Gimme an O! Read Online Free PDF Page B

Anthony’s eyes challenged her to deny the truth. “Told her I was a pervert and said she should end our marriage as quickly as possible.”
    A collective “Ooh” spread across the studio audience.
    “This, ladies and gentlemen, is an impromptu segment of ‘Battle of the Sexes,’” Jay announced, then laughed.
    If only it were a laughing matter, Lecia thought. For her it was anything but.
    Facing Anthony, she steeled her jaw. “I meet a lot of people when I’m out, and many of them ask for bits of advice. It’s all very casual, not in the least professional—”
    “Casual?”
    Anthony’s stunned tone silenced Lecia. She thought he was going to tear a piece off her hide, but he merely shook his head before leaning back in his seat. Thank God, she thought, only to be horrified an instant later when he leaned forward again.
    “You think telling my wife I’m a pervert is casual advice?”
    “If I met her, I don’t even remember her,” Lecia lied. Because she remembered the woman, all right. Remembered how she had begged her for a moment of her time outside a Beverly Hills bar, almost on the verge of hysteria. Lecia had agreed to talk to her, although she’d had her reservations, given the woman’s agitated state. In the end she’d written off the woman’s hysteria as desperation over a critical situation in her marriage. “And I wouldn’t have said…what you said she said.”
    “According to her, you did. In fact, she made sure to tell me a number of times that you’d called me a pervert, so I knew exactly why she was ending our marriage.”
    “I did not call you a pervert.” Lecia knew she should stop there. She wanted to stop. But somehow her mouth opened and she heard herself saying, “Deeply troubled, perhaps, but not a pervert.”
    “Ha!” Anthony sounded victorious as he aimed a finger at her. “So you do remember!”
    Lord, she should have kept her big mouth shut. But she was a Gemini, and hard-pressed to back down from an argument. And hell, she was only human. How was she to remain dignified and stiff-lipped with the likes of Anthony Beals egging her on?
    Lecia acknowledged to herself that she shouldn’t have commented on Anthony’s character at all with his wife. With her patients, she remained impartial, even when they confided the strangest of fantasies. But Ginger hadn’t been a patient, so she’d spoken to her woman-to-woman. Given everything Ginger had told her about her superstar athlete husband in the span of five minutes, she couldn’t help but give the woman her honest opinion.
    And maybe, just maybe, her attitude toward Anthony had been soured even before she met his wife. Infidelity was a personal sore spot for her. Especially with men who felt it was their inherent right. Men like her ex-husband.
    “Serious bit of advice,” Anthony said. “Think twice before you mess with people’s lives. Because I’d still be with my wife right now if it weren’t for you.”
    Lecia grinned sweetly as she said, “No, you’d still be with your wife if you’d kept your pants zipped up. That’s another area I cover in my book—women who find intimacy too difficult because they can’t trust their partners.”
    “Whoa, wait a second.” Anthony looked genuinely offended. “You don’t know me. Where do you get off saying that?”
    “I know a lame story when I hear one. Small-town Tennessee boy. Please.”
    There was another hum of perverse excitement throughout the audience. Lecia met Anthony’s hard stare before turning away. She picked at an imaginary piece of lint on her dress.
    “You think you have my number?”
    Shut up. Don’t say a word…. “I know I do.”
    Anthony shook his head in disbelief. “I hope you’re happy.” There was venom beneath his words. “Because not only did she leave me, she’s gonna take me to the cleaners. All thanks to your advice.”
    “That is not my problem,” Lecia countered.
    “Down, folks,” Jay Leno said. He made the sound of a