On this special day

dedicated to romance, wonderful things can happen: secret desires may be spoken, roses can arrive with a card saying “I love you,” or a dizzying kiss is exchanged for the first time. Now, two of your favorite Harlequin Kimani authors—with some help from cupid, of course—have sent their own Valentine’s Day gift: a duet of thrilling stories filled with passion and desire…

When Valentines Collide

by ADRIANNE BYRD

Dr. Chante Valentine and Dr. Matthew Valentine know all the right moves to nurture relationships—except when it comes to mending their own. Since divorce would jeopardize their respective careers, the love gurus reluctantly agree to a “sex-therapy” retreat. Will the love doctors gain a second chance at happiness?

To Love Again

by JANICE SIMS

San Francisco caterer Alana Calloway is bitter and lonely after the death of her police officer husband. Then she receives flowers from a secret admirer. After a stunning revelation, will Alana be able to let go of the past and learn to love again…in Nicholas Setera’s arms?

Valentine’s Fantasy

When Valentines Collide

Adrianne Byrd

To Love Again

Janice Sims

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

When Valentines Collide by Adrianne Byrd

To Love Again by Janice Sims

When Valentines Collide

This book is dedicated to the new angel on my shoulder—

Alice Coleman Finnley. I can still hear your laughter.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Epilogue

Chapter 1

“He’s an egotistical, self-righteous son of a bitch,” Chanté Valentine spat, storming through her best friend and publishing editor, Edie Hathaway’s front door. “The man thinks he’s God’s gift to psychology.”

“Please, come in,” Edie mumbled in the wake of her trail, sighed, and then closed the door. Shaking her head and tightening her belt around her curvy, plus-size figure, she followed her friend back into the dining room.

“I can’t do this any longer,” Chanté announced as she marched straight toward the bar.

“It’s eight in the morning.”

“What can I say? I like vodka with my eggs.”

Edie patiently watched her bestselling author splash out a glass of her expensive liquor. “You could add a dash of orange juice so I’d feel better about you getting something nutritional out of that drink.”

Chanté smirked, but complied. “I want a divorce.”

“Absolutely not.” Edie crossed her arms. “It would ruin both of your careers.”

Chanté downed a deep gulp and then came up for air. “I don’t care.”

“Sure you do.” Edie shuffled over to the table where her breakfast grew cold. “Besides, you still love him...or you would’ve left him a long time ago.”

“Ha! I’ve been trying to leave Matthew for the last two years, but it’s always ‘wait until after contract negotiations, wait until after you write your book, wait until after the book is published.’ Now the blasted thing has been number one on the New York Times bestseller list for ten weeks running and you’re still telling me to wait.”

“You should wait.” Edie shook her head as she slathered butter onto a biscuit. “How would it look if America’s two top relationship gurus divorced each other? Don’t you think we would have a credibility issue here?”

“Oh, give me a break.” Chanté downed a second gulp. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you, Seth and Matthew have all teamed up to drive me nuts.”

“All right.” Edie lowered her biscuit without taking a bite. “I know I’m going to regret asking, but what did Matthew do this time?”

One of Chanté’s brows rose quizzically. “I take it you didn’t watch Letterman last night?”

“Tivo. I’d planned to watch it this morning,” Edie said, sounding concerned. “Why? What happened?”

Chanté’s eyes narrowed as she simmered. “Letterman snidely pointed out the differences in our approaches in relationship counseling and then asked how people should choose whose advice to follow.”

Edie leaned back in her chair and brushed back her thick straw curls from her face. “And...what did he say?”

“That people should follow the advice from the one who graduated from a real school.”

Edie’s mouth rounded silently.

“You should have seen him sitting there as proud as a peacock, cramming his overpriced education down everyone’s throat.” Chanté sloshed her drink down onto the breakfast bar and flailed her hands in the air. “Oh, look at me. I’m a Princeton graduate while my wife—”

“Graduated from Kissessme College in Karankawa, Texas,” Edie finished.

