Free Love on the Air by Sierra Donovan Page B

that."
    The blue eyes got wider. "I've got a Wolfman, too,"
he said, reaching toward the floor for his backpack.
"And a mummy ..."
    Within moments, Christie was admiring a collection
of half a dozen miniature monsters. When she named
each one correctly, Jason seemed impressed. "So," she
said, "do you take these guys with you everywhere
you go?"
    Jason nodded. "I keep them on my nightstand at
home." He lowered his voice. "But I have to make
them face the other way before I go to sleep."
    It was hard to keep a straight face, but Christie
wouldn't make light of such a confession for the
world. "I don't blame you. Monsters are cool, but I
wouldn't want them staring at me at night, either."
    The shy grin he gave her in response was irresisti ble. Then the glass front door swung open, and Jason's
head snapped up.

    "Uncle Rick!" The boy hurtled off the couch, and
suddenly he was seven feet tall as Rick hoisted him
up into his arms.
    "Hey, bud!" Rick's grin was the most unreserved
she'd seen on him yet.
    And Christie felt like a heel. She stood up, watching
the two a moment longer. She should head straight to
the studio.
    "You got here early," Rick was saying. "What happened?"
    "Aunt Sylvia dropped me off on her lunch break.
Mom wanted to take a nap at Aunt Sylvia's. She said
it was a long drive, but I slept through most of it."
    Christie found herself mentally sketching possible
versions of the Fox family tree. Aunt Sylvia could be
Rick's brother's wife... Or his sister...
    Jason swung around in Rick's arms and pointed at
Christie. "She knows all about monsters. She knows
Frankenstein is the doctor's name!"
    "Pretty smart for a girl," Rick conceded. He looked
over at Christie. "Thanks for watching him."
    "We're renting a monster movie tonight," Jason announced. The quiet, subdued little boy was gone, replaced by an armload of squirms. He twisted back to
face Rick. "Can she come, too?"
    Out of the mouths of babes.
    Rick's eyes met hers, over Jason's shoulder, and
they shared a moment of awkward hesitation. Through the silence that hung in the air, Christie could have
sworn they were thinking the same thing.

    They had a six-year-old chaperone. What could be
safer?
    Rick gave her a slight nod, and she smiled. "I'll
bring the popcorn."

     

Christie rang the bell of Rick's apartment and
waited, her arm curled around a large bottle of cola.
After working just a few feet across from him for a
week, she shouldn't be nervous. It was no big deal.
They were just friends. Increasingly good friends, over
the past few days. But this was a new context, and
one she wasn't sure she was ready for.
    She didn't have long to prepare, because the door
swung open, and there he was.
    Not fair. He'd changed into jeans and a blue sweatshirt, the first time she'd seen him so casually dressed.
His smile was relaxed, his thick brown hair slightly
disheveled, and all traces of the boss were gone. It
was that easy for men. Throw on some comfortable
clothes, add an easy smile, and be transformed into
serious hugging material.
    Friends weren't supposed to look this good.

    "Come on in," he said, stepping back. "The pizza's
already here."
    "Hi," she said, holding out the bottle of soda between them.
    Rick took the bottle and closed the door. "Thanks."
Wait a minute. He'd shaved. In the past week, Christie
had gotten familiar with the light stubble that shadowed his face by the end of the day, and it was gone.
That was little more effort than necessary, and the realization pleased her more than it should. She
shouldn't want him to look nicer for her. She'd
thought about driving home to change, but there
wasn't really time, and a trip across the freeway would
make it look like she was trying too hard.
    This would be complicated enough if they were just
playing a straight round of the dating game. But that
was exactly what they were trying not to do.
    Jason came to the rescue, popping his head over the
back of the