He Loves Lucy

Chapter 5

April

Theo heard the familiar sound of Jenna’s Acura pulling up to the curb. He brushed the sandy soil from his knees and stood up, turning away from the rhododendrons in time to see Jenna pop out of her shiny sedan. She strolled up the driveway, her long, smooth legs carrying her with the same sensual strength she’d always possessed.

“Theo.” She stopped in front of him and crooked her head. Her straight light hair fell against a shoulder and her smile was sweet and a little sad. Then she broke eye contact with him and studied the yard. “The place looks great. Do you have a minute?”

Theo tossed down the pruning sheers he’d been holding in a death grip and nodded, trying not to stare at the way her skirt hugged her slim hips or the soft skin at her opening of her blouse. It had been a few weeks since he’d last talked to her and seven months since he’d kissed her, and he wasn’t sure if the steady in-and-out of his breathing meant he’d finally gotten over her or if he was in a daze. ‘To what do I owe this honor?“ he asked.

“How’ve you been, Theo?”

Jenna’s face was aglow with her bedside manner persona. He’d seen it often enough when they were med students, and he didn’t like that it was directed his way this morning-it implied bad news was on its way.

“Fine, but we’re going to have to talk out here. Buddy’s home and I don’t want to confuse him.”

Jenna’s eyes lit up. “How is he? God, I miss him. Would you tell him I miss him?”

Theo nodded, watching as Norton strolled through the pine bark mulch and approached Jenna’s ankle as if he planned to rub against it. At the last instant he stopped, arched his spine, and hissed like the demon-possessed thing he was.

“Norton! You’ve gotten so fat!” Jenna reached down to stroke his large orange head and he slashed at her with a declawed paw. “Well, I see you’re still quite the sociopath.”

“You did call him fat.”

Jenna laughed.

“I’ll tell Buddy you said hi.” Of course, there was no way in hell Theo would mention her name to his brother. It would only result in weeks of nonstop questions about when she was coming back. “So what’s up, Jenna?”

“I’ve been watching you on TV. You’re famous now!” Jenna watched Norton skitter away. “I can’t tell you how I feel for that client of yours! I don’t know how she could have let herself go like that. She seems fairly intelligent. But you’re doing great with her. I even saw your billboard at a bus stop near the med center. I guess you’ve been able to quit the bouncer job at the club?”

Theo sighed, trying to tally up all the vaguely condescending things she’d managed in one breath. “Did you come here to get my autograph or something?”

She laughed, and her pale gold eyes filled with affection. For a brief moment, Theo thought maybe she still loved him. Maybe she’d come here on a Saturday morning to beg him for another chance. He straightened his back at the thought.

“Actually, I’ve come to ask for your blessing.”

That definitely did not sound like begging.

“I wanted to tell you before you heard it through the grapevine.”

Theo’s eyes flicked to the ring finger of her left hand, and there it was-bam!-the door-slamming end to whatever he’d built in five years with Jenna. At that moment, it felt like a whole lot of nothing.

“He asked me last weekend and I said yes.”

“I’m happy for you.”

“Are you?” Jenna’s whisper was shaky. “It’s important to me that you’re OK with this, Theo.”

OK with this?

He had to get a few additional feet between himself and all the sweet-smelling, cool beauty that was Jenna. He turned away and rubbed a dirty hand through his hair and tried to find his balance.

That dick got her to commit.

“He’s a lot older than you.” Theo turned to squint at her there in the sun, all pretty and unruffled and everything he’d ever wanted-smart, determined, steady, logical, built, gorgeous.

Jenna smiled. “Yes. He’s fifty-one.”

“Has lover boy had a recent stress test? Have you checked his lipids?”

“Come on, Theo-”

He couldn’t decide what to do with his hands. He had no pockets in the old pair of running shorts he’d worn to work in the yard that morning, so his hands just hung there, feeling rubbery and useless when all he really wanted to do was punch a big-ass hole in the stucco side of the house.

“Are you going to join his surgery practice when you’re done with your fellowship?”

“We’ve talked about it.”

“The call schedule is going to be hell on your marriage.”

“Theo-”

“When’s the wedding?‘

“We’re not sure yet.” Jenna allowed a little giggle to escape. “We’ve talked about maybe eloping.”

“Oh boy! Won’t that get him in trouble with his wife?”

“His divorce is almost final.”

“Good, because I think the state of Florida frowns on bigamy.”

“Stop it.”

“Look, I’m sorry. Congratulations.” Theo found himself taking the two steps required to reach Jenna and wrap her up in his arms. He hugged her, feeling her solid suppleness, the so-familiar shape that perfectly sealed the hole she’d left in him seven months ago. He patted her arm and pulled away.

“Thank you.” Jenna blinked and wiped a little tear from her cheek, and the flare from the megadiamond nearly scorched Theo’s corneas. “I’m so glad you’re taking this well.”

Theo shrugged and bent down to retrieve the pruning shears. “Yeah, Jenna. I take everything well. Just bring it on, babe. That’s my motto.”

Jenna’s hand landed on his shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot, Theo, and I don’t think there’s a logical way to explain it I don’t think love is logical.”

Theo chortled and kept snipping.

“Seriously. I was trying to decide if I owe you an apology.”

He didn’t look at her when he asked, “So do you?”

“No.” She removed her hand. “I think we love who we love and there’s not a damn thing that can be done about it.”

Theo hung his head and stared at the mulch under his old running shoes. “That sounds rather fatalistic for a woman who’s had to fight for everything she’s ever wanted in life.”

“I just knew what I wanted, and I wanted him.”

“Yep. You knew what you wanted, all right.”

Though Theo faced the house, he could feel the heat of Jenna’s anger. He peeked around to see her glaring at him.

“We’ve been over this, Theo.”

He turned to face her full-on. “You know, I don’t think we ever really cut through the bullshit and told each other the truth-and the truth is you wanted more than a personal trainer with a retarded little brother. You wanted more than a guy who still works the door at Flawless on weekends because he can’t say no to the money.”

Jenna gasped. “That is so unfair.”

“No, what is unfair, Jenna, is that my brother’s entire life was altered because of one tiny error in cell division. What’s unfair is that my parents died in the prime of their lives because of a freak accident in a brand-new boat. Those things are unfair. What happened with us was your premeditated decision.”

“We’d grown apart and you know it.”

“Nope.” Theo shook his head. “You grew away from me. I’ve always been just who I am.”

Jenna put a hand on one hip and narrowed her eyes at him. “Bitterness doesn’t look good on you. It almost makes you look ugly.”

He let go with a raucous laugh. “There you go! Yet another reason to marry your attending physician-not only does he have more prestige and money than me, but he’s better-looking, to boot!”

With a forced bedside-manner smile, Jenna told Theo to take care. Then she turned, walked back to her car, and drove away.

Buddy opened the front door a few moments later.

“Who are you arguing with out here?” He scanned the street in front of their house.

“Norton. You know how he is.”

“Yeah.” Buddy laughed. “Need some help raking?”

Theo looked at the mess under the live oak and had a better idea. “Whad’ya say we get medieval on the kickboxing dummies at the gym instead? I could use a good fight right about now.”

Buddy peered around the yard until he located the cat, then frowned at Theo. “I don’t even want to know what Norton said to you.”

Journal Entry April 16

Breakfast: 3/4 c oatmeal; 1 Granny Smith apple; 1 c skim milk; decaf

Lunch: 3 oz chicken breast; 1 cup stir-fried veggies; ‘At c brown rice

Snack: 1 c plain yogurt; 1/2 banana; sprinkle of low-fat granola

Dinner: 3 oz sirloin; 1 small baked potato; 1 tbsp light whipped butter; 1 c sauteed spinach

Affirmation for Today:

Just because Theo wants me to meet him at a running

track doesn’t mean I’ll have to do actual running.

Right?

Lucy arrived at the Miami Springs High School parking lot shortly before five, peering in the dark until she could locate the open chain-link gate Theo had described. She grabbed her gym bag, locked her car door, and trudged down the walkway to the track.

She could make out the white lines that glowed under her feet, but not much else. She looked up to see the shadowy outline of Theo’s form, standing next to what appeared to be a large ball.

It was so quiet she could hear her footfalls on the spongy surface as she walked.

“Good morning, Luce.” As soon as Theo spoke, she detected a slight change in his voice. It was like some of the zest was gone from it, and she suddenly wished she could see his face, just to make sure he was all right.

“Come here often?” she asked, setting her bag down in the dewy grass.

Theo laughed and patted her on the shoulder. “I do, as a matter of fact. Maybe it’ll become a hangout for us. Did it take you long to get here?”

Theo wanted to hang out with her? That was news. “Uh, it’s about the same as my place to Miami Beach. Not a problem at all.”

“Good.” Theo shuffled his feet, shoved his hands in his pockets, and looked off into the dark morning.

There was something wrong with him. She could sense it. And she was just about to ask him what it was when he said, “I want to tell you something, Lucy.”

She straightened at how serious he sounded, and all her senses went on alert. The darkness made the few feet between them shrink to nothing. She heard Theo’s even breathing and could smell the soap and shampoo on him and the now-familiar scent of his skin.

Suddenly he moved toward her and his face was so close she could feel his heat. Then his lips brushed over her cheek, soft and sweet. They stayed there about three seconds, but it felt like forever.

“I am extremely proud of you.”

Lucy felt his breath on her neck just before he pulled away. She squeezed her eyes tight and tried to breathe normally, wondering if that kiss had branded her cheek with a sizzling imprint of his lips. “Thanks, Theo,” she managed.

“And you looked wonderful at the studio last week.”

He flashed his teeth at her in the dark. “Everybody was talking about you.”

Lucy thought her heart would melt. He just said she looked wonderful! She was thrilled!

“Now it’s time to kick your ass, Cunningham.”

Lucy laughed. She loved the way Theo talked dirty to her.

He took her by the hand, slipping his fingers between hers, and they walked along the track at a nice clip. He squeezed her hand and smiled again before he let go.

As they walked, Theo explained they were entering a new phase of her training, one that would put more emphasis on the quality of her cardio, not just the quantity. He explained interval training to her, that it would consist of alternating running and walking at varying speeds, including sprints. Lucy figured now would be the time to mention that she didn’t do sprints.

“Ever hear the blues song that goes, ‘I’m built for comfort, not for speed’?” Lucy asked. “That’s my theme song.”

The sun had begun to tiptoe its way over the horizon, and she could just make out the amused look on Theo’s face.

“That’s bull, Luce. You ran just fine that day at the News Cafe”. You ran right out onto the sidewalk.“

She laughed. “OK, but I was running away from you and your tank. It was a self-preservation thing.”

Theo laughed, too, and Lucy realized that she’d developed a real fondness for the sound of that laugh. She’d grown accustomed to its cadence over the last few months, along with all the other little noises Theo made, like the sigh when she exasperated him, the little devilish chortle when he added five pounds to the standing tricep pull-down, the way he gave her his seal of approval-“you rock, Cunningham”-after she’d made it through something difficult.

“I’m not too proud to chase after women,” Theo said, then lunged toward her with a dramatic roar.

Lucy yelped, turned, and took off down the track.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt her body surrender to the rhythm of running. She listened to her breath move in and out and the steady tap of her feet on the track. She knew she wasn’t going all that fast, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that her body instinctively remembered how to do this, that her body could still do what it was designed to do.

“I’m right behind you, Lucy.” Theo’s voice dripped with pretend menace.

Lucy smiled, reveling in how her lungs were expanding, thinking that the response she’d had to Theo’s peck on her cheek was proof her body remembered other joys as well. Maybe sensual pleasure was something a woman’s body could never forget, no matter how hard the woman tried to pretend it wasn’t important.

Maybe being in close proximity to Theo Redmond, day after day, was all the reminder a body needed.

As her lungs pumped and her head cleared, she wondered if all the effort she’d put into blotting out the pain had deadened her ability to feel pleasure, too. What a shame. What a loss.

And then she asked herself: how much had she really allowed Brad Zirkle and the Pitt State football team to steal from her that day?

Lucy’s eyes began to sting.

“You’d better keep going, little girl.” Theo was trying for a downright creepy delivery, but to Lucy he sounded like a cross between Mr. Rogers and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He leaned in close to hiss in her ear, “You’re in the woods. It’s dark. The big bad wolf’s right behind you, and you look good enough to eat.”

The stands had been packed that day her freshman year. If the team managed to beat Purdue they got their shot at the Taco Bowl. And, thanks to Brad Zirkle’s record-breaking rushing performance, they did it. Lucy cheered as the students stormed the field in celebration. It was all chaos and excitement. And then Lucy watched team members unfurl something… a bedsheet?… and the first words appeared: Thank You, Lucky Lucy Cunningham…

Lucy stumbled on the track, and she felt Theo’s hand steady her. She pushed herself to keep running. She needed to run through the memory, push her body through the hurt.

She’d felt joy when she first saw those words, because for a second she really thought Brad was thanking her. He’d just had the game of his college career, the game that made up for his season-long slump. She’d been dating him for three weeks. They’d slept together. The big sign unfurling on the field had to be his way of thanking her for his change in luck, for all the world to see.

And then the rest of the sheet snapped open. The team went wild with hoots, the TV cameras swarmed, and everyone within earshot began to mumble, “Who’s Lucy Cunningham? And what’s a slump buster?”

On some level, Lucy knew it was bad. Real bad. But it wasn’t until she was leaving the stadium nearly fifteen minutes later that she learned precisely what she was.

Two frat boys were trying to explain the concept to a girl Lucy recognized from Brit lit class. She overheard them say, “If a jock is in a slump, his teammates dare him to find a fat or ugly girl and have sex with her. If the act is witnessed and he can survive it, his luck will change.”

For an instant, Lucy had been unable to move and got jostled around in the exiting crowd. But then she ran-she ran as fast as she could in a blind panic of shame, falling in the parking lot, scraping her palms bloody. Someone tried to help her up, but she pushed them away and scrambled to her feet, running all the way back to her dorm.

The Miami Springs High School track blurred under Lucy’s feet, and her lungs began to burn like they had that day so long ago. Her heart pounded so hard it hurt, just like it had that day. Her legs felt like Jell-O, just like that run from the stadium ten years ago.

She heard herself make the strangest sound, and it struck her as interesting that she could sob and run at the same time.

“Lucy!”

She stopped in the middle of the track. She stood, panting, her legs braced wide apart, her hands on her knees and her head hanging as she gulped down the air. Theo bent down to peer into her face.

“Are you all right?”

The instant Theo’s hand caressed her back, her scream pierced the silence. Lucy spun around, unable to stop the screech of words already leaving her lips: “Don’t touch me.‘”

The sun had risen enough that she could clearly see the bewilderment in Theo’s face. His mouth hung open and he stepped back, shocked.

Their eyes locked for a long moment.

“What in the world is going on, Lucy?”

Theo hadn’t felt the anger pulse off Lucy’s body like this since that day at the News Cafe. And not only was the anger back; it was back with a vengeance, and it was raw and nasty and, for some reason, aimed directly at him.

Lucy pushed out her chin in an attempt to stop its quivering. “Don’t ever touch me again without my permission. Got it?”

Where did this come from? He’d only been playing with her, and he wondered if somehow their little Robin Hood game had flipped a switch in Lucy’s brain. He’d never seen her so pissed. He’d never seen any woman this pissed.

Or this hurt.

He made his voice as gentle as he could. “I touch you all the time, Luce. I just wanted-”

“I know you touch me! Do you think I haven’t noticed?”

Theo took another step back and felt torn between appreciation for Lucy’s warrior princess body stance and the devastation in her eyes. Something-someone-had really hurt Lucy Cunningham. It had been obvious to him from the beginning. And there she stood before him now, a ticking time bomb in a pair of pink sweatpants, and he didn’t know how to defuse her.

“You’ve got to talk to me, Luce.”

“Just don’t touch me anymore, Theo.”

She turned away and began to cut across the oval infield of grass, arms swinging high as she took big strides toward her gym bag.

Theo arrived at her side-a polite distance away- and said nothing. After they walked for a few moments, he risked a sidelong glance, only to find her face contorted and streaked with tears.

“What in the hell is this about? Tell me!”

She shook her head and held up a hand. “I’m sorry. That was completely ridiculous.”

He sighed. “Look. We all have our hot buttons, and it seems I just hit one of yours. So tell me what’s going on.”

There was no humor in Lucy’s eyes or curve to her lips, which now formed a grimace. She turned away without comment.

He decided not to push. Like everything else about Lucy, he would have to discover it one little piece at a time.

“How about we just move on to the exercise ball?” Theo tried to sound cheerful. “You’re warmed up, and I’ve got a few new tricks up my sleeve I’d like to show you.”

She came to a halt, then stomped her feet in the grass in indignation. “You want to keep going after I’ve had a complete mental breakdown?” She waved her arms in the air. “All I want to do is go home and eat a large pepperoni with extra cheese and a box of Fiddle

Faddle! I don’t want to do any stupid tricks on your fucking big red exercise ball!“

“Lucy-” Theo somehow kept himself from brushing away the strand of hair swaying across her forehead. Then he restrained himself from taking her in his arms, holding her, and telling her everything would be all right. This woman baffled him. She made him laugh. She stirred up feelings in him that he had no business having. He didn’t know how to handle this. He didn’t know how to handle her.

So he said, “Junk food isn’t the way you deal with bad days anymore, remember?”

“Oh, fuck off!” Lucy leaned down, gripped the exercise ball in her arms, and threw it at him.

Theo caught the ball and stared at her. She was glistening and her hair was a mess and her breasts heaved from exertion and her lips were red and her eyes wild-and he suddenly needed to kiss her mouth hard, rip off her pink sweatpants, and throw her down on the dewy grass before the WakeUp Miami camera crew got there.

Theo felt himself go numb.

Lucy blew the hair out of her face. “What is wrong with you?” she spit out. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Theo threw the ball down. “I happen to be flipping out a bit myself today.”

Lucy let out a loud snort of a laugh. “Oh, really? And what could possibly be bothering you! Did they discontinue your favorite brand of hair gel or something?”

Theo stared at her, letting her comment sink in. “You don’t think very much of me, do you?”

She sighed. “You didn’t deserve that.”

“Damn right, Cunningham.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She bit her lip. “Is everything OK with your brother? Your cat?”

Theo shook his head slowly, wondering once again if a hundred grand was worth the loss of his sanity. She insulted him. He lusted after her. There was something very wrong with that picture. “My brother and cat are excellent. My hair is excellent, too.”

“Yeah. OK.” Lucy moved a little closer to him, trying to gauge his expression. “I’m sorry, Theo. I can get real ugly with self-pity sometimes. But I’m a good listener. Let me make it up to you.”

She reached for his hand, and the soft touch of her fingers sent a bolt of awareness through him. This was nuts. It was almost like Lucy’s outburst had opened something in him that he was now unable to close. Theo suddenly ached with desire for that fiery, passionate, angry woman he’d just seen revealed in all her glory.

He looked down at their joined hands. “You said no touching.”

Her gray eyes searched his face. “I take it back.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Now tell me-why are you having a bad day?”

Theo opened his fingers and entwined them with Lucy’s. “My ex stopped by to tell me she’s engaged,” Theo said. “She’s marrying the middle-aged dude she dumped me for seven months ago. It took me off guard, I guess.”

Lucy took a step back. Someone actually dumped Theo Redmond? “What a complete idiot!”

Theo shrugged. “He’s a jerk, but an extremely smart one, as it turns out.”

“No, I meant your ex-girlfriend! She’s obviously not the brightest crayon in the box if she left you for someone else.”

Theo shot her a smile so full of mischief that it stunned Lucy. She was suddenly burning up, and she knew it wasn’t because she’d just run a mile for the first time in a decade. It was because Theo’s smile acted like gasoline thrown on that secret little flame inside her, the one he’d ignited the day she met him.

He grabbed her other hand in his.

She had to be imagining this. Theo was holding both her hands in his, and it had nothing to do with adjusting her grip on a fitness machine. All she could think was, Don’t blow it, Cunningham!

“I thought Gia Altamonte was your girlfriend at first. Did I ever tell you that?” Oh great-bring up the most gorgeous woman on the planet while he’s holding your hands.

“Gia?” Theo’s eyebrows shot high on his forehead. “She’s not exactly my type.”

“Of course. Homely creature that she is.”

Theo laughed a little and noticed how the exercise ball had come to a stop near Lucy’s feet. He gave it a tap with his toe until it was directly behind her.

“Gia is a live wire, Lucy. She has the attention span of a gerbil. She’s great, but I prefer my women a little more predictable. Besides, I don’t date clients.”

“Why not?” He gave her a gentle nudge and Lucy found herself lowering her bottom onto the huge ball, Theo still holding her hands.

“Palm Club policy.”

“Of course.” Lucy bounced a few times, getting the feel of the weight of her body balanced on the curved surface, anchored by her widely spread feet. When she let go of Theo’s hands, the ball felt like a life raft on choppy seas.

“Now it’s your turn. Tell me what just happened back there.”

Lucy tried to get up from her perch but should have rearranged her legs first, because once her butt cleared the ball, her center of gravity pulled her backward. “Uh-oh…”

Theo grabbed her, and in an instant she was standing in his arms, his nose up against hers and his lips not two microns away from her own. She feared her beating heart would punch a hole through her damp T-shirt.

Theo whispered, “A kiss is not dating. Just so we’re clear on that.” His lips brushed hers even as he spoke.

“Of course.” Her lips grazed his.

“I don’t want to violate company policy.”

‘Then just violate me.“

Theo pressed his mouth full against hers while he gripped her hard by the upper arms. Lucy closed her eyes and swayed. OK, perhaps she vaguely remembered kissing as a concept, but she’d never felt a kiss like this in her whole life.

His mouth seemed to know exactly what it wanted, and took it. Theo’s kiss had a unique rhythm. Its own language. Theo’s kiss was like visiting an exotic foreign land that she’d only seen in travel brochures. It felt so strange. So perfect. And she thought to herself, So this is a kiss.

Lucy let herself sink into it, the heat and the connection and the soft, sweet questions Theo seemed to ask her. And at that instant, her answer to everything was, Hell yes.

Theo found it difficult to kiss and smile at the same time, but he found he had no choice with Lucy. He knew it would be like this. He knew she’d be soft and delicious and responsive and he’d get one taste of her and not be able to stop himself-so why had he started? Now all that mattered was that he feel every inch of her body, kiss her until they both couldn’t breathe, until he knew her down to her very last secret.

His hands roamed around her back, down her sides, and they were just about to grab onto the full globes under those pink sweatpants when the camera crew pulled into the parking lot.

“I kissed her.”

Tyson crammed a handful of popcorn in his mouth and dragged his gaze from the basketball game to Theo. “Kissed who?” he mumbled.

Before Theo could answer, Tyson’s focus wandered back to the TV screen. The room erupted in hoots and jeers, and Buddy and his Special Olympic teammates gave one another high fives and pranced around the family room. The noise was deafening.

“Lucy.” Theo said it in a near whisper.

Tyson jumped to his feet, dumping the bowl of popcorn on the floor.

“Hey! We were eating that!” somebody complained.

“We got to have a talk, boy.” Tyson grabbed Theo’s forearm and herded him through the dining room just as Buddy tossed the empty bowl their way and asked for a refill.

“So when did that happen?” Tyson leaned up against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms across his big chest. He found a stray kernel of popcorn on the front of his polo shirt and popped it in his mouth. “And does this mean I can’t ask her out?”

Theo laughed. He’d always appreciated how Tyson cut to the chase. That’s probably why the athletes enjoyed his help as an assistant coach-he gave it to them straight. “It is what it is,” had become the unofficial slogan of the Special Olympics of Miami-Dade track-and-field team, thanks to Tyson’s all-purpose application of the saying.

“Yesterday at the high school track. I’m not sure what happened.”

Tyson laughed loudly. “What do you mean, you’re not sure what happened? Your lips don’t go running around smacking into women without your knowledge, do they? Where’s the popcorn?”

“Second cabinet to the right. Set the microwave on three minutes or it’ll fry.”

“Gotcha.”

“I will come after you if you hit on her.”

Tyson tapped the buttons on the microwave and chewed on the inside of his cheek, clearly trying not to laugh again.

“Lucy is more than one of your flavors-of-the-week.”

Tyson shook his head. “Ramona doesn’t want us dating anyone on our own roster.”

“I’m not dating her.”

“But you’re kissing her.”

“I kissed her once. And it would be a lot simpler for both of us if it doesn’t happen again.”

Tyson spun around. “So your plan is to kiss the woman one time, Walk away, and then forbid anyone one else to date her?”

“I knew you’d catch on.”

“Dayum, bro. That’s just not right.” Tyson grabbed the big plastic popcorn bowl out of Theo’s hands. “It’s plain selfish, in fact.”

Theo sank down onto a kitchen chair. “Yeah? Well, I think there’s something going on with Lucy that she won’t talk about-maybe some unresolved issues about men. I feel like I should… I don’t know… look out for her.”

Tyson frowned. “You mean she’s got sex hangups?” He smiled. “I have experience working through those things. I even got references.”

Theo laughed softly. “Exactly what I was afraid of.”

“You know, it’s not your job to fix everything about her, Theo-just help her get in shape.” The microwave dinged and Tyson got up from the table. “You don’t have to go around carrying everyone’s burden like it’s your own.”

“I know.”

“Well, sometimes you don’t act like you know. You’ve got to learn to del-e-gate.” An explosion of cheers came from the living room. “I’ll be right back.”

Theo listened as the popcorn was met with great enthusiasm in the other room. As Tyson chatted with the kids about basketball, Theo realized his friend had a valid point. Theo’s only responsibility toward Lucy was getting her to lose the weight-what she did or didn’t do with her issues after the fact was her own affair.

Of course he and Lucy should keep it strictly business. He shuddered at the thought that come December, she’d be completely in love with him, right as he went back to medical school. She’d expect to keep seeing him every day, which would be a scheduling nightmare. Maybe she’d even want a commitment, which would be impossible-not when he was about to immerse himself in the pursuit of his dream. Medical school and residency was hell on even the strongest established relationships. He’d only end up disappointing her. He’d only end up not being enough for her.

Theo rested his chin in his palm and slumped. The immediate problem was that kiss. Oh God, he’d never felt anything so good in his life. She was so hot and sexual, and if the camera van hadn’t pulled up in the parking lot there was no telling what would have happened! Since when did a single kiss make him lose it completely like that? What was his problem?

He needed to think. He needed to stop remembering how it felt and start developing a plan for damage control. If he simply pretended the kiss had never happened, it would come off as rejection, which would mess with Lucy’s head, chip away at her confidence, and possibly set her back. Which made it his problem, too.

He should never have kissed her…

“Now what was I saying?” Tyson returned to the kitchen chair.

Theo stared at his friend for a moment. Then smiled. “I believe you were saying that you’d take Lucy out every once in a while, give her a lot of attention, make her feel special and make sure she has a great time but not do anything to make her uncomfortable.”

Tyson’s eye twitched. “I don’t remember saying any of that shit.” “Ah, but you were going to.”

“I was?”

“Yeah.” Theo laughed. “I will come after you if you don’t hit on her within the next week.”

Tyson shook his head. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you have just del-e-gated my ass.”

Office of Doris Lehman, MSW, PhD

“Have there been more kisses?”

“No.” Lucy couldn’t sit still that morning. She paced in front of the love seat, her hands fidgeting, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. She stared at the kimono girls for advice, but their small red mouths remained closed.

The little bitches.

“Have you talked about the kiss?”

“He apologized right after, when the camera crew arrived. Then last week he said I was wonderful and special but that we needed to stay focused on our goal. He hasn’t said another word about it since.”

“Do you want to kiss him again?”

“I’ve thought about it, and I’ve come to see that Theo kissed me because he didn’t know what else to do. You know how men hate it when women flip out- they feel kind of helpless.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Lucy stared at her therapist. “Sure. I’d kiss him again if need be.”

“Hmm. As I recall, you once referred to Theo as…” Doris flipped through the chart balanced on her knee. “Hot.” She looked up at Lucy. “Was the kiss hot, too?”

Lucy’s mouth fell open in astonishment. “You want his phone number or something?”

“I have his number and he has mine. What do you find most attractive about him?”

Lucy cocked her head and stared at Doris, wondering about her therapist’s personal life, about Mr. Doris. She hoped to God Doris wasn’t getting her ya-yas out by asking these questions.

“If you must know, Theo Redmond is downright biscuit-worthy,” Lucy said.

Doris hitched up her left eyebrow. “Care to elaborate on that?”

“Sure.” Lucy grinned. “Have you ever met a man who looked so damn delicious that you wanted to sop him up with a hot buttermilk biscuit and inhale him in one gulp?”

“Why, yes, I have,” Doris said.

That was a shocker. “Really? What happened?”

“I married him.”

The angle of incline on this particular machine had always annoyed Lucy. She didn’t like the way her legs fell open a little too lewdly and how her boobs seemed to stick out like boulders, and she really didn’t like the way Theo always put his fingers just under her upper arms.

If there was one place on her body she didn’t want him fondling, it was the underside of her upper arms. Or her stomach. Or her thighs. Or the pads of flesh on her hips. Or her waist, because it was still so soft.

“You rock, Cunningham. Exhale on the extension.”

“Stop doing it for me!” She would have batted his hands away, but she was busy pushing the stupid bar up over her head. Theo kept his fingers on the vulnerable bare flesh of the underside of her arm.

“I’m not doing it for you, Lucy. You’re doing every bit of the work.”

She exhaled on the extension, feeling her shoulders and arms shake with the weight on this last of fifteen repetitions, her abdominals contracting to provide the stability for the movement. “Then why are your hands all over me? Take your hands away and let me do it.”

With great relief she returned the bar to its berth and sat up. Theo guided one of her arms up over her head and bent it at the elbow so that her fingertips touched between her shoulder blades.

“Breathe into the stretch and chill out, Luce. I’m not doing anything for you. I’m just here if you need me. That’s my job.”

She harrumphed.

“That was an excellent workout. You’re a machine, Luce, a lean, mean fitness machine.”

She stood and grabbed her gym towel and water bottle from the floor and glared at Theo while she chugged. Then she wiped the sweat from her face.

“That might be overkill,” she said into the terry cloth.

“The man has a valid point, Lucy.”

It was Tyson. She peeked around the towel to see him standing at Theo’s side, and it was the first time Lucy had noticed that Tyson was at least two inches taller than Theo.

She immediately felt self-conscious. The sweat stains under her pits were so big they had blended with the sweat ring around her neck, which ran all the way around to her back and down into the seat of her yoga pants. She was basically one large, wet rag. Her hair was pulled up in a clip that had long ago lost its fashionable position and was now balanced on her shoulder.

She took another swig of water for fortitude, then fixed her hair clip as best she could. “Hey, Tyson. How’ve you been?”

“Fine, except I don’t get to see you much around here. Our schedules don’t seem to mesh.”

He was one handsome man. Deep-set dark eyes with decadent eyelashes and a nicely trimmed mustache over one beautiful set of lips. Big and hard and bald and black. And he’d just smiled at her, and Lucy wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand up much longer.

“Well, it’s nice to see you, Tyson. And I’ll catch you tomorrow, Theo. Thanks for the workout.”

She turned to head to the locker room and Tyson was at her side. “Mind if I walk with you?”

She shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant. She could feel Theo’s eyes on her. He was staring at her, sending heat her way, from his increasingly distant position behind her. She felt it. She felt him. She was so tempted to look back…

“I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me some evening. I’ve been meaning to ask you for quite a while.”

Lucy stopped and grabbed the towel from around her neck and wiped her face again. She glanced up to Tyson and saw him waiting patiently for her answer, a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Look, I’ve got to ask you this one little thing.” Lucy took a quick sip of water. “Are you sure you want to go out with me?”

Tyson’s laugh was sexy. She liked the sound of it. “I’m very sure. So is that a yes?”

“No. I mean… I have one more question.” She took a steadying breath. “Weren’t you a Division I football player in college?”

“Uh. Yeah. University of Florida. You got something against bigger schools?”

She could tell by the way his eyes sparkled that he found her amusing. Nothing about this subject was amusing to Lucy. And she just knew that if she accepted his offer, Doris was going to have a field day with the deeper meaning of it all. “I have nothing against the schools themselves, just the football programs.”

“Is that right?” Tyson put one of his huge hands on her soaking wet shoulder and encouraged her to continue her walk to the locker room. “Well, how about you shower and change and we’ll go have a cup of coffee across the street and you can tell me all about the activities you do like.”

“Parcheesi. I like Parcheesi. Nobody ever gets hurt playing Parcheesi.”

“You haven’t played Parcheesi with me.”

Lucy giggled. Her worry was ridiculous. Tyson went to school down here, not in Pennsylvania where it was news. He didn’t recognize her. That was paranoia. Plus, maybe going out with Tyson would accomplish two things at once-she could face her fear of jocks and end her dating drought all in one fell swoop.

She looked up at him and realized the most important reason for her to say yes was that Tyson seemed genuine, had a fine sense of humor, and was an incredibly attractive man. It might also help her to get over her completely irrational and dead-end crush on Theo.

“I’d love to have a cup of coffee and talk about Parcheesi. Twenty minutes?”

“Absolutely.” Tyson smiled big at her. “I’ll see you in the lobby.”

Lucy dared to turn around before she entered the locker room, and there Theo stood, right where she’d left him, an expression on his face she swore looked just like jealousy. He gave her a wistful smile, tapped the clipboard against his thigh, and walked away.

You snooze, you lose, Redmond.

Tyson turned out to be the kind of man who liked to laugh and dance and be in the company of women. He seemed to know quite a lot about the female species, and Lucy figured it was knowledge that came from years of intense hands-on study of the subject matter.

In fact, Tyson had his hands on her during much of their first date. A hand on her elbow. A hand wrapped around hers when they walked. A hand on her knee to illustrate a point.

She enjoyed it. She enjoyed his laugh and the easy way he had with everyone they encountered. When they strolled together toward Bicentennial Park for the reggae festival, she relaxed into his strong arm and leaned up against him.

At one point, she turned her head to look up at Tyson, only to find him smiling down at her with that bright, devilish grin of his.

“What’s on your mind, Tyson?” She smiled back at him.

“Just thinking that you’re the sweetest woman I’ve met in a long time, Lucy. Are they all like you in Pittsburgh? ‘Cause if so, I may be relocating.”

She laughed. “There’s only one of me.”

Tyson moved his hand to her waist, pulling her tight against him. “You’re damn cute, Lucy. So tell me, how many other men are you seeing these days? I mean besides Theo of course.”

Lucy stopped and wrenched away from Tyson’s embrace. “I’m not seeing Theo!” She realized she sounded huffy.

“Whoa, girl. Relax.” He pulled her close again and resumed walking. “That was a little joke, you know? Because everybody knows you see Theo every damn day. Unless-”

Lucy shook her head. “Don’t go there.”

“You got a thing for our man Theo?”

Lucy brought her arm up around Tyson’s waist and squeezed. It was a bit of a shock. Tyson’s body was more than buff, it was carved out of granite, and she felt his muscles ripple under her fingers. “Dear God,” she whispered.

“You like that?”

“It’s impressive. What’s your percentage of body fat?”

“You gonna tell me yours if I tell you mine?”

Lucy tilted her head back and laughed. “Like you and the rest of Miami don’t know it already.”

Tyson stopped this time, pulled her close to the revolving door of an office building, and held her steady in front of him. “Listen, Lucy, I like you a lot.” The feel of one of his big fingers stroking the side of her cheek was very nice. Very nice indeed. She felt her eyes close. “But all you have to do is say the word and I’ll back off. Theo’s my friend. I respect him and like him and I’d never want to get in the middle of something you two are working on.”

‘The only thing we’re working on is my body,“ Lucy said.

“Sounds like nice work if you can get it.”

Lucy smiled up at him, stood on her tiptoes, and brought her lips to his. She wanted to thank him for being so considerate and figured a nice kiss was a way to do it.

Their lips touched. His were warm and cushiony. They welcomed her, moved on her, felt so nice and smooth. And Lucy stood there on her tiptoes, waiting…

And waiting…

She waited patiently for the zing! she’d felt when she’d kissed Theo. She counted to herself, One, two, three… but there was no zing. Where the hell was the stupid zing?

“You feel good, girl.”

Tyson’s lips went back to hers and his arms went around her and she was off the ground. He was lifting her up off the sidewalk! She started kicking.

“My God, put me down! You’re going to snap your vertebrae!”

All he did was laugh and try to get his lips back on hers.

“Tyson! Put me down!”

He did, and she stood there out of breath and bewildered, his hands still gripping her around the waist. She watched a little smile play on his lips.

“Baby, I’ve been known to bench press three hundred. I could lift you with one hand.”

Lucy did the math, and knew he was sort of close to being right.

Tyson laughed hard and grabbed her hand in his. “C’mon. Let’s go hear some music.”

The outdoor music festival was loud and joyous and he kept her close in the throng. Lucy felt safe and relaxed with Tyson and enjoyed the feel of his arms around her as he swayed to the beat.

Many people came up to her to congratulate her. One woman gave her a bear hug and began to cry, explaining that Lucy’s success had inspired her to lose ten pounds and quit a dead-end job. Tyson took all the attention with grace, yet Lucy noted how he stayed right by her side.

“Are you my bodyguard?” she asked him at one point that night.

“Like I said, sweet Lucy, nice work if you can get it.”

“Delivery for you, Lucy.”

Veronica tilted the dolly on its back wheels and used her sandaled foot to steer it though the door of Lucy’s office.

Lucy looked up from her food journal, where she’d just had to fess up to eating an entire multigrain bagel for breakfast instead of just the half she’d intended, and stared at the dolly. Three nondescript shipping cartons were stacked on top of one another.

“I’m not expecting anything.”

Veronica shrugged and tossed an invoice on Lucy’s desk. “The UPS guy just brought them up. They’re all addressed to you. From the Palm Club. They’re not all that heavy. Want me to open them?”

Lucy frowned. “No. It’s OK. I’ll unload them in just a second.”

She wondered what Theo could be sending her- new workout clothes? A lifetime supply of food journals? Several exercise balls? A self-help book for women who never get kissed a second time?

“And there’s a bunch more fan mail this morning,” Veronica said. “I think it’s so cool you’ve got a fan club. I’ve never known anyone who had a fan club.”

“Yeah. Fifteen members at last count. I’m gonna be bigger than Britney Spears soon.”

“But still, it’s a club. I don’t have a fan club.”

“You’re young yet.” Lucy walked over to the dolly and grabbed one of the cartons. “At this rate, every man, woman, and child in America will be required by law to do something humiliating on television before they die, so your time will come.”

Lucy hoisted the package on the top of her desk, then used a letter opener to slice through the packing tape. She pulled open the flaps and her eyes landed on the familiar small yellow boxes with brown printing. Dozens of little yellow boxes, the sight of which caused her heart to race and her mouth to water.

Impossible.

“Why in the world would the club send you three cases of Milk Duds?” Veronica peered over Lucy’s shoulder and sniffed. “That’s really mean.”

Lucy reached for the invoice with trembling fingers and studied the sender information-sure enough, it listed the Palm Club’s Miami Beach address and number. And it listed Theo by name.

She grabbed her phone. Then put it back down.

Could somebody have put his name on that invoice as a joke? Who would want to hurt her like that? Who would like to see her fail? Who on earth could be so malicious?

Veronica stared at her, openmouthed and bug-eyed. “Ohmigod!” she said. “I thought you were going to rip Theo to shreds. That was close.”

“Yes, it was.”

Veronica eased a hand into one of the packages and held aloft a few boxes of candy. “Because I was just thinking maybe somebody used Theo’s name as a kind of sick joke. I mean, it makes no sense that he’d send you these.”

If Veronica had just reached a logical conclusion before Lucy, the end was near. “I think that’s exactly what happened,” Lucy said.

“I wonder who would do that to you?” Veronica shook the boxes like marimbas and sashayed toward the door. “You don’t mind if I eat these, do you?”

“It’s time to WakeUp, Miami!”

Lucy spread her arms wide and smiled as the vaguely salsalike theme music kicked in. The applause was punctured by sharp whistles and a chant of “Go,

Lucy; go, Lucy“ as the cameras left her and focused on hosts John Weaver and Carolina Buendia.

“Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Lucy, for waking us up today!” Carolina said. “We’ve got a great show for you this morning, including what’s fast becoming everybody’s favorite monthly segment here on WakeUp Miami-Lucy Cunningham’s check-in on her journey from chubby to chic!”

From his spot just off camera, Theo cringed, and caught Lucy’s eye. She shrugged it off and gave him a little smile.

She was wearing a pair of sleek black yoga pants today and a form-fitting scoop-neck shirt in a pale blue. He wondered if Gia was taking her shopping, because he hadn’t seen the hideous leggings or the pink sweatpants in ages. He watched her walk across the stage and wave to the audience, which seemed to get more pumped with each of their appearances. A middle-aged couple in the third row held a poster that said; Lose, Lucy, Lose!

John Weaver spoke to the camera. “Stay tuned. We’ll be back with Lucy and personal trainer Theo Redmond and all of Miami will see just how close Lucy’s getting to her goal of losing a whopping one hundred pounds in a year!”

They cut to a commercial and Theo studied Lucy as she walked across the set toward him, moving with a level of confidence he’d not seen before, almost with a little sway of her hips. Maybe it was the flared legs of the yoga pants.

Maybe it was all the dates with Tyson.

Theo laughed at himself. Despite his logical approach to the kissing fiasco, he now faced another fiasco- Tyson was dating Lucy, and loving it. He’d taken her to a concert, a movie, a couple dinners, lunches. Theo no longer asked. He’d also managed to stop himself from asking how much petting-heavy or otherwise-was going on. He didn’t want to know.

Because the woman walking toward him had melted in his arms once, surrendered to his mouth, showing Theo that beneath Lucy Cunningham’s surface lurked a babe who felt like paradise and tasted like lust. And what had he done after that discovery? He gave her to another man.

He should be taken out and shot.

“My public adores me,” she whispered, standing beside him at the edge of the set. “I think my fan club membership just skyrocketed to sixteen.”

She smelled especially soft and sweet today and he took a deep breath of her. “Are you wearing a new perfume?”

She smiled up at him, and Theo examined her lips for any telltale sign of paradise. He was alarmed to see the scenery hadn’t changed, and decided he’d have to simply avoid looking at her mouth.

“I am. Thank you for noticing. It’s called ‘Paradise Awaits.’” Lucy tipped her head to the side and her smile mellowed. “Gia’s modeling for their new ad and gave me a freebie. You like?”

Theo had to laugh. Sometimes the ways of the universe could be as subtle as a sledgehammer. Sometimes it hurt like hell, but other times it was just a gentle reminder to pay attention. And at the moment, he certainly was rising to attention-everywhere. It started with a heat in his face and moved down into his chest, where his heart stirred to life, and kept on moving southward. Everything about him was perking up right there in front of John Weaver and Carolina Buen-dia and an audience full of people watching their every move.

“I like,” he said.

She nodded. “Hey. Two Cuban sandwiches and a bag of Fritos were delivered to my office yesterday at lunchtime.”

Theo frowned at her. “You ordered that for lunch?”

Lucy made a tsking sound followed by a sigh of exasperation. “No, Theo. This is not another pecan pie confession. What I’m telling you is that someone called in that order to be delivered to me at work-the Milk Dud scenario again-with your name on the receipt.”

“Wow. That’s so strange.” Theo was doing his best to sound casual, but the truth was, this had “creepy” written all over it. It was true that Lucy’s notoriety was increasing, and it could be that she had attracted the attention of an admirer with a twisted sense of humor. Theo hoped that was the only thing twisted about him. “Do you think we should call the police?”

Lucy laughed so loud that the stage director slashed her finger across her throat and glared at her an instant before she counted down to action.

Lucy leaned her shoulder against Theo and whispered, “I’m not sure the unauthorized delivery of swine is a felony.”

Theo put his lips to her ear and enjoyed the scent of paradise before he said, “Damn well should be.”

Lucy lost only three pounds that month. Theo’s heart just about cracked in two as he watched her step down from the scale in front of the live audience, trying her best to put on a brave face as the crowd groaned in disappointment.

He felt her tremble from head to toe as he measured her in front of the cameras. She had lost five more inches, three from her hips alone.

Theo took the opportunity to explain to John and Carolina that this was a perfect example of why people working toward improved health and fitness should not be too focused on the numbers. Lucy had obviously lost many pounds of fat and gained lean muscle, which weighs more. Her loss of inches was proof that her body was finding its own pace of transformation.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if next month is a big number loss for Lucy. Sometimes it works like that.”

Carolina leaned forward in her chair, her great legs crossed at the knees, and she patted Lucy’s forearm. “Do you feel like you’ve failed this month?”

Ah, hell. This was the kind of crap that they’d managed to avoid so far and the last thing he wanted Lucy to have to deal with. But Lucy-sweet, funny Lucy- looked right into the camera and said, “The only thing I’m losing is weight.”

Theo tried not to smile as Carolina fidgeted with her cue cards and blinked in discomfort before they started taking questions from the audience. The woman with the Lose, Lucy, Lose! poster stood up and asked if she could give Lucy a hug.

“Sure,” Lucy said, standing up and waiting for the woman to reach her.

“My name is Sonja Gallegos and I’ve lost eleven pounds following the Lucy and Theo health and fitness plan,” the woman announced.

That was interesting news-considering Theo didn’t know there was such a thing.

“When are you going to have your Web site up and running?” Sonja asked. “And when’s the book coming out?”

Lucy laughed good-naturedly and gave Sonja a squeeze. “We’ll keep everyone posted. Promise.”

Theo ended up giving Lucy a ride to her office after the show because she told him her car was in the shop.

“So how’d you get here this morning?” he asked.

“Taxi.”

Theo sighed, pulling into the crazy morning rush hour traffic of downtown Miami. “I could have picked you up at your place, Luce. It wouldn’t have been a problem.”

“But what about your brother? And you live all the way up in Miami Springs. I didn’t want to cause any more problems than I already do.”

“It would have been OK. You can ask me for things like that anytime. That’s what friends do.”

He watched her turn her face toward the passenger-side window. She’d lost a total of forty-three pounds now, and it was fascinating how the bone structure of her face had come out of hiding. When he looked at her he no longer saw a round-faced woman. He saw Lucy. And Lucy happened to have been blessed with a nice heart-shaped face, high cheekbones, big, perfectly spaced eyes, and beautiful skin.

But if he had to pick one thing he loved most about the way she was designed, it would have to be her neck. It was graceful and long, and the way she had her head turned away at the moment made him want to kiss her right behind her cute ear.

“Are we really friends?” Lucy swiveled so fast she caught him gawking at her. A shadow passed through her eyes and she frowned.

“Of course we’re friends.”

“Just checking.”

“Why did you have to ask me that?”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, then smiled. “We’re the kind of friends who’ve kissed once by mistake.”

Theo swallowed hard, pulling onto First Avenue and getting flipped off in the process. He knew her office was near Twelfth Street and he needed to switch lanes, which was going to be near impossible at this hour of the morning. He also knew he needed to respond to that last comment but had no earthly idea what to say to her.

That kiss had been hot and confusing and tipped his world on its axis. It had been unforgettable. And Lucy had just referred to it as a mistake. Maybe that was the easiest way to put the issue to rest.

“We all make mistakes, Lucy. We’re human.”

“You can drop me off right here.” She reached for the door handle and grabbed her clothes hanger from the backseat.

“But your office is six blocks away!”

“I’ll walk.” She waited, her hand on the handle. “Unlock the car, please.”

“We need to talk about this.”

Her eyes flashed at him and she gritted her teeth. “Unlock the car. Now.”

“You’re dating Tyson.”

“The door, Theo.”

“Fine.” He hit the button and the sharp little click echoed through the Honda interior like a gunshot. “I’ll see you tomorrow at-”

Slam!

She was already gone.

Lucy changed her clothes in the ladies’ room of Sher-rod amp; Thorns and tried to find the perfect balance between deep-relaxation breathing and hyperventilation. But the way her sinuses hummed and her vision ebbed and flowed, she feared she’d already crossed that line.

She fumbled with the back button on her skirt and looked at herself in the mirror. “What the hell?” Granted it was difficult to keep her wardrobe organized with the constant size changes, but she could have sworn this particular skirt was a size 16. But it sagged at the waist and made the bottom half of her body look like it was draped in a sack.

She yanked at the waist and twisted the fabric around so she could read the tag. Yep. A 16. This was very weird.

“Good morning, Lucy!” Veronica balanced her Starbucks cup on the edge of the sink and began to touch up her lipstick. “Having a problem with your zipper?”

“No. I’m having a problem with my trainer.” Lucy shoved the waistband into her panty hose and pulled her cotton twinset down over her hips and admired the effect in the ladies’ room mirror. “I look like I have a tumor.”

“So what’s wrong with Theo? What did he do?

I watched you two this morning on WakeUp Miami and he sure seemed nice to you. It looked like he was taking care of you.“

Lucy blinked hard at her own reflection, then looked at Veronica. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“I said…” Veronica rubbed her lips together and popped the lipstick tube back in her bag. “It was obvious he really cares for you. Just the way he looked at you when you talked. The way he smiled at you. It was real sweet. Gentle. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he had the hots for you, but I know you’ve been going out with that other trainer babe.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Veronica!” Lucy scooped up the empty hanger and her workout clothes from the floor and shoved them in her gym bag.

“Hey, you asked and I answered. You’re my boss. I don’t lie to you. That’s what I saw.”

Lucy stood a moment at the restroom door and tried to remember if she’d seen any of what Veronica described. Maybe. But then, Theo was usually sweet. Always gentle. Like a friend would be.

The dangerously high lust level she’d felt in his kiss must have been a figment of her imagination, a result of her naivete.

“Thank you, Veronica. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“No problem. So what did Theo do? Why are you so pissed at him?”

She held the door open for her assistant. “Nothing. It’s all in my head.”

Lucy made her way down the still-quiet halls of Sherrod amp; Thorns. She liked getting in at eight because that left her an hour of peace before everyone else showed up and the fax machine started going crazy and the phones rang incessantly and Stephan popped his head in to make as many pointless suggestions and godawful strange comments as one man could produce in a day’s work.

She parted company with Veronica and rounded the corner past Stephan’s office, which used to be Sarah’s. Lucy remembered interviewing with Sarah, how much she loved the older woman’s sense of humor and her worldliness. How they’d hit it off immediately. With her gone, the one hundred thousand couldn’t come soon enough.

“I said I’ll make it work, so enough with the bullshit threats about the IRS or anything else. You got it?”

Lucy stopped dead as she heard Stephan slam down his phone and scream, “Nasty old unscrupulous fuck!” The words echoed through the quiet hallway.

She took a steadying breath and opted to walk by his door casually, greeting Stephan with a smile and a wave. He saw her, and his face fell. He ran after her.

“Lucy. Hold up.”

She turned in time to see him adjusting the collar of his dress shirt, looking for all the world like he was nearly stroking out from stress, and they hadn’t even opened for business yet.

“Everything OK, Stephan?”

“Sure. Sure. Great.” He put his hand at the small of Lucy’s back and directed her toward her office. She absolutely hated him touching her like that. “How’s the Eddie Award entry coming? And what the hell’s wrong with your skirt?”

Lucy sighed. She threw her gym bag behind he desk and motioned for Stephan to have a seat. “My skirt is too big and I’m done with the Eddie entry. It’s an incomplete mess. I’m embarrassed to put my name on it. But it’s done. Veronica’s making a copy.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.”

“It’s seven pages and fourteen graphic attachments of bullshit and you know it.”

Stephan didn’t blink. “I think it’s important for the agency’s visibility that we at least try this year.”

“I disagree. The Palm Club campaign would be perfect for next year’s entry, but not now. But I did it, just as you asked. Anything else?”

Stephan shuffled his feet on the carpet and looked around restlessly. His eyes landed on hers and he grinned. “Tough break on the weight gain this month.”

Lucy would have to call the look on her boss’s face outright glee. “I lost three pounds, Stephan. That’s not a gain.”

“Well, Lucy, it hardly matters. What matters is the fact that at this rate it doesn’t look like you’re going to make it, and I won’t lie to you-I’m quite concerned.”

Lucy sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. She’d just started doing that again, and it made her feel a little smug that she could once again get her thighs to lie on top of each other like a normal person. “Is this your way of empowering me?”

Stephan snickered and steepled his fingers in front of his face. “You’re plenty empowered. I don’t want to put additional pressure on you, but it’s clear I need to remind you that the firm’s reputation is in your hands.”

“I see.”

“You and the pretty-boy trainer can be as bubbly as fuck on TV, but if you don’t keep dropping the pounds we’re going to start dropping clients. If you don’t keep losing weight, you could ruin us. You and everyone else around here could be out of a job.”

Once again, Lucy couldn’t quite figure out the man who was supposed to be the captain of this business enterprise. She wondered if maybe Sarah’s death had sent him over the edge.

“Did you see the show this morning, Stephan? Did you see the woman who wanted to know when our Web site would be up?”

“The poster was quite a classy touch.” He shook his head.

“I think she’s hit on something. I think Theo and I should have our own site-not just the progress reports on the Palm Club site. We can have chat rooms and online support groups for those trying to get fit. We can link to the Palm Club, of course, and have guest trainers do weekly question-and-answer columns. I can make a blog of my daily workouts and food journal. What do you think?”

Stephan’s eyes had glazed over and he appeared ready to fall forward onto Lucy’s desk.

“Stephan? Hello?”

“I’ll think about it.” He pushed himself up into a stand, still not making eye contact with Lucy. “Don’t do anything until I’ve had a chance to mull it over.”

“Mull what over?” Lucy stood up to study her boss. There was something more funky than usual about Stephan this morning. Was he not getting enough sleep at night? Had the man started using drugs? What was that ugly phone conversation about? “I think this is a no-brainer. We could generate so much excitement-”

Stephan simply turned and left without comment, like a ghost, or a man who’d just realized he’d stepped into the wrong room and was lost.

Men. Lucy didn’t think she’d ever understand them.

Her phone rang. She picked it up and heard the unmistakable sound of Mary Fran in tears.

“My God! Frannie, what’s wrong? Is it the kids?”

“No. No. They’re fine.” More sobs.

Lucy figured she might as well give in to, the fact that today was going to be a doozy. Before most people could get their butts settled in their desk chairs, she had been publicly weighed and measured only to disappointment thousands; had learned without a doubt that Theo thought of her only as a friend; was dressed like a bag lady; had engaged in a nonsensical conversation with her borderline-insane boss; and had just been informed that her big sister was running away from home and moving in with her.

“You’re what?”

“I’ll be there tonight.”

“Fran, you can’t. What about the kids?”

“I told Keith I was leaving him and he’d have full responsibility for the children for as long as I decided to stay gone. We’ll see how long he survives.”

“Are you serious?”

“Well, no. Maybe I just need a wild girls’ weekend.”

“But Frannie-”

“Don’t try to stop me.”

“But-”

“I have to go. One of the twins just puked. My flight gets in at Miami International at ten.”

Lucy pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. Mary Fran had hung up.