“Which is a damn good school,” Chanté snapped. “I busted my butt with two waitressing jobs to get my degree. I didn’t have a rich daddy to write me a blank check.”

Edie frowned. “I know you two are going through a rough patch—”

“This is more than a rough patch.”

“But sometimes I wonder how the hell you two got together in the first place.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Chanté strode to the table and pulled out a chair. “Ten years ago, Matthew Valentine was handsome—”

“He still is.”

“Charming—”

“Check.”

“Successful.”

“Double-check.”

Chanté’s lips curled wickedly. “And great in bed.”

Edie’s eyebrows rose with surprise and interest. “Oh?”

“Now he seems to think all he has to do is get his groove on and wait for a baby. A baby. That’s all he ever talks about. After nine miscarriages you’d think he would give it a rest.” Chanté drew a deep breath.

“So I take it you haven’t told him you’re—?”

“How can I?” She sloshed down another gulp, exhaled, and then finally slumped her shoulders in defeat. “Nine miscarriages. Five years. I should have started trying to have a family earlier.”

“Come on. You wanted a career first. That’s understandable.”

“Yeah, but now I’m pushing forty and my body attacks every fertilized egg like I’ve caught a disease or something.” She shook her head. “I can’t help but wonder if I’d tried sooner I’d already have our baby as opposed to being on this wild race against my biological clock—a race Matthew is determined to win.” Chanté shook her head during another sigh. “I just need a break—physically and emotionally.”

“Is that why you kicked him out of your bedroom?”

“How did you—?”

“Seth.” Edie filled in the blanks. “He’ll never admit it, but those two gossip more than we do. If I remember correctly it’s been...what—five months?”

Chanté took another gulp. “Something like that.”

Her friend shook her head as she folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. “You know you’re playing with fire when you let too much testosterone pile up. Not to mention, you seem a little wound tight yourself.”

“If I’m wound too tight it’s because I’m frustrated that Matthew and I can fix everyone’s marriage problems but our own.”

“That’s because it always boils down to the battle of the wills with you guys.” Edie shrugged and then returned her attention to her breakfast. “Both of you always have to be right.”

Chanté grew indignant. “That’s not true...entirely.”

Edie continued eating.

“The problem is that two perfectionists should never marry each other.”

“Or two stubborn people.”

“Edie! You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I’m on reality’s side.” Her friend finally cast her a long look. “It’s not going to kill you to bend a little.”

“If I bend any further you may as well remove my spine,” Chanté snipped.

“Better flexibility can only improve one’s sex life.” Edie winked. “I can testify to that.”

“I just bet you can.”

* * *

Once a month, Dr. Matthew Valentine and his agent, Seth Hathaway, met at the International House of Pancakes for their favorite selection of Rooty Tuitty Fresh and Fruity pancakes.

“It was a joke,” Matthew laughed, and then leaned toward Seth. “It was Letterman, for Pete’s sake.”

Seth leaned his six-foot-five frame over the table and settled his serene ocean-blue eyes on him. “Let me guess, Chanté didn’t think it was funny?”

“Blew a damn gasket is more like it.” Matthew rolled his eyes. “For punishment, I endured a four-hour rant about how I was undermining her authority and poking holes in her credibility—not the first time I heard that crap by the way.” He stabbed his pancakes and twirled it absently in its strawberry syrup. “There’s no pleasing her anymore.”

Seth kept his face blank as he bridged his hands above his plate. “Far be it for me to give America’s top relationship guru advice.”

Matthew glanced up wearily. “But something tells me I’m not going to be able to stop you.”

“Hey, I don’t have a fancy degree, but twenty-five years of marriage—an interracial marriage at that—says I’m qualified.”

Matthew flashed his million-dollar smile and forced a casual shrug. “All right. Shoot.”

Seth waited until he’d captured Matthew’s full attention. “Apologize.”

