Jane Sullivan - When He Was Bad...

Because she’d heard his show before. She knew his point of view. A copy of her book lay on the desk beside him, and she wondered if he’d read anything more than the inside flap copy.

A few seconds later, Nick hit a button and leaned into the microphone. “Next in the hot seat is Doctor Sara Davenport, author of a book called Chasing the Bad Boy. Hi, Sara. Glad you could join us today. You don’t mind if I call you Sara, do you? We’re pretty informal around here.”

She wished she could keep her doctorate wedged between them, along with the title that came with it, but she didn’t want to look stuffy. Just have fun with it, Karen had told her.

“Of course you can call me Sara. If I can call you Nick.”

“Sweetheart,” he said with a dazzling smile, “you can call me anything you want to.”

Little prickles of awareness danced across the back of her neck. Stay on your toes.

“Why don’t you give us your book in a nutshell?” Nick said. “Then we’ll chat about it.”

She took a deep, silent breath. Here we go.

“Well, the premise of my book is that there are certain men who some women have a hard time resisting. They’re the guys they meet at the gym with the incredible bodies who want them for their bodies and nothing else. The mystery men who are here today and gone tomorrow. The amazingly handsome men who sweep women off their feet, then hit on their sisters the moment they leave the room. These men are all very enticing on the outside, but in reality, most of them are immature, reckless and irresponsible, offering nothing to the women who fall for them.”

“Wow,” Nick said. “So how many men do you think are out there who fit that description?”

Sara blinked with surprise. As if she had an actual number? “Well, I don’t know exactly. But obviously not all men are like that.”

“So some of them are pretty good guys.”

“Of course.”

“So it’s really just a select few who are causing a whole bunch of problems.”

Her heart skipped. “I didn’t say there were a lot of problems, just—”

“Sara. You wrote an entire book on the subject. Of course there must be a lot of problems. In this country we don’t fell trees just for the heck of it, you know.”

Sara just stared at him, her heart thumping. What was she supposed to do now? Defend the logger who’d cut the trees to make the materials that the printer had bought so he could commit her words to paper?

“Okay, so let’s narrow it down a little,” Nick said. “What’s the biggest problem you see with this situation between good girls and bad boys?”

“Women think they’re going to change men’s thought processes. Make them into something they’re not.”

“So men are inflexible.”

“Some of them are.”

“But women aren’t.”

“Well, some women are—”

“But they’re inflexible about the right things.”

This man was turning her mind to mush. “We’re talking about men here. Men who have no intention of ever committing, yet women chase them, anyway.”

“Because they like the challenge?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“But you don’t?”

“What?”

“Like a man who’s a challenge.”

Sara’s nervousness escalated. “This isn’t about me.”

“Of course it is. You’re a woman, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“Are you telling me you’ve never fallen for one of those bad boys?”

“Of course not.”

“Hmm,” he said. “Maybe you’ve just never had the opportunity.”

The words fell from his lips like warm honey in a slow drip. In spite of the fact that Sara knew exactly what kind of man he was, still her heart beat with a primal kind of attraction she just couldn’t quell.

Get it together, or he’s going to tear you apart.

“The basis of the problem lies in women’s physiological reactions,” she explained. “Some women feel a heightened sense of excitement when they’re with a man who they know is bad for them. It’s a kind of thrill-seeking behavior, and they’re physically drawn to it.”

“Physically?” Nick said, as his gaze took a slow trip down Sara’s body and back up again. “Hmm. I’m not quite sure I’m following you.”

That was a lie. He was following every word she spoke, every breath she took, every blink of an eyelash, and she knew why. He was the charming kind of bad boy who seemed innocuous on the surface, even as he used that charm to disarm his victims so he could control every situation. Intellectually, she knew what he was up to. So why was he making her so nervous?

“It’s a physical reaction,” she said. “They feel a heightened awareness, and there’s an increase in heart rate.”

Nick nodded, but he looked a little puzzled.

“And an accelerated neurotransmitter response.”

His brows pulled together with confusion.

“And a dilation of blood vessels. That causes the skin to flush. Then the perspiration glands become overstimulated—”

Nick held up his palm. “Hold on there, Sara. I’m afraid you’re losing me with all that physiological whatever.”

Geek speak. Hadn’t Karen warned her about that? “All I’m trying to say is—”

“What you’re trying to say,” Nick said, leaning toward her and pulling his microphone along with him, “is that bad boys make women hot. Is that right?”

He focused those gorgeous eyes on hers with the intensity of a laser beam, and all at once Sara felt her heart race, her face flush, her skin prickle and her palms sweat.

She cleared her throat. “I’m merely saying they have a physical reaction when they’re with such men. One that’s…uh…hard to ignore.”

He gave her a sinful smile that said, Yes, it is, isn’t it?

“The truth is that good boys will date bad girls,” Sara said, “but they know who they can take home to Mom. Some women, though, will go to extremes trying to change a man who’s never going to change. For men, bad girls are flings. For women, bad boys are projects.”

“But like it or not,” Nick said, “women want those bad boys you’re talking about. Oh, they say they don’t. They say they want men who will mind their manners and take out the trash without being told and be kind to their mothers.”

“All very wonderful qualities.”

“But that’s not all they want.” He gave her a tempting smile. “They want a man who’s exciting. Intriguing. Who keeps them guessing. Who changes from one day to the next and leaves them breathless in an attempt to keep up. A man with an erotic edge who makes them feel alive in a way they never have before. What they want,” he said in a voice as smooth as glass, “is a man who’s just a little…bit…dangerous.”

Sara opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. All she could do was stare at him. It was as if the verbal part of her brain had shut down completely.

Nick glanced at the console. “Wow. Look at that. All the lines are lit up. Better see what the folks have to say.” He punched a button. “This is Andy in Alto Linda. Hey, Andy. What’s up, man?”

“You haven’t done the rundown yet,” Andy said. “I’m dying to hear this one.”

Sara’s nerves tightened. The rundown? What was that?

“Yep. You’re right, Andy. Thanks for keeping me on track. I’ll do that right away.”

Sara looked at him questioningly.

“My listeners want to know what you look like,” Nick said.

Sara felt a shot of apprehension. “I don’t see the relevancy—”

“Oh, it’s relevant to them. Believe me.”

He kicked back in his chair, put his foot on the desk and dragged the microphone up to his mouth.

“Okay, guys, let me tell you what I’m looking at here. “Sara Davenport is about five-six, one twenty-five. Long, silky brown hair. Gorgeous green eyes. I think they’re green, anyway. They’re hard to make out with the reflection off her glasses.”