He Loves Lucy

Chapter 6

May

Some nights, Theo didn’t think he did enough to earn five hundred dollars manning the door at Flawless. Other nights, it seemed they couldn’t pay him enough for this gig. Tonight was one of those nights.

The early crowd was already sloshed and rockin‘. Theo looked at his watch to see that it was eleven-he had five more hours of this before he could go home and collapse. He’d sleep in until about ten, then hit the books. His test was in three months and it weighed heavily on his mind.

Theo knew it was rare for someone to reenter medical school once he’d dropped out, especially after what would be a four-year hiatus. Sometimes he thought he was nuts for even trying. The brain absorbs information at an astounding rate in med school, and once you leave that environment, it’s like a stopper is removed and the draining begins. Much of what he’d learned had already hemorrhaged, and he was attempting to shove it all back in, trying to reacquaint his mind with the pounding demands of medical school.

It was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

The score on his readmission test would determine how much of his life he’d wasted. There was a distinct possibility he’d have to start all over again, from the beginning of his M-l year. It would be demoralizing, and he wasn’t sure if it would be worth it. But if his scores were high enough, he could start at any point prior to where he left off and maybe even pick up right at the middle of the M-3 year. That would be ideal, but he wasn’t counting on it.

“Hey, Theo, baby.” He looked up to see one of the club’s regular honeys sashay inside. For women like her, there was no cover. All she had to do was look gorgeous and occasionally dance on the bar, a huge mahogany structure built for just that purpose. No one sat at the bar at Flawless. Few people sat at all. It was just a writhing sea of techno dance music, sunbaked bodies barely covered in shamefully expensive clothing, and naked hunger.

It’s what South Beach was all about.

“Good to see you. Enjoy yourself tonight.”

“I’d enjoy myself more if I had you.”

Theo tried to smile. He’d seen this woman operate more nights than he could remember. Safe sex with her would require the use of a full-body condom. “Sorry, but I gotta work.”

When she pouted and shook out her hair, the glitter she’d spritzed on herself from eyelids to toenails twinkled in the lights. “Maybe some other night.”

The patrons poured in. Theo had to turn away a female foursome with the lamest fake IDs he’d seen in some time. “Come back in a few years, girls,” he’d said to them.

Theo put up the rope at about eleven forty-five. From now till about two thirty he’d be cajoled and tipped and begged by those who knew it was uncool to show up before midnight but weren’t cool enough to make it through the rope after then.

He despised this game but smiled and joked to pass the time. He looked at his watch. It was just after midnight.

He recognized the voice long before he saw Gia. There wasn’t another person on the planet with that cackling laugh and that grating, fast, Spanish-laced speech.

She kissed his cheek. “Hola, Theo.”

He kissed her back. “You missed your appointment Wednesday.”

“You mad at me, or what? I forgot to tell you I had to fly to New York.”

Something in Theo’s brain snapped. He could swear he just got a whiff of Paradise Awaits and he sniffed at Gia, but it wasn’t her.

Then Gia stepped out of his face and his eyes landed on the most amazing sight. It was Lucy-two Lucys, really: the one he knew and a shrimpy version, standing next to two other women he’d never met.

“You gonna make us stand out here all night or what, Theo?”

He hardly heard Gia. He blinked. Lucy was wearing a sparkling silver top with tiny straps and a black skirt that fell well above her knees. He hadn’t seen this much of her skin since he dipped her in the hydrostatic tank. But she hadn’t looked like this back then. Back then she’d been a big, out-of-shape woman. Tonight, she stood before him a voluptuous, curvy, solid, glowing, slightly larger-than-average woman.

So he was shallow. He admitted it. All he knew was the Lucy standing in front of him, her eyes wide and her shiny hair falling free, was hot.

“I’m Lucy’s sister, Mary Fran. I’ve heard all about you, Theo.”

A soft little hand was shoved into his palm and broke his fixation on the real Lucy. The small Lucy began to shake his hand with gusto. “So is this when I tip you?” she asked, holding out a five.

Theo laughed, pushing the money back into her hand. It was amusing seeing someone who looked like Lucy but was so different. He raised his eyes to see the real thing smiling at him.

“And this is Veronica King and Maria Banderas,” Lucy introduced her coworkers to Theo.

“Please, come right on in, ladies.”

Lucy passed by last, and Theo inhaled-paradise indeed. “You look beautiful,” he whispered in her ear.

Lucy spun her head around, and a section of her hair slapped him across the chin. He loved it. Though he knew it would be the stupidest thing he could do, he wanted to reach out and grab that hair and crush his mouth against hers-just one more time.

“Thanks, Theo.”

Her eyes were beguiling. She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his cheek. On the surface, it was exactly the same kind of perfunctory, social kiss that

Gia had given him just a moment ago. But it didn’t feel the same, and when Lucy’s warm lips touched his face he automatically turned toward the kiss, and the very corners of their mouths touched.

It was electric.

Lucy pulled back and looked away, running to catch up with the other women, already swarmed with admirers. Theo worried about Lucy in there. He worried she’d get hit on. He worried she’d not know how to protect herself.

Then he pictured her warrior princess stance on the Miami Springs High School track last month and knew she’d be OK.

Besides, there was no way he’d let Lucy out this door without knowing what time she left and whom she left with. He’d make sure of it.

Theo took a break about one thirty and decided to search for her. It didn’t take long-he found her dancing with a Latin lover type, her head thrown back as she laughed. Theo stood stock-still, staring at her hips. She was moving in a way that had nothing to do with building core strength and everything to do with seduction. He swallowed hard, just as Lucy turned to see him staring.

The song ended, and he watched Lucy shake her head several times, turning down whatever offer her dance partner had extended. Theo sighed in relief as Lucy sat down at a small cocktail table just to the side of the bar, alone.

“What are you drinking?”

She grinned at him. “Diet Coke,” she shouted over the music. “Is this a journal check?”