Matthew waited for more, but concluded none was forthcoming when his agent returned his attention to his breakfast.

“That’s it?”

“Yep.” Seth shoveled food into his mouth.

Matthew rolled his eyes. “Good thing I didn’t call you for help during the writing of my last book.”

Seth smiled and dabbed the corners of his mouth. “C’mon. It’s not rocket science. A man is just fooling himself if he thinks he could ever win an argument with a woman. Everything is always our fault. I don’t care what it is. So apologize and move on.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You’re joking, right?” Seth rocked back in his chair as his laughter rumbled. “Look, I don’t mean to offend you or anything. I mean, you’re my best client and all, but, when a woman gets mad it’s usually for three reasons: something we did, something we didn’t do or something we’re going to do.”

“Sounds scientific.”

“Thanks. It is.” He took another bite and quickly swallowed. “In this case, you went on a nationally televised show and made a lousy sucker punch to her reputation. Every man watching knew you’d get the couch last night.”

“You don’t understand.” Matthew slumped back in his chair and refused to give credence to Seth’s advice. “Once upon a time Chanté didn’t take everything so seriously. She knew how to laugh at herself. C’mon. She graduated from Kissessme College. That’s funny.”

“She also has a syndicated talk radio show and is a bestselling author.”

“I know about her accomplishments. I’m proud of what she’s done—”

“So it’s not so hard to understand she just wants to be taken seriously in her profession.”

Matthew shook his head. “I’m telling you, I know my wife. She’s not mad about something I said on Letterman. There’s something else that’s bothering her and she just won’t spit it out.”

“She keeps asking for a divorce,” Seth reminded him.

Matthew shook his head again. “She doesn’t want a divorce or she would have been gone by now. It’s something else—I’m sure of it. She just won’t talk to me.”

“Two psychologists who can’t talk. I think that falls under irony.”

“Very funny.”

Seth chuckled. “How long now since the Love Doctor has been locked out of his own bedroom?”

Matt grunted and lowered his gaze.

“Five months, right?” the agent continued, during Matt’s silence. “Look, you’re a big shot in your field—four number one New York Times bestsellers and a syndicated television talk show, but maybe it’s time you listen to advice other than your own. Apologize and move back into your old bedroom. If you don’t, things between you and Chanté are only going to get worse.”

Chapter 2

Chanté breezed into WLUV’s studio with her head held high but with her lips showcasing a nervous smile. The station’s small crew greeted her with wide toothy grins, however, no one’s eyes managed to meet hers. To top it off, on more than one occasion, she heard snickering whenever she turned her back.

“Oh, don’t pay it any mind,” Thad Brown, Chanté’s extremely young, talented and laid-back producer advised as he settled behind the glass partition separating them and reversed his New York Yankees baseball cap.

“Easy for you to say,” Chanté mumbled, and then placed on her headset.

“To be honest, I thought it was pretty funny,” Thad said into his microphone. “Of course, I’m a little hurt I didn’t know this embarrassing tidbit about you. I thought we were best friends.”

“Thad—”

“Yeah, yeah. I forgot. You have a new best friend—a hotshot publishing editor.”

“Thad,” she warned.

“Okay. Okay.” He shrugged with a lopsided smile. “But when you start hobnobbing with Oprah...call me.”

“First, I’ll have to call my mother.”

“You’re on a hot streak. Hell, I bought your book yesterday and I’m halfway through it. Real good stuff. A lot better than—well, it could have been professional jealousy that sparked Dr. Matt’s comment on Letterman the other night. Did you ever think of that?”

The On Air sign lit up.

“A little competition will do Matthew Valentine a world of good. Maybe his loyal readers will actually demand he write new material instead of rehashing the same trivial tripe of his last three books.” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “And don’t get me started on those Jerry Springer rejects he says he counsels on his show.”

