Page 96 of Just Another Silly Love Song

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

“And there are a lot of things Idoknow. For instance, you like kissing me.”

“Shhh! The microphone is still on.”

“Please—I’ve been doing this long enough to know whether the microphone is on or off.”

Was it on?

Lori had a serious look on her face and was staring at the control board.

I nonchalantly glanced down at the control board to double-check.

Just as I suspected, the microphone was off.

“Ha!” Lori laughed. “I saw that.”

I laughed, nodding my appreciation. “The woman knows how to bluff. Very impressive. But playing poker is different. There’s pressure. And there’s testosterone because I don’t think we have had any women signed up this year.”

Lori smirked. “Well, then I guess I’ll be the first one, now won’t I?”

I loved her spunk and her confidence.

The truth was I had no clue if she knew a single thing about playing poker, but it didn’t matter. Although there were lots of prizes for the top players, the tournament was meant to be a fun way to raise money for a few charities that were very close to my heart.

I grabbed the studio phone and dialed Dan’s extension to leave him a message.

He answered on the first ring. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. What are you doing here? I was going to leave a message.”

“We’re doing a promotion at Balboa Park today, so I stopped by to grab the van and some equipment. What’s up?”

“Do we still have an open seat open for the tournament?”

“We have exactly one seat left.”

“Can you save it for Lori before it disappears?” I asked.

“You got it.”

“Thanks. I’ll have her submit the payment online.”

“You two are certainly getting close,” Dan said. “I saw the video.”

“What video?”

Lori held up her hand. “Thirty seconds.”

“Gotta run. Thanks for getting Lori in the tournament.” I hung up on Dan.

Lori bounced up and down in her chair. “Yeah! I can’t wait to win!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There will be a hundred other players and you happen to be looking at the defending champion.”

“Well, after tomorrow nightyouwill be looking at the defending champion, so there.”

I grinned. “We’ll see about that. Here we go . . .” I stuck my headphones back on, scooted closer to the control board, and pressed the microphone button. “Welcome back to the Dr. Tough Love show. Lori Martin is with me, my trusty cohost who is now entered in the Dr. Tough Love Charity Poker Tournament, which will be held tomorrow evening at the La Jolla Cove Bridge Club. I do want to thank you for your participation even though I plan on winning again.”