He laughed. “Nope. I was going to get you another one. Be right back.”

Theo helped himself to two sodas and returned to the table, hopping up on the stool right next to Lucy. He knew that conversation would be tough with the music, but just sitting by her side was better than nothing.

He let his eyes scan the club and saw Gia holding court on a red velvet sofa on the raised dais toward the back. This club didn’t have a VIP room, but the platform cluttered with sofas, chairs, and Persian rugs served the purpose.

His eyes fell on the miniature Lucy named Mary Fran, who was shaking her thing on the bar with Veronica and Maria. He raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“My sister is having a marital crisis!” Lucy shouted in his ear. “I think she just needs to blow off some steam!”

He looked down on Lucy’s glistening face and smiled. Without thinking, he brought his hand to her cheek and touched her smooth skin. Her eyes flew wide. Theo wanted to smack himself. Not only did he have to stop thinking about touching and kissing her-he also needed to stop doing it.

“Wanna dance?”

“I don’t think so.” She shook her head and took a sip from her straw.

“Why not?”

Lucy shrugged. “Too self-conscious, I guess.” She leaned closer to him, and thoughts of paradise clouded his mind. “I’m a little worried about what other people are thinking.”

Theo laughed. “You didn’t seem too concerned about that with Ricky Romance back there.”

Lucy laughed, too. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Let’s dance.”

“No.”

“Sorry. Not acceptable.” Theo grabbed her hand and pulled her out onto the dance floor, all the while his brain was crying, Stupid, stupid, stupid! He told himself to shut up and snuggled her tighter, feeling every inch of her feminine softness against every hard place on his body, including the parts that seemed to be getting harder by the second.

It wasn’t exactly a slow dance number, but Theo didn’t give a damn. This was what he craved.

“Are you trying to camouflage me with your entire body, Theo?”

He laughed. “I’m only here to help.”

“This is not helping anything. Let me go.” Lucy tried to shove away from him.

“Hey, relax, Luce. I’m going to say something to you and it may sound harsh, but you need to hear it.”

He let her pull away enough that she could look up into his face. She was frowning. “What? I can’t even hear you!”

Theo took her hand and led her past the bar, through the kitchen, and out the back door of the club. Lucy gasped as they entered the serene little courtyard that led to the club owners’ apartment.

Theo motioned for her to have a seat on a cushioned lounge chair next to a potted fern. He sat in the one across from her.

“You have a habit of obsessing about what people think when they look at you.”

“Not accurate.” Lucy adjusted herself so she was poised on the chair edge, as if preparing for a quick escape. “That used to be one of my habits-obsessing over the fact that people were staring at me, then being pissed off about it and eating too much, then getting more obsessed and pissed off because I ate too much and people were staring at me. Fun, huh?”

She tried to get up, but Theo grasped her hand. “You’re a different person now.”

Lucy’s face softened. She nodded her head. “I’m trying.”

“Look, Luce. What I’m getting at is there’s a lot more to life than how much you weigh and what size you wear.”

Her mouth opened. She blinked at him.

“You need to get your mind off that crap for a while. It really isn’t all about what you look like.”

‘Thanks for the pep talk.“ She stood up, and Theo stood with her.

“All I’m saying is there’s a bigger picture. Maybe you need to expand your horizons a little.”

She cocked her head to the side and smiled at him. “Since when did you become a philosopher, Theo?”

“I think about three years ago. So what are you doing two weekends from now?”

“Nothing.”

“Then I’d like to show you someplace where nobody gives a rat’s ass about your percentage of body fat. Where nobody will judge you by your appearance. A place where you can stop judging yourself for maybe the first time in your life.”

The music stopped inside the club for an instant, and it got quiet out in the courtyard, so quiet they could hear the ocean.

“I don’t know any places like that, Theo,” she whispered.

“I do.”

Lucy shrugged. “All right. So what’s a girl wear to a place like that?”

“Sensible shoes and sunscreen,” he said, smiling.

“I’m Buddy, Theo’s brother. I have mental retardation and I’m a track star.”

Lucy had barely made one pass around the University of Southern Florida stadium before she found the brothers Redmond, or they found her. She’d really had no idea what to expect-Theo had told her only that Buddy was sixteen and had Down syndrome and that Lucy should come to Tampa for the weekend to watch him compete in the Florida State Games.

And now Buddy stood very close to her, his face on fire with delight, his smile very wide and a little wet, and he was staring at her through thick glasses, waiting for her response.

“Cool. I’m Lucy,” is what she said, and they shook hands.

Theo hung back, relaxed and hunky as always, in a red polo shirt with the words Special Olympics Miami-Dade Coach stitched on the left upper chest. Theo was a Special Olympics coach? Why hadn’t he mentioned that?

“I know who you are, Lucy.” Buddy gave her a slow nod. “You’re the pretty fat lady Theo goes on TV with. Your butt looks a lot better now than it used to.” He kept going. “I weigh one hundred twenty-six pounds and I don’t eat junk, except on nights Theo’s too tired to cook, so I can win in competitions. My mom wouldn’t let me get fat like a lot of Down syndrome people.”

Lucy had no idea how to respond to all that.

Just then, a pack of four teenagers strolled by, all in different-colored T-shirts, all obviously Special Olympics athletes, and they pulled Buddy into their group with excited hugs and loud greetings.

Theo hollered after him, “Meet me at the main registration tent at four! Do not be late-we’re having dinner with Aunt Viv and Uncle Martin before the opening ceremony!”

“You got it, stud!” Buddy waved at Theo, winked at Lucy, and was swept off into a sea of people walking toward a banner that read: Olympic Village.

Theo turned to her and grinned. “He can be a little direct sometimes.”

“And you said nobody here would care about the size of my butt!”

He laughed, putting his arm around her shoulder and giving her a friendly squeeze. “So how was your drive? Did you enjoy Alligator Alley?”