Still laughing, Chanté lifted her eyes to Thad and was stunned to see him frantically pointing upward. When her gaze landed on the sign, her voice failed her.

Static filled the airwaves.

Thad cringed and rolled his hands, urging her to speak.

“Good evening...and welcome to The Open Heart Forum. I’m thrilled you could join us. I am your host and friend, Dr. Chanté Valentine. If you’re trying to salvage a relationship or if you’re experiencing trouble moving on, I urge you to pick up the phone and talk to a friend.”

Thad slumped back into his chair and sighed in relief.

With her nerves still tied in knots, Chanté settled into a groove.

From the computer screen on her desk, she read Thad’s notes regarding her first caller and launched into her introduction. “Hello, Maria. Welcome to The Open Heart Forum.”

“Hello, Dr. Valentine.” A young, giddy voice filtered on to the line. “I can’t believe I actually got through. I have to tell you, I read your book, I Do, and I’m a big fan.”

“Why, thank you.” Chanté smiled. “What’s on your heart tonight?”

“Uhm...actually, I was wondering if everything was all right with you and your husband—The Love Doctor?”

Chanté blinked and glanced up.

Thad grimaced, shrugged, and then mouthed an apology.

Chanté forced a chuckle. “Yes. Yes. Everything is wonderful between Matthew and I.”

“Oh. Well, I didn’t think much about it when I saw Dr. Matthew on Letterman, but then I heard you a few minutes ago...?”

“No. No. I was just joking with Thad, my producer. Everything is fine,” Chanté lied.

“Well, it just sounded like—”

“Maria, I’m reading here you called in about a friend of yours?” She kept her voice sugary sweet.

“Well, yes. You.”

Chanté frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Maria laughed. “Don’t you always encourage your listeners to view you as our friend?”

“Yes. Yes. Of course.” Chanté covered quickly. “And thank you, Maria, for your concern. But I assure you, Matthew and I are fine. Thank you for your call.” She disconnected the line and then returned her attention to the computer screen.

“Okay. Our next caller is Sienna. She’s calling in from Decatur, Georgia. Hello, Sienna, what’s on your heart tonight?”

“Hello, Dr. Valentine. I’m a first-time caller and longtime fan.”

“Welcome to the show.”

“Thank you. I just have one question.”

Chanté relaxed. “Sure. What can I help you with?”

“I was looking on the Internet and I couldn’t find anything about Kissessme College. Is that a real school?”

Chanté glared at her producer and slid her finger across her neck to let him know exactly what she was going to do when she got her hands on him.

* * *

“I’m going to kill her!” Matthew swore as he toted his autographed Reggie Jackson baseball bat and paced the spacious foyer of their multimillion-dollar home.

Their dream home. Ha! It was more like a palatial prison—one of their making.

“Maybe I imagined it,” he reasoned, but then shook his head. His wife had turned on him on national airwaves. He couldn’t believe it. “I should just give her that damn divorce.”

Anything would be better than a public castration.

“Jerry Springer rejects,” he mumbled under his breath. “I ought to—”

The front door rattled. Matthew stopped in front of the foyer’s threshold leading toward the living room and turned to watch the door. As it crept open, he adjusted and readjusted his grip on the bat.

“Matthew?” Chanté’s voice floated through the cracked door.

Waves of anger rushed up the column of his neck.

“Matthew?” she tried again, but didn’t dare step into the house. “I know you’re in the foyer. I can see you through the side paneling.”

His shoulders deflated now, the element of surprise had been taken from him.

“What are you going to do with that bat?”

He’d almost asked “what bat?” when he became cognizant of what he must look like. “I think better with it.” He placed the bat next to a crystal vase on the foyer table. “As much as I want to kill you, I’m not interested in doing the time.”

As soon as he spoke those magic words, Chanté pushed the door open farther and entered the house.

