Page 28 of The Midnight Frequency

“Then you just contradicted yourself, didn’t you?”

“Not at all. They are two different topics entirely.”

“Not if your argument is that all men are basically cavemen.”

“You seem adept at putting words in my mouth.”

“You’re very good at leaving room for them.”

I didn’t expect the laugh that met my ear—deep, smooth, a little too intimate for my liking.

“Oh, Madison,” he said, “I appreciate the call. I truly do. But I live here in the real world instead of—” there was a brief pause, then, “—whatever romantic fantasy you’ve clearly made your home. Next caller!”

I exhaled hard.

My heartbeat was clicking like a metronome kicked out of tempo, and my belly felt tied into a million knots. But there was something oddly pleasant about the sensations.

“Let’s see how that went,” I said, refreshing the dashboard again.

She had him on the ropes, and he knew it. Of course, he chickened out and cut her off.

OMG. Those two need to meet. Like yesterday. And I need to be a fly on the wall.

Do you think she’s going to call back again? I need more of whatever that was. Guess I’m subscribed to this now…

There were, of course, plenty of comments agreeing with Silas and disparaging the whole romantic genre of books and movies. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that people were invested. And that meant they were going to tune in.

If I could keep the listeners chomping at the bit for another debate, I could keep Silas’s show from getting canceled.

And possibly, hopefully, finish my book.

I closed out the station dashboard, knowing not much was going to change until the morning when word-of-mouth got around.

I climbed off the ground, gathered my things, and snuck back out of the storage room.

But no one was looking.

No one was really around after midnight.

Even Tess and Margo’s studio lights were off. They’d either decided to call it a night or gone somewhere that felt more inspiring. Like the boat that Margo called home. Since that whole banshees being associated with water thing wasn’t a myth.

I knew I should go home, take a shower, and get some sleep.

Instead, I slipped into my office, closed out all the work windows, and brought up the draft of my new book.

And immediately, the words started flowing until I was completely wrapped up in it. So much so that when someone cleared their voice in the doorway, my whole body jolted, and a little yelp escaped me.

My head whipped up.

And there he was.

The man who bore a striking resemblance to the hero who was just bickering with his assistant on the page in front of me.

Silas’s hand rose in a placating gesture as I tried to convince my heartbeat to calm down.

“I did knock.”

A normal person apologized for startling you. But Silas was not a normal person, it seemed.