There was little to enjoy on the highway from Miami to Tampa via Naples-unless you reveled in endless desolate swampland and no mobile phone coverage. “It was relaxing. I listened to some good tunes and got here in no time.”

“Great. Do you think you would be comfortable staying with us this weekend? It would be much better than a hotel.”

Lucy frowned at him. “Us who? You and Buddy? I don’t think that’s-”

“My aunt and uncle’s best friends have a winter home here but are already back in Boston. They gave us the place for the week.”

Whoa. Lucy had planned on the Red Roof Inn, not living under the same roof with Theo and his family.

“There’s more than enough room for all of us. And Viv and Martin would love to meet you.”

She shook her head. “I could never impose like that.”

Theo laughed. “Don’t be silly. I’d love your company, and that house is so big we could lose each other in it. Plus, it’s staffed, as in there’s a maid, a cook, a gardener, and a pool man. Come enjoy it with us.”

She felt her eyes go wide.

“Please say yes, Luce.”

Theo was looking down into her face with such adorable tenderness that Lucy nearly lost her breath. She couldn’t be angry at him, she supposed-he obviously had no idea what he did to her with those sea blue eyes, how he confused her with his affection, excited her with his touch, left her feeling lost when she wasn’t in his company.

The man squeezing her shoulder so tightly was her friend. Her trainer. Her business partner. Yes, she’d been ga-ga over Theo since the moment they met. But he was not her lover, and despite the sparks she felt in his presence, he seemed to be happy just being friends.

The faster she could come to grips with that, the saner she’d be. And the more she could just enjoy her next date with Tyson.

“Sure, Theo. I accept.”

Theo had led her to a big blue-and-white-striped tent where dozens of volunteers handed out badges.

“Theo!” An older lady in a hat decorated with an array of fishing lures smiled warmly at him. “What can I do you for, handsome?”

“Hi, Mimi.” Theo kissed her cheek. “This is my friend Lucy Cunningham, and we need to pick up her pass for the weekend.”

“Welcome, Lucy!” Mimi opened her arms and leaned over the utility table, pressing Lucy to her big bosom. “Any friend of Theo’s is a friend of mine.”

Mimi rooted through a box of manila envelopes. “Ah. Here we go.” She opened the flap and pulled out a long white neck strap looped through a laminated card that read: All Access Pass.

“Is this your first time at the State Games?”

Lucy poked her head through the strap and flipped the ID badge faceup. “Actually… uh…” Lucy forgot what she was saying because Theo had just reached over and extracted her ponytail from the strap, then stroked the back of her neck. “It’s my first Special Olympics anything.”

Mimi’s mouth opened in surprise. “Oh, wow!” She smiled at Theo conspiratorially, then squeezed Lucy’s hand in both hers. “It’s going to blow your mind, sweetheart.”

They went to a Mexican place on Fowler Avenue for dinner, where Lucy ordered the grilled sirloin, pinto beans, and a salad arid was thoroughly charmed by Theo’s family.

Vivian and Martin Redmond were much older than

Lucy anticipated, in their early eighties if she had to guess, and she soon learned they were Theo’s great-aunt and great-uncle. Vivian was gracious and kind and Martin was a firecracker and had them all laughing. Lucy saw immediately that Theo’s stunning blue eyes were a trait among males in the Redmond clan and Martin must have been a real looker in his day. Lucy glanced from Theo to his uncle and back again and was hit by this wistful thought-that it would be nice to know Theo when he was an eighty-year-old charmer, telling jokes to his grandchildren while they ate dinner at some Mexican joint.

Irrational longings like that did nothing to lower her expectations, Lucy realized. She had to stop being such a sentimental goofball.

“Lucy, we’ve been so impressed by your progress on the WakeUp Miami show.”

As nice as it was, Vivian’s comment brought Lucy right back to reality. It made her realize she’d gone several hours without thinking of herself as Lucy Cunningham, media makeover guinea pig. She’d gone most of the day without worrying how her legs looked in her shorts, whether her upper arms were too fleshy for this conservative tank top, or whether she was sweating like a sow in the sun.

She glanced at Theo across the round table and he smiled at her.

“Thank you, Vivian,” Lucy said.

“So tell us about your family, Lucy. Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

And apparently, that was it-there would be no haranguing her about calorie intake or how many abdominal crunches she did each day or the total inches lost off her upper-thigh circumference. They’d already moved on to another subject. Lucy sighed in relief.

“My mom and dad retired to Fort Lauderdale a couple years ago, and I left Pittsburgh and moved to Florida to be near them. I have an older sister who’s married with three little kids-she lives in Atlanta- and a younger brother who’s in his medical residency back in Pittsburgh.”

The table got very quiet, and Lucy looked over to see that Theo’s fork had paused in midair. He put it down and cleared his throat.

“Interesting,” he said. “I didn’t know your brother was in medicine.”

“Mmm-hmm…Pediatrics. He’s in the internship year of a three-year residency. We don’t see him often because I guess the internship year is the worst.”

“I’ve heard that.”

“Theo was going to be a doctor,” Buddy announced matter-of-factly. “But then Mom and Dad died and he had to come home to be with me and then his girlfriend said she couldn’t love him if he wasn’t going to be a doctor. Norton didn’t like her, anyway.”

Buddy reached up and stroked Theo’s hair, as if to comfort his big brother. Then Buddy started to cry.

Lucy’s body buzzed in embarrassment. She felt like she was intruding on a private family matter.

Vivian caressed Buddy’s shoulder and Martin shrugged sadly and Theo looked at her from across the table and grinned.

That was the last straw for Lucy. Theo was so completely not what she’d first assumed him to be. He was single-handedly raising his brother. He had the patience to coach special athletes. He was brilliant enough to get into med school. He’d had his own share of loss and pain. And he was able to hang on to his fine sense of humor in the process.

She felt ashamed at how she’d once assumed Theo was just a pretty face and a perfect body. She’d done the one thing she’d always despised most-she’d. judged someone by his appearance.

And right then, Lucy knew that no matter how hard she tried to deny it, it would be a blizzardy day at Disney World before she’d ever find a man she wanted more than Theodore Redmond.

The pageantry of the opening ceremonies surprised Lucy. She was expecting something schmaltzy and low-budget, not something so powerful. Seventeen hundred athletes ranging in age from eight to eighty stood in clusters under bright field lights and a cobalt blue evening sky, their T-shirts forming a rainbow around the stadium track.

Loud, inspiring rock music blared from the sound system as a cavalcade of law enforcement vehicles roared onto the grass, their lights and sirens sending the crowd into a frenzy. Then the torch was carried into. the stadium by a small group of police officers who’d completed the last ten miles of a statewide torch run.

After a rousing welcome speech from the emcee, a young woman assigned the job of reciting the Special Olympics oath rose from her chair onstage. Little by little, she neared the microphone, her left leg dragging, her physical imperfections clear for all to see. She stood tall in front of the huge crowd and said the words slowly and deliberately, in a voice thick with difficulty: “Let me win,” she said. “But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Lucy sat in the bleachers between Martin and Vivian, humbled to tears. She wondered how many hours of practice had gone into that short walk to the podium and those simple lines of speech. She wondered how much courage it had taken for that woman to do what she’d just done.

Suddenly it was clear why Theo wanted Lucy to be here. He wanted to teach her a compelling lesson in a gentle way. He wanted her to learn to put her own struggles in perspective. Theo, who was out there somewhere in the sea of red shirts, was a very smart man.

Lucy tried to surreptitiously wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I cry every year.” Vivian handed her a tissue. “It can be overwhelming to see how much potential there is in all of us.”

Lucy appreciated Vivian’s words and her quiet smile and told her so. Together they watched as officers handed the torch to a few Special Olympics athletes, who took off around the track to light the Special Olympic Flame of Hope, the fire shooting high into the dark sky.

The emcee announced, “Let the Games begin!”

Competition began early the next day and ended late into the afternoon. Theo’s aunt and uncle lasted only a few hours before the sun and the heat sent them back to the house. They did stay long enough to see Buddy win the one-hundred-meter and the long jump and then receive medals for the events.

Twice that morning, Lucy, Vivian, and Martin left their seats in the stands for the shady picnic area, where the award platforms were arranged behind potted plants. Twice Buddy stood atop the highest of three blocks while a volunteer hit the play button on the boom box and the Olympic theme blared. Twice Buddy smiled, pumped his fist in the air, and the instant the music ended shouted, “Who loves me now?”

The second time he did this, Lucy turned to Theo to ask him what Buddy was doing, but Theo had already started to explain. He said it was Buddy’s good-luck ritual, one he’d used since he was eight, when he won his first Special Olympics event.

“It was the two-hundred-meter breaststroke, and right before it started my mom went to the side of the pool and hugged him and said, ‘Everybody loves you, Buddy.’ So when he touched the wall first, he ripped off his goggles and pumped his fist in the air and yelled, ‘Who loves me now?’ Everyone laughed, and he’s been winning ever since.”

By four that afternoon, Buddy had six gold medals hanging from his neck and Lucy felt like she’d run a marathon herself. The heat and all the pure emotion was exhausting, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the competitions. There seemed to be a lot of hugging going on, which fascinated her. Hugs seemed to be as important as the medals. After a singles tennis match, the victor dropped to her knees and kissed the court before she was crushed with hugs from her coach, parents, friends, and even her competition. When a tall, strong high jumper hit the bar with his shoulder and cried in disappointment, he was hugged by his rivals.

At about five, Theo drove them back to the house, where they planned to eat and get showered and changed for the evening’s festivities-the closing ceremony and victory dance. The dance was all Buddy talked about on the drive from the stadium. Apparently, the dance was the best thing about the Summer Games.

“Are you going to dance tonight, Lucy?” Buddy had turned his excited sun-brown face around toward her in the backseat of Theo’s car, where she sat enjoying the air-conditioning.

“I’m not a big dancer, Buddy.”

“Oh, don’t be such a party pooper!” He turned around in his seat, clearly disappointed.

Theo caught her eye in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Tonight just might change all that, Luce,” he said.

Dinner was ready when they arrived, and Martin and Vivian waited for them in the cavernous dining room, sipping cocktails and looking cool and rested. Lucy was starving. It was all she could do not to attack the meal of grilled halibut and vegetables, cold corn relish, and salad. She wanted to shove it in with her bare hands until she was so stuffed she couldn’t move. Instead, she forced herself to eat a sensible portion slowly, with utensils and everything, and enjoyed the company.

After dinner, Lucy had just enough time to get a shower and change before they had to leave again. She’d only brought one nice outfit-a new sundress in a size L-no “Xs” anywhere on the tag. It was a simple sheath in muted oranges and pinks, with a zipper in the back and a scoop neck. It hit just above her knees. She put on a pair of fisherman sandals and dabbed on some lip gloss and gave herself a sprite of Paradise Awaits. She kept her hair loose around her shoulders so it could dry naturally.

Lucy was writing in her food journal when Buddy began calling her name from down the long hallway.

“Lucy! Let’s go! I can’t be late!”

She met Buddy in the foyer, immediately noticing how dapper he looked in his white cotton button-down and chinos, his short hair glistening with gel, his face scrubbed clean. When Lucy asked Buddy why he wasn’t wearing his gold medals, he looked at her like she was from Mars.

“It’s uncool to wear your medals to the dance,” he said. “It looks like you’re bragging.”

Theo strolled into the foyer, jangling his car keys and patting his pants pocket for his wallet, and Lucy’s heart just about fell to the white marble floor. He was wearing a pale blue loose-fitting rayon shirt with an open neck, white linen slacks, and sandals. He looked squeaky clean. He glowed from the sun. He smelled like heaven; A little patch of golden-brown hair appeared just below the hollow of his throat.

She had the strangest urge to lick him there.

Theo stopped, turned, and gave Lucy an odd little frown-almost as if he’d just heard her thoughts out loud. That would be a problem, since throat licking wasn’t something friends did to each other as a rule; at least it wasn’t something she’d done with any friend she’d ever had.

“Can we just go now?” Buddy stood by the front door with his hands on his hips. “You are staring at each other like you do on TV and I just really feel like dancing.”

The closing ceremony was short and sweet, and as a few special awards were handed out Lucy’s body stung with awareness. Theo sat next to her in the stands, the long solid length of his thigh pressed up against her from hip to knee. All Lucy could think about was the kiss they’d shared on another track in another town, the one that they’d agreed was a mistake, and how she could go about getting another one.

Lucy turned slightly and looked at Theo. He was staring at her with that odd little frown again. But he didn’t look her in the eye. He scanned her face, stopping with particular concern on her lips. Then his nostrils flared.

Lucy needed to say something funny and say it now or she was going to throw her arms around Theo Redmond’s neck and kiss her trainer in front of thousands of mentally retarded Floridians.

She was saved from this humiliation when the emcee announced that the Games had come to their official close and added, “Would anyone care to dance?”

It was mayhem. Athletes stampeded out of the stands and swarmed the infield, jumping and running and shouting as the DJ began his program.

Lucy and Theo hung back in the stands for a while to get a good view of the action.

Many of the girls and women wore nice dresses, all along the spectrum from church clothes to chiffon prom dresses complete with matching corsages. The boys and men sported everything from the usual shorts and tees to slippery oversize suits and spats.

The crowd went into a frenzy when the disc jockey played “The Chicken Dance,” followed by “Wooly Bully,” then the Village People’s “YMCA,” and ‘The Macarena.“

“That DJ has got to start pacing himself,” Lucy said to Theo. “He’s already played all the greatest songs known to man and it’s not even eight thirty.”

“Dance with me, Luce.” Theo grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“But-” Lucy stumbled forward, tugging on the hem of her sundress.

“No buts tonight.” Theo led her down the steps and across the track, greeting at least a dozen people he knew on the way, never stopping, finally pulling her onto the grass and into his arms.

“I’m not the world’s best dancer, Theo.”

“And that’s going to be a problem here?” He gestured broadly at the crowd around them and smiled down at Lucy.

She had to admit he had a point. There was some rather unconventional movement taking place on the grassy dance floor, and much of it didn’t require a partner or even a beat. One woman was happily doing the 1960s-era Swim. There was a long and disjointed conga line snaking through the crowd, gleefully knocking apart small groups as it went. There was a Rockette-like kick line of women with decidedly un-Rockette-like physiques. And some waltzing. Plus a lot of jumping around and hollering.

Lucy didn’t think she’d ever been around so many people who couldn’t care less what others thought of them.

“Thanks for asking me here this weekend.”

Theo’s face softened, and in the bright stadium lights his eyes twinkled down on her. “Thanks for coming.”

The DJ chose that particular moment to play Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” which made Lucy groan and turn her face away from Theo’s.

“Does Elvis make you uncomfortable?”

“Just some of his lyrics.”

Theo’s hand pressed into the small of Lucy’s back and brought her even closer. She felt herself mold into him, rest her cheek on his hard but comfortable chest. Why did everything about Theo have to be just right? Why couldn’t his chest feel too bony under her cheek, or too fleshy? Why couldn’t she be disgusted by the scent of his skin? Why couldn’t she be annoyed by the sound of his voice?

One of Theo’s hands moved to her hair and Lucy started. She tried to pull away, but he kept her there, and that’s when she felt his lips press down on the top of her head.

“Viv and Martin like you, Luce.”

“I like them.”

“You look lovely tonight.”

“God. Just stop, Theo.”

She pushed away enough to break his embrace, only to find her face right below his. He inclined his head enough to bring his lips too close to hers.

Her pulse kicked up to heart-attack speed. “I think we need to stay away from running tracks. We make mistakes on running tracks.”

“Damn, Lucy.” Theo’s breath was warm and sweet on her mouth, and all it would have taken was the slightest forward movement on her part and they would be kissing again. It’s what she wanted. It’s what she feared.

“Can I dance with you?”

They pulled apart to look down at the source of the request. It was a man no more than five feet tall, at least sixty years old, wearing four bronze medals around his chubby neck and a very wide grin on his elfin face. He stared at Lucy with open adoration. He drooled just a little.

“Of course,” Lucy said, feeling Theo’s hands fall away from her body. It was probably for the best. Of course it was. So she welcomed her new dance partner and put one hand on his shoulder as he put a hand on her waist and gazed up at her.

“You are so beautiful,” he said. “I’m Fred. Are you married?”

They arrived back at the house about ten thirty. Viv and Martin were already asleep and Buddy went right to bed. It had been a very long day for him.

Lucy said good night to Theo and was about to venture down the long hallway toward her guest suite when he called her.

“Wanna go for a swim?”

Of course she did. Or did not. Of course she wanted to spend more time with Theo. No she didn’t.

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit. Sorry.” She gave him a nice smile. “Good night.”

“You don’t need one.”

Her brain seized momentarily. Then she said, “Oh yes. Yes, I do. I need a suit so bad you wouldn’t freakin‘ believe it.” Theo’s laughter caused the heat of embarrassment to spread over her face. “Good night, Theo.”

“We can turn off the pool lights, Luce. And with the twenty-foot privacy fence, only NSA spy satellites could see us.”

He was serious! Theo wanted to go skinny-dipping!

“No thank you.”

“OK, fine. I give up. There’s a whole closet of swimsuits in the cabana. Let’s find one for you.”

She laughed, admiring his strategy, then found herself following Theo through the foyer and the main hallway, through the family room, and out the double doors leading to the huge screened-in lanai around the pool. She walked with him past the pool’s two elaborate fountains, trickling and bubbling in the background, along the side of the house to the cabana, where he flicked on the lights.

Inside was a large sitting room furnished in tasteful wicker and white wrought iron, and off to the side were two small changing areas. Theo opened a louvered closet near the entrance to the ladies’ room.

“Here you go.” The door swung open to reveal a bathing suit selection that rivaled that of the average Kmart. “What size do you wear?”

It was such a simple question. But her lips went numb.

Theo looked over his shoulder. “Do you want a one-piece or a two-piece?”

Lucy laughed out loud. She hadn’t worn a two-piece swimsuit since fourth grade. It had been a burnt orange color and she remembered it had an annoying habit of giving her a wedgie when she went off the high dive.

“One-piece,” she mumbled.

Theo pulled out a tankini on a hanger, the price tag still attached, and peered at the size on the side seam. “It says twelve. Will that be too big?”

Too big?

Lucy snatched it out of his hand and disappeared into the changing room.

“So I’ll meet you in the pool?” Theo asked. “Do you want a drink?”

“I want a margarita!” she shouted. “A big-ass frozen margarita with salt on the rim, and a plate of chicken nachos dripping with guacamole and sour cream!”

There were a few seconds of silence before Theo said, “One light beer coming right up.”

Lucy saw her reflection in the mirror and her eyes bugged out. Yes, the tankini fit. It fit nicely, in fact.

“A light beer would be perfect,” she answered. “And I was just kidding about the nachos. I swear.”

Theo changed into his trunks, then padded over to the fully stocked kitchen across the lanai. This was a nice way to live, he had to admit, but he wondered what Viv and Martin’s friends had sacrificed for this kind of wealth. Theo knew nothing about them, other than they were generous and had a money and taste, but he figured people who had to work hard enough to be this rich had missed out on a few of life’s simple joys. Like relaxation. Like spending time with their families.

He wondered how often they even used their own pool.

Theo popped the tops of the beers and brought them to the pool’s edge, then dived in. The water felt soothing, cascading over his hot skin, rippling coolness over the length of his body as he swam. He decided to do a few laps while Lucy got changed, hoping maybe he could clear his head a bit.

He had a problem. His problem was Lucy and his out-of-control desire for her. He was aware that holding her in his arms and nearly kissing her were the absolute wrong things to be doing, yet when she stood there in front of him tonight on the infield, her eyes so wide and pretty and all of her smelling so good, he succumbed to his lesser self. The only thing that mattered was getting her as close as he could.

They had more than six months left together. Lucy was the walking wounded, and she still wouldn’t tell him why. What he needed to do was keep things simple with her. He had no right to tease her or lead her on. He had no right to act on his attraction to her when he had no intention of starting a relationship. There was a real possibility that he could hurt her. And he would rather die than hurt her.

Theo did a flip turn at the wall and out of one watery eye he saw her standing above him. He stopped, burst up from the shallow end, and pushed the water off his face.

He hadn’t seen Lucy in a swimsuit since last November, and the sight was giving him the kind of perspective he couldn’t get from numbers alone. A transformed woman stood in front of him. She was breathtaking.

She held her head high. Her elegant arms and hands hung to her sides, and he could see the very feminine curve of her hips, the indentation of her waist, the swell of her breasts. He saw a little bit of her belly peeking through the tankini, and it was round and full and female.

Seeing her like this almost made him wish they didn’t have to keep pushing for her to lose more weight. She looked perfect to him just as she was.

She daintily dipped a toe into the water and Theo knew that if he were thinking straight he’d be focusing on her quad definition and not how he wanted to nibble on the velvet-soft inside of her thigh.

“Jump in.”

She did and barely missed his head.

He wiped the water from his eyes and laughed. “I said jump in, not on!”

“Sorry.”

She didn’t look sorry. Lucy smoothed her hair back and smiled at him, then giggled. She was a wet minx. A slippery vixen. Theo had to touch her or he’d splinter into a thousand pieces of frustration, but was there any way to make that touch appear accidental? The only thing he could think of would be to dunk her and chase her around in the pool like they were kids, but who was he fooling? That would be so transparent.

Then suddenly he was underwater, Lucy’s hands forcing his head deeper below the surface. He laughed in surprise, feeling the bubbles shoot out of his nose up through the water. In a burst of playful revenge, he grabbed her around the knees and flipped her over his shoulder, hearing her scream just before she splashed down behind him.

Lucy swam hard to get away, but he was quick. Theo pulled her by the ankles and yanked her back to him, and as she flailed in a vain attempt to escape, he realized this was fun. He hadn’t had this much fun with a woman in a long time. And it was anything but innocent.

She twisted in his grasp and came up for air, her ankles still in his hands. He opened his arms wide, spreading her legs, then pulled. She smacked right up against him and she squeezed her legs around his waist before he could even suggest it.

Then Lucy’s arms were around his neck and she brought that beautiful mouth of hers close and pushed open her lips with the pink tip of her tongue. Theo blinked the water from his lashes, knowing this was going to be the kind of kiss neither could pretend was accidental.

He knew this kiss was going to be anything but a mistake or the biggest freakin‘ mistake he’d ever make in his life.

Theo moved his hands through the water until they cupped Lucy’s butt. She gasped. He squeezed, feeling muscle and flesh and woman, and Lucy let out the most appealing little whimper he’d ever heard. Right then, Theo’s nose caught a hint of Paradise Awaits mixed with chlorine and that was all she wrote. He didn’t care about what happened after that kiss-he only cared about the kiss itself, that kiss and those legs around him and that luscious, full ass cupped in his hands.