Despite his anger, Matthew’s gaze traveled up his wife’s long, toned legs and black, mid-thigh skirt. Boy, she always did know how to wear the hell out of a skirt—or anything else for that matter. Just months away from the big 4-0, Chanté labored to maintain her Tyra Banks-like figure and there wasn’t a man who’d crossed her path that didn’t take a moment to appreciate all her hard work—including him.

His eyes continued their journey over her every luscious curve until they reached her thin, delicate neck. He sighed as he envisioned wrapping his hands around it.

“You’re still up,” she stated the obvious as she closed the door.

“Was there any doubt?” He drew another deep breath in hopes to cool his temper. “How was work tonight?”

Chanté set her briefcase down next to his baseball bat. “It was all right.” She shrugged as she pulled the pins from her hair.

Matthew’s heart squeezed at the sight of her long, thick, currently dyed auburn hair spilling down her back. Sidetracked, he struggled to remember the last time he ran his fingers through the soft strands—or tugged it during the throes of passion.

Five months.

She headed toward him and had almost passed by when Matthew broke through his reverie and jutted his arm across the threshold to block her escape.

“Surely it was more than just ‘all right’?”

Chanté swept her dark, angry glare over him.

Heat flared anew within Matthew, but it had nothing to do with anger. Standing this close, staring into her fiery eyes, and smelling the soft fragrance in her hair, he was delirious with lust.

This made no sense. He couldn’t stand her.

Five months.

“Move out of my way,” she hissed.

“I want to talk more about your evening,” he hissed back, and then added a smile. “Isn’t that what all loving couples do—communicate?”

“We’re not a loving couple so let’s just skip the bull.” She ducked under his arm and stormed to the bar. “And if you want to talk about that little comment I made about you on the air tonight...” She stopped and flashed him a smile. “It was a joke.”

His anger returned. “A joke my ass. You did that to get back at me. Admit it.”

Chanté folded her arms across her chest. “And what if I did? What are you going to do about it—divorce me?”

“Don’t tempt me!”

Frustrated, Chanté stomped her foot and glanced around the room to throw something—anything. She grabbed a nearby statue, but was stunned when the damn thing wouldn’t move.

“What the—?”

“Superglue,” Matthew replied with a smug smile. “Your screaming tirades have gotten a little on the expensive side.”

Big, bright patches of red flashed before her eyes and she reached for something else, only to discover it, too, had been glued down.

Her husband laughed, plunging deeper under her skin. In a last desperate act, she pulled off a shoe and hurled it at him.

Matthew ducked. “Hey!”

She launched the second shoe and it nailed the side of his head.

“Ouch!” He rubbed his bruise and then took off running toward her. “You’ve lost your mind.”

Chanté squealed as she lunged from him. “Get away. Leave me alone.” She bounded up on the sofa and rushed across its cushions.

“I’m going to make you pay for that.”

“Don’t you dare touch me!” She jumped down, slid on her stocking feet, then raced in the opposite direction.

Matthew crashed into a bookcase and yelped in pain when a few hardcovers landed on his head. “Damn it!”

Chanté glanced over her shoulder as she exited the living room. To her surprise, her husband was right on her tail. She’d crossed the foyer and was just inches away from the staircase, when his strong fingers bit into her shoulders.

“Gotcha!”

Chanté swung as she pivoted.

Matthew ducked, lost his balance, and fell backward—taking her down with him. He landed with a hard thump and had no time to register the pain before his wife knocked what little air he had left out of his lungs.

In no time, her hands and legs flailed out in attack.

“Will you stop it?” He wrestled with her, trying to catch hold of her.

“I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.”

He latched on to one arm, but failed to catch the other one before it landed a hard blow against the same spot her flying shoe had hit. “Ouch!”

Matthew captured the other hand. He rolled on top and pinned her beneath him.

Even then Chanté kicked and squirmed.

“Be still,” Matthew demanded.

“Go to hell,” she spat.

“What? This isn’t 666 Hell’s Drive?”

“Very funny.” She gave a last futile tug, and then went limp beneath him.

“Give up?”

“Never.”

Her chest heaved while she dragged in deep breaths. It, consequently, drew her husband’s lustful gaze. It was crazy, but she felt good lying beneath him—her curvy body soft but pulsing with raw energy. He was turned on—and she knew it.

Five months.

“What are you doing?” she asked in alarm.

He leaned down close until their faces were just inches apart. He filled his senses with her floral-scented hair and the faint hint of Chanel No. 5.

“What will you do if I kiss you right now?”

“What?”

“I want to kiss you.”

Chanté renewed her escape efforts, but the wild bucking and squirming only succeeded in turning them both on more.

When his lips landed on hers with surprising gentleness, Chanté’s mutinous body melted as though cold water had been splashed onto a fire.

Their tongues danced, caressed, and sent small shock waves of pleasure clear down to her toes. She wanted him, and judging by the hard bulge in his pants, he wanted her, too.

She could give in just this once. After all, it had been five long months. What was the harm? God knew she still loved him—probably always will.

“Tell me you want me,” he commanded softly. “We don’t even have to go upstairs. We can do it right here. Right now, but I want to hear you say it.”

I want you. Chanté panted and tried to gain control of herself.

“Tell me.”

She met her husband’s fevered gaze while the war continued to rage inside of her. Bend—be flexible. But giving in to him wouldn’t magically erase their problems.

“Who knows, tonight might be the night...”

A baby. She closed her eyes. Always a baby. Forcing ice into her veins, Chanté lifted her chin, and with her next words extinguished the small fire crackling between them. “I want you to get the hell off of me.”

Chapter 3

Matthew didn’t sleep a wink.

How could he when all he could think about was marching down the hall to the master bedroom—his old bedroom—and demand his wife perform her wifely duties?

Fat chance.

He chuckled under his breath and watched as the sunlight beamed through the thin slits in the venetian blinds. The rays warmed his face but he wondered when it would touch his heart.

This was not supposed to be his life.

He was never the type of man who trembled at the idea of settling down, having the white picket fence or having the customary two point five children...

Children.

Coming from a large family of four brothers, four sisters and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews, Matthew had always assumed that one day he, too, would raise a small army of children. He’d originally delayed those plans to support his wife in her career. But when they actually started planning five years ago, there was a snag. Chanté could get pregnant, but ten weeks into the pregnancies, like clockwork, her body would reject the fetus.

Five years. Nine miscarriages. Nine heartbreaks.

Matthew swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. Children were what was missing from their home—from their lives. He knew it, she knew it and all their friends knew it, too.

And yet, it wasn’t in the cards for them.

He sighed; mourned for the children he didn’t have, and then reached for his copy of Chanté’s latest book, I Do. “Following an argument, we need time to cool off. When one person hisses a sarcastic comment and the other, hurt and angry, feels justified in topping the insult. The volleys begin. By the time we realize the mistake we’re making, it’s too late to ‘take it back.’”

He slapped the book closed and hung his head in shame. Seth was right. “I should have apologized.”

A loud rip caught his attention and he jerked his head toward the door. When he heard it again, he frowned and went to investigate. Upon opening the bedroom door, he couldn’t wrap his brain around what he was seeing.

“What in the hell are you doing?”

Dressed in sexy, silk pink boxers and a matching lace chemise, Chanté stood with a large roll of duct tape and a pair of scissors. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“It looks like you’ve lost your mind.” He took another glance at the silver duct tape running down the center of the floor, the wall, and even the ceiling. “Do you know what’s going to happen when you peel that off?”

“I’m not going to peel it off.” She huffed. “Since a real divorce doesn’t suit either of our interests—at the moment—it doesn’t mean that we can’t go ahead and divvy things up.”

He heard her and his brain replayed what she’d said, but it still wasn’t making a lick of sense.

“Split everything in half,” she clarified at his look of confusion. “Fifty-fifty.”

Matthew crossed his arms over his bare chest and leaned against his bedroom’s doorframe. “You don’t think people might notice? I mean, the tape clashes with the furniture.”

“Then we won’t invite anyone over,” she settled, turning on her heels and marching away.

“You’re joking, right?” He started after her.

“No.”

He reached the top of the staircase just as she bolted from the bottom of it. “Can we please talk about this like two rational adults?” he shouted.

“I’m through with being rational.”

“Obviously.”

Chanté stopped and glared up at him. “I’m tired of this lie—this life. I’m tired of...”

He sucked in a deep breath as his eyes narrowed on her. “Go ahead. Say it.”

Chanté clamped her mouth shut and stormed away.

Matthew descended the stairs two at a time, ignoring the ugly silver tape down the center. “Say it, Chanté.”

She ignored him and continued toward the kitchen. It, too, had been duct taped in half. The sight of it ignited his anger.

“You have something to say, Chanté. I want to hear it.”

“Since when?” She rounded on him.

He stopped within inches of her. “I’m standing right here.”

Their glares fused as they stood in a stalemate.

“What else are you tired of, Chanté?” he asked.

“You.” She lifted her chin, now that she’d said the word. “I’m tired of having to deal with you. Satisfied?”

“Quite.” Matthew turned and stomped out of the kitchen.

Chanté watched him leave with a wave of regret and relief. She had no explanation as to why she baited him. She also didn’t understand why she was so angry all the time. She could psychoanalyze herself. After all, she was a professional; but the truth is: doctors made terrible patients.

Why couldn’t she just say what was really on her mind? Because it would destroy him. She shook her head and turned toward the sink and filled a glass with water, where she proceeded to take her morning vitamins and pills.

The phone rang and Chanté snatched the cordless from the kitchen’s wall unit. “Hello.”

“What on earth did you do?” Edie asked in a high, strained voice. “No, scratch that. I know what you did. I need to know why you did it.”

Chanté sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re talking about last night’s program?”

“Are you kidding?” Edie’s voice rose another octave. “That’s all everyone is talking about. My boss has left six messages on my voice mail. She’s worried how all this is going to affect your book sales.”

“Edie—”

“Not to mention, my assistant has fielded calls from the big three networks. Even The Enquirer called and stated they’re going to run a story about you two not sleeping in the same bedroom.”

“How did they—?”

Something loud roared from outside. Chanté lowered the phone. Was Matt doing something in the yard? She placed the phone back against her ear.

“—we’re going to have to do some damage control on this thing.”

“Edie, let me call you back.”

“No. We need to talk about this now.”

Chanté peeked out of the kitchen window and didn’t see her husband.

“Seth and I have a few ideas. What do you think about going on Larry King Live?”

“What? Are you sure all of this is necessary?” Chanté headed toward the front door.

“Vital. If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to sell our souls to get you on Oprah.”

Chanté opened the door, screamed and dropped the phone. “Stop! Stop!”

Now dressed in protective clothing, Matthew headed toward his wife’s brand-new Mercedes with a chainsaw.

“What are you doing?” she yelled.

“Divvying our assets, hon.” He smiled as he lowered his goggles and proceeded to cut the car in half.

“Stop, stop!” she screeched, but the loud buzz of the chainsaw drowned her out. Chanté raced toward the car, but jumped back before sparks showered onto her flammable outfit. “You’re crazy,” she shouted and stomped her fluffy pink house slippers.

Matthew didn’t spare a glance in her direction, but he smiled like a kid in a candy shop as the saw cut through the car like warm butter.

Chanté charged toward the garage, looking for something—anything. From the corner of her eye she spotted a pile of steel pipes on Matthew’s workbench and quickly grabbed one before returning to the yard.

The chainsaw jammed halfway through the Mercedes’ roof and Matthew climbed down, wondering if he had something stronger to finish the job when he saw an angry pink blur rushing toward him and he removed his goