remember that but…

          Taking Alissa out for a nice dinner would be simple for Dr. Lovejoy.

          Heath on the other hand… wasn’t convinced. She’d expect him to be on, they all did.

          Smooth, sexy, sophisticated.

          Intelligent.

          Funny.

          Perfect...

          Most women wanted everything from a man. Unfortunately, he’d done his job so well that they all seemed to think he could give that to them. He was tired of trying. Tired of pretending that the persona he’d built was real.

          Just one night out and he’ll be off the hook.

“Okay, I’ll call her. But if she doesn’t want to do this, we all agree to issue a statement on air, anyway.”

“Agreed.”

          Heath took the paper Nick held out to him and glanced down at the neat black ink against the white page.

“Rowena Killian.”

          He liked that much better than Alissa.

                                         *****

          Rowena walked into her apartment, threw her keys onto the hall table, and hung her purse and briefcase on the coat rack. Walking into the silent kitchen, she couldn’t hold back a sigh. Her head pounded, her shoulders slumped and a brick seemed to have lodged at the base of her spine.

          She knew stress, tension, and exhaustion were responsible for her weary state. It had been four days since that damn phone call. For the past three nights, she’d turned on Dr. Lovejoy only to hear his show become a heated discussion of her life and what he should do to help her.

          Her hours at work hadn’t even been safe. Every time she’d tried to add up a string of numbers today someone had popped their head into her cubicle to gossip about ‘Alissa’.

          Her so-called best friend hadn’t been much better. Summer had teased and admonished, going so far as to try to sweet-talk her into a double date. After hours of frustration, Rowena had snapped at her.

          And felt guilty for it afterward.

          But the frustration and anger hadn’t lasted long. It was hard to keep her bad mood when Summer was around. She was always so… cheerful. Or rather, that’s what she showed the world.

          Even Rowena hadn’t realized that the brightness and light Summer seemed surrounded with was a facade. Not until it had slipped. She’d truly known they were friends the night Summer had broken down and allowed her to see the emotions she buried deep inside.

          That same night, Rowena opened up and shared her own deepest secret. She’d never regretted the action or the trust she’d placed in the other woman. At the moment, however, she was seriously regretting sharing that secret with the world, even if she had used an alias.

          Rowena couldn’t believe it was happening all over again. She’d moved to Seattle to get away from this kind of minute dissection of her life and choices. She’d spent years defending her actions to newspapers, TV stations, radio shows, her lawyers, and the judge, not to mention the jury.

          The job offer from ‘Stone Tech’ had provided her with a clean start, the chance to lose herself in the city crowds and forget the trauma everyone at home remembered when they looked at her.

          And with one five-minute phone conversation, she’d inadvertently opened herself up to it all over again. The one saving grace was that the city was discussing Alissa’s life, not hers.

          Rowena wondered how long that would last. Reporters had a way of digging up details, especially the ones you thought were safe and secret. Unfortunately, the only thing Rowena could do was wait and hope the interest died down soon. Doing anything else would just draw attention to herself.

          She’d gone in to work this morning hoping to bury herself in paperwork. It hadn’t worked… She’d completely screwed up the monthly sales report and it had taken all afternoon to rework it.

          Rowena had become an accountant because she loved numbers because they followed hard-and-fast rules that never changed. Today she wasn’t so smitten with them or her job.

          If only people hadn’t kept interrupting her.

          If only she’d been able to concentrate on the numbers instead of Dr. Lovejoy…

          There was no escape. She kept telling herself that the interest in Alissa would die down eventually, that something else would happen to catch everyone’s attention.

          At the moment, that wasn’t very comforting. But a hot bath, a good book, and a glass of wine would. And maybe some salted caramel brownies.

          Comfort and solitude at its finest!

          She’d pay for it tomorrow at the gym, but it would be so worth it.

          Opening her fridge, Rowena pulled out the half-empty tray and grabbed a knife. With a hip bump, she closed the kitchen drawer and headed into the bathroom to start her night of relaxation.

          Pouring the wine, picking out her book, and turning on some soft music all helped her settle. Rowena slipped into the hot water with an appreciative sigh. The last of the stress that had built inside melted away with the rising steam.