Theo slammed his mouth on hers just as Lucy desperately sought him out, and they hit so hard it hurt. But they didn’t stop. They soothed the momentary pain with each other’s lips and tongues and Theo realized he was starving for this. He was starving for a woman-a woman he could connect with, a woman he could play with.

He was starving for a woman like Lucy.

Her hands were in his hair and she was grabbing him, pulling him even closer, squeezing him so tight between her thighs he feared for his ribs.

The sound of a slamming patio door was followed by the sudden glare of an overhead bank of lights. The two thrashed around in the water to separate, gasping for breath.

“What the hell…?” Uncle Martin stood on the lanai in a pair of white boxer shorts so loose they made his legs look like toothpicks stuck in marshmallows.

He shook his head. “Sorry, kids. I told Viv it was a ‘making whoopee’ scream, not a ‘help-I’ve-fallen-and-I-can’t-get-up’ scream, but would she listen?”

Martin sighed, flipped off the light, and went back inside without further comment.

Theo got thoroughly splashed as Lucy swam toward the pool steps, kicking furiously. He admired her freestyle stroke and her speed, and then he just plain admired her when she climbed out and ran like a gazelle toward the guest wing. The girl could certainly make time on land or water when she was running away from him.

“Lucy, stop.”

She turned, clutching her arms over her chest, the water streaming off her body as she panted for breath.

“I want you bad, Luce.”

“No.” She shook her head.

“This is nuts. I’m not going to fight it anymore.”

Theo began to exit the pool, knowing that just how much he wanted her would be evident when his hips cleared the waterline.

Lucy’s eyes locked onto the front of his swim trunks. “Oh, jeez,” she breathed. “This is so not going to work.”

Theo looked down at himself. “I have to disagree.”

“If we do this, it’ll change everything, Theo! You still want to be just friends?”

“Hell, no.”

“Because I sure don’t want to wake up with you in the morning and be told that we all make mista-”

Theo grabbed her, kissed her, and began to back her up toward the house. When they arrived at the sliding door to the guest suite, he deftly reached around, unlatched the handle, and shoved the door wide, all while managing to push down a swimsuit strap and nudge her inside.

“You’re really good at this,” she said against his mouth.

“I’m severely out of practice.”

“You? I don’t even remember what happens next.”

They both laughed while they kissed, Theo slamming the door shut behind him with a blind kick of his leg. “You’re in good hands, Lucy Cunningham.”

Lucy spent five minutes wandering around the room adjusting the lighting. She was still in her swimsuit. The idea of being naked in a man’s presence after all this time had launched her into a panic.

“You’re running away again.”

“No, really, I’m not.” She opted for one 60-watt bulb in the reading lamp in the corner of the huge bedroom, her orange sundress draped across to temper the glare. She stood back to admire the effect.

“I’m dying over here, Luce.”

Lucy turned to see Theo lounging naked on the king-size platform bed, and it was obvious nothing on the man was dying or even wilting. He was breathtaking- long, lean, muscular physical perfection-with a soft fuzz of light brown hair all over his big chest. The trail of hair grew narrow as it grew darker, pointing like an arrow directly at…

Lucy bit her bottom lip to stop from moaning. She raised her eyes to his handsome face, not knowing if fear prevented her from closely scrutinizing what jutted from between his legs or if she was simply saving the best for last, like when she used to eat all the cup cake before any of the icing.

“Lucy, come over here.”

She sat on the edge of the bed.

Theo took both her hands in his. “You’re shaking. Why?”

“It’s the icing on the cup cake.”

One of his eyebrows arched high. “Yes, it certainly is. But your suit is wet. Take it off.”

So easy for him to say. There he was, sprawled out confidently on top of the comforter, every inch of him on display. She supposed hanging around in locker rooms made men blase about nudity. Having no discernible body flaws probably helped, too.

“This is hard for me, Theo.”

“It’s been hard for you nearly all night, in case you haven’t noticed.” Theo’s smile was kind, but his eyes were hot. He brushed the side of her face with his fingertips, cupped her chin softly. “Go on. Look at me. See how much I want you.”

She hesitated.

“Fine. Then feel how much I want you.”

Lucy closed her eyes tight and let him take her left hand and bring it toward his body. Her fingertips encountered something velvety smooth and warm. He then guided her hand around his girth, and he was big and rigid and behind her dark eyelids she was being treated to a Fourth of July fireworks show.

“Oh God. Theo.”

“This is how much I want you.”

Lucy moaned.

Theo left her hands where they were and reached out to slide down both straps of the tankini. Lucy kept her eyes shut when she felt her breasts being exposed to the air, ecstasy and anxiety fighting it out for top billing. Then he stroked her bare flesh and said, “You are so beautiful, Lucy,” and ecstasy won.

Her eyes remained closed and her hands began to move along the length of him as his palms soothed, his fingers pinched. Then she felt his mouth, wet and warm lips that landed on her left nipple, where she was laved, nibbled, licked, and sucked until she was squirming and moaning and felt overwhelmed with the shocking amount of pleasure she felt.

“Oh, Theo-”

He removed his lips from her breast and kissed her, pulling her down on top of him.

Lucy’s eyes flew open.

“This is all that matters, Lucy-you and me. And the only thing that’s going to keep this from happening is if you don’t want it.”

She let out an abrupt laugh and pushed away from his embrace. “All right. OK. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” Theo looked worried.

She jumped from the big bed and ran over to the dresser, rooting through her bag for the little cotton nightie she knew she’d packed. She found it, raised it in her fist in triumph, and said, “Who loves me now?”

Theo collapsed back onto the pillows and laughed. When she returned a moment later, he was still there, an arm flopped over his eyes, his body still beautiful and his cock still erect.

“I’m ready, Theo.”

He opened his eyes and smiled at the vision before him. Lucy had towel-fluffed her hair and put on the little nightgown, something low cut and short and as thin as gauze. He could see everything through it-the round female form punctuated by the dark triangle of her sex and the dark, hard peaks of her nipples. Lucy’s eyes were wide. Her smile was shy. Her hair was thick and tossled, and the combination of vulnerability and va-va-voom sexuality had Theo wondering how he would ever find a way to protect her and debauch her at the same time.

When she got on the bed and began to crawl toward him on all fours, Theo forgot all about the protecting and went right for the debauching. He rose to his knees. When she reached him, he pulled her up and kissed her, his hands clutching her upper arms, his mouth desperate with months of pent-up hunger.

Theo put his arms around her and clutched her close.

He could feel every bit of Lucy, from her knees to her lips, every curve, every swell and dip and soft place. He felt her breasts crushed against his chest, nipples like little rocks, and he felt the heat radiating from between her legs.

His lips and tongue caressed her mouth, opened her, dived into her, and though he loved the feel of her pressed tight up against him, he couldn’t stay like this long. He needed to move. Theo reached up under the back of the nightgown and pushed it up and over the round globes of her ass. He caressed her back, slid his hands around her waist, rubbed her tummy and hips and breasts all with the hem of the flimsy nightie resting on his forearms. He’d much rather have her buck naked, but if this little piece of cloth made Lucy feel comfortable enough to be here with him, like this, then he’d live with it.

“Touch me, Theo,” she whispered. “Oh God, please touch me.”

He put her fingers between her full, silky thighs and stroked her, coaxing her to spread her legs. She shifted, opening for him, and his fingers were instantly covered in slick heat.

“God, Lucy. You’re so wet. Are you always this wet?”

She laughed. “I don’t remember.”

He laughed with her, pulled her until they fell to the comforter, where they rolled and laughed more, and Theo knew he’d never felt this much joy in a woman’s presence, this much connection and happiness. It hadn’t felt this way with Jenna, or with anyone.

They fit. He and Lucy fit like they were made for each other. That’s all there was to it.

As if she’d heard his silent verdict, Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck in clear invitation. Theo gazed down into her face and saw his own certainty-and his own lust-reflected back to him in her shining eyes.

“I’m not running away anymore,” she whispered.

Theo pushed inside her, slowly, inch by inch, and the joy spread and grew and rushed at him with a force he’d never known was possible. Theo had found joy and pleasure and certainty in the paradise of Lucy.

Stephan stared at the television, watching Theo Redmond’s right hand flick against the metal, making a tap, tap sound. His heart flopped in his chest like a dying fish. “Dammit,” he hissed.

Chin in hands, Stephan watched the trainer flick his fingers again, tap-tap-tap. The camera zoomed in close to Lucy Cunningham’s fat face. Stephan hated that face. That fuckin‘ goody-two-shoes triumph-of-the-human-spirit chubber-nugget was really starting to fuckin’ annoy him.

Redmond kept going. The suspense was killing Stephan. Tap, tap… slide… tap, tap, tap.

“Oh for God’s sake, stop with the drama already!” He slammed back more coffee and rooted around in his desk drawer for his ibuprofen and a Snickers bar.

Finally, thank God, the scale’s balance found its equilibrium at 170 pounds and Lucy’s face lit up like a harvest moon.

Stephan was fucked.

“This month’s loss was a whopping seventeen pounds!” Redmond announced, smiling into the camera like a he was a spokesmodel for a laxative. “That’s phenomenal!”

Then Stephan had to endure the sight of the trainer lifting Lucy into the air like he’d just come home from the war, twirling her around on the set, her hair flying out around them. The nitwits in the audience were eating this shit up. The camera panned the rows of jumping and clapping housewives and that’s when Stephan froze.

A whole goddamn section of the studio audience was wearing matching T-shirts that read: WE LOVE LUCY!

Stephan let out a howl of agony. This was just too much!

All Lucy Cunningham had to do was not lose weight! How hard could that be? The woman had been as big as a house the whole time she’d worked here! For over a year he’d watched her pop Milk Duds from morning to night.

Wasn’t it true that every damn diet and exercise ad on the planet had to include the caveat results not typical! All he wanted was fuckin‘ typical! But Lucy Cunningham was actually doing it! She was doing the impossible, and causing a public relations sensation in the process!

His phone rang.

“The girl. She’s skinny.”

“I wouldn’t exactly go that far.”

“Hasn’t she been getting my deliveries?”

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it-”

“Horse? How about horse’s ass! Because that is what I am going to look like if you keep doing such a bang-up job of making the Palm Club look bad.”

“Murray-”

“You said you’d take care of it!”

“It’s still salvageable.”

As Murray Goldstein cussed him out, Stephan glanced at the TV screen and watched with revulsion while Theo calculated the size of Lucy’s body parts with a tape measure.

Goldstein’s voice became hushed. “You disrespect me,” he said.

How was Stephan supposed to know that Lucy Cunningham would turn out to be his own personal big, fat walking Friday the thirteenth? A cow of bad karma grazing on the field of his life?

“I was there for you when you needed me, Sherrod, and this is how you treat me? Shame on you. You will pay the price for this disrespect, you lowlife piece of-”

Stephan hung up on Murray. With shaking hands he began to unwrap the Snickers bar. He shoved it in his mouth, all the while crying like a baby.

“Ohmigod! Mr. Sherrod! Are you all right?” Veronica King stood in his doorway, staring at him.

Stephan stopped chewing and shoved the candy in his desk drawer. He swallowed. “Allergies,” he said.

Veronica didn’t seem convinced. She scowled at him. “You look like death warmed over, Mr. Sherrod.”

Stephan wiped his mouth and smacked his hand on his desk. “Since when do you get in this early? And what are you looking at, you nosy little bitch? Close my door!”

If he didn’t find a way to stop Lucy Cunningham, he’d look like death, all right, the cold, hard, bloated, dead-weight-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean kind of death.

The kind Murray Goldstein was rumored to prefer.