Diamonds and Dreams Read Online Free

more beautiful woman.   “You look terrific.   Are we ready to begin?   The sooner we start, the quicker we’ll
finish.”
    “Yes.   Let’s get the party rolling,” she replied,
walking with him to the make-shift broadcast booth where he turned on a
microphone and addressed the guests.
    “Welcome,
everyone!   I’m Brant Diamond of WBKB,
Columbus’ leading rock station.   My
partner, Lindsay Blair, and I are glad you could join us today for some fun in
the sun.   We have exciting contests with
great prizes planned for you, so here’s Lindsay to tell you about these
activities.”
    Clearing her
throat, she accepted the microphone from him and smiled as the audience applauded.   “Thank you.   We’re here to see that everyone has fun, so we have swimming races and
diving contests planned, and of course, lots of free refreshments for you.   Brant and I will play the top twenty songs
from this past week while you enjoy yourselves.”
    She
proceeded to introduce the hotel manager and members of his staff since Desi arranged for some of these people to serve as contest
judges.   After a brief explanation of the
rules, she blew a whistle as the signal to begin the relay races.   Swimmers smoothly cut through the water,
quickly reaching the far end and splashing their way back to tag the next
swimmer on their team.
    “Don’t look
now, but there’s a spy watching us from among the crowd,” Brant whispered,
leaning so close to Lindsay that their shoulders brushed each other.
    “What?”   She couldn’t be sure if was serious.
    Brant
continued to speak in a hushed tone.   “See the blonde-haired guy with the beard?   The one wearing denim cut-offs and a pale
blue muscle shirt.   That’s Mike
MacDonald, one of the hosts from WQXL.   He’s probably here to check us out…probably wants to see if we’ll be
stiff competition for him.”
    “For a
newcomer, you seem to know a lot about Columbus and its people.   How long have you lived here?”
    “Two
months.   I met Mike a few weeks ago when
I applied for a job at WQXL, but there were no openings there, so I came to
WBKB.”
    “If I were
you, I wouldn’t tell Desi that your first choice was
WQXL.”
    “Why?” he
asked, confused.
    “WQXL is
WBKB’s biggest rival station.   Desi regularly wages a ratings war with the folks at WQXL
since they’re the only other station that plays the kind of rock music WBKB
does.”
    “Hmm,” he
murmured thoughtfully.   “Thanks for the
tip.”
    “Sure.”   Why did she get the funny feeling that she
just outsmarted herself by the admonition to Brant?
    Watching the
swimmers frolic in the oval-shaped pool, Lindsay yearned to take a dip in the
inviting water that offered a cooling respite from the blistering heat.   Yet she resisted the temptation and remained
near Brant so that he wouldn’t feel out of place or uncomfortable.
    He guessed
what she did and refused to let her pity him.   “Don’t stay here on my account.   If you want to swim, go ahead.   We
have time until we need to make more announcements.   We don’t have to monitor the rest of the
music since it’s all pre-recorded to play consecutively, so you have a little
time for yourself; use it.”
    “I prefer to
work on my suntan.”   She spread a long
pink towel on the grassy area nearby.
    The muscular
lifeguard with sun-bleached hair sounded a buzzer before he announced through a
megaphone, “Ten minute rest break.   Everyone, out of the pool!”
    Reluctant
swimmers complied, leaving the pool to relax in wooden chairs on the
patio.   Others stretched out on the
fresh-smelling clover while even more headed for the concession stand.   The lifeguard climbed down from his post and
disappeared inside a small red-brick building with a sign on the door that
read:   EMPLOYEES ONLY.   Rising, Lindsay decided to escape the crowd
and join Brant, who said “hello” to a group of people at the far end of the
pool.  
    Mike
MacDonald started