7 Days and 7 Nights Read Online Free PDF

eye through the rectangle of glass, and the two women shared a smile as Olivia took her first call.
    â€œHello, JoBeth. Do you know a Peter Pan?”
    â€œOh, yeah. I’ve been living with one. Dawg, that’s my boyfriend, he qualifies big time. And so does his hero, Matt Ransom.”
    Olivia couldn’t believe her luck. She hadn’t expected to hit pay dirt so quickly.
    â€œMatt Ransom, really?” She tried to sound surprised, but didn’t think she was that great an actress. “What makes you think your boyfriend and Matt Ransom are Peter Pans?” She felt a twinge of guilt at letting her caller do the dirty work.
    â€œWell, Dawg thinks Ransom walks on water. Especially since Matt got named Bachelor of the Year for about the hundredth time. Whenever I see a picture of him in the paper, he’s with a different woman, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much as a rumor about him settling down. Does that qualify him?”
    Big time. “Gee, JoBeth, I guess it does.”
    â€œI just don’t understand it. Dawg and I have so much in common. I thought we wanted the same things. But when I told him I wanted to get married, he looked at me like I’d just told him I had the plague or something. Why would he react that way, Dr. O?”
    She was going to have to put this woman on the payroll. “Well, JoBeth, according to Kiley, it’s all about fear. These men feel inadequate”—she enunciated the word carefully—“and they are deathly afraid of little old us and having to grow up. I’m going to take a few more calls, and then we’ll discuss how to deal with these Peters.”
    â€œIs it going to require bashing and throwing them back? I’m not sure I could do that to Dawg.”
    â€œDon’t you worry about Dawg, JoBeth. We’re going to try a little tough love on that boy. But first let’s see what some of our other callers have to say.”
    The morning flew. Not surprisingly, everyone knew or had been involved with a man who belonged in Never Land. And Matt Ransom’s name came up a gratifying number of times. As Atlanta’s reigning Bachelor of the Year and host of the ultra-macho
Guy Talk
, he was a highly visible example. Olivia continued to feign surprise whenever his name came up, and she refrained from male bashing herself, but she felt vindicated just the same.
    In conclusion, she offered some additional insight into the syndrome and invited anyone with serious concerns to log on to her website to see Kiley’s original questionnaire.
    To be fair, she doubted Matt, with the level of success he’d achieved, would fit Kiley’s profile, but she didn’t feel compelled to share that opinion with her listeners.
    As promised, during the last few minutes of the show, Diane got JoBeth back on the line. Olivia imagined both Dawg and his hero would take exception to the advice she offered.
    â€œJoBeth, not knowing the reasons behind your boyfriend’s unwillingness to commit, I can only make suggestions based on his behavior. If you love Dawg and want to marry him, then you need to make him understand that his refusal to marry you could cause him to lose you. It’s not a threat or an ultimatum, though I imagine he’ll call it that. It’s exercising your rights and standing up for yourself. If you want a committed relationship and he doesn’t, then you owe it to yourself to get back out there where you can meet someone who does. If he refuses to set a date, move out.”
    â€œMove out?”
    â€œYes, and for God’s sake stop having sex with him.”
    â€œNo sex?”
    â€œThe truth is that even today the old adage holds true: Most men will not buy the cow if the milk is free.”
    Olivia caught the startled expression on Diane’s face and winked. “We’re talking no more free milk, JoBeth. Not a drop.”
    Olivia glanced up at the digital clock,