Free Turn It Up by Inez Kelley

callers, what do you do?’”
    “Sit and stare at Honey and try to keep the drool off the control panel.”
    Charlie laughed and flipped through the emails. “He’s not lying, folks. Mainly, we joke around, occasionally sneaking in a verbal quickie in between calls. Okay, I’m skipping out of turn here but too bad, this one’s too good to pass up. It’s all for you, Doc, so pay attention.
    “Beastiegirl writes in saying, ‘Dear Doc, Your voice sends shivers down my spine and one guess where those shivers stop!’” Knowing exactly what the writer meant, Charlie let her lips curve into a teasing grin. “‘So give me a little fuel for my fantasies. Boxers or briefs?’ Now, I know this one but I’m going to make Doc answer. Give Beastiegirl a shiver, Doc, enlighten her as to your clothing preference.”
    Lips twitching and cheeks shining, Bastian shook his head. “Hi, Beastiegirl. Mostly plain cotton boxers, hope that helps. What type of underwear do you wear, Honey?”
    “Who says I wear any? Last email. Your turn.”
    Rather than reach for the stack, Bastian pulled a single sheet of paper from beside his laptop. He didn’t look in her direction but she saw the determination in his eyes.
    “We’ve gotten this question a time or two, but I think now’s the time to revisit it. Lady Lumps writes, ‘Dear Doc and Honey, my husband and I listen to every show. You two have such chemistry it’s actually caused a bit of an argument between us. I say you two are married, he swears you’re not. So who is right? We have an hour-long massage riding on the answer.’”
    Trepidation slithered up Charlie’s spine as Bastian turned his face to hers. His words were directed to the mike but aimed at her soul.
    “Sorry, lady, your husband’s right. We’re not married. But not because I don’t want to be. I love Honey. I asked her to marry me and she told me no. So I’m asking the listeners for help. How can an uptight sawbones convince a Honeypot to marry him? Tell me some way to win her heart, to show her sex might make the world go ’round but love is what keeps it centered. She’s the center of my world. Help me make her Mrs. Doc.”
    In all the years she’d known him, he’d never played so dirty. Her temples throbbed in a sudden headache, and her vision tapered until he existed only in the narrowest slits of her eyes. “Tell me you didn’t just do that.”
    “I did it and I meant it. I want to marry you. And I need all the help I can get.”
    Dead air, the bane of disc jockeys everywhere, reigned for several deafening seconds as her brain fried. The phone lines lit, blinking small squares in hazy yellow. In the control room, Justine was frantic, answering calls and tapping computer keys. Bastian didn’t drop his gaze, nor did she. She snapped her body back to the control console.
    “Nice little bombshell you dropped, Doc. But you left out half the story. You see, listeners, Doc’s suffering from a severe case of mistaken identity. He thinks he’s a broken ATM machine. He won’t put out.”
    A tawny head crashed into his hands, just visible from the corner of her gaze. It didn’t slow her impassioned speech.
    “Hard to imagine, but Dr. Hot is running cold in the bedroom. So you tell me, lovers, what’s the best way to get the good doctor to drop his pants and cough it up? Because this Honeypot doesn’t buy a car she hasn’t test-driven.”
    “Touché.” Unbridled laughter flavored his tone as his face creased in humor. “So it’s an on-air battle. Who will say yes first?”
    “You have a male appendage, Doc. All I have to do is get naked. You’ll be screaming yes before the next show.”
    “Don’t count on it, Honey. I made it through Neuroanatomy and Organic Chemistry. I can handle anything you want to dish out.”
    A flicker of enjoyment skittered through her stomach, and Charlie fought a smile. Fighting with Bastian was almost as much fun as kissing him. But he wasn’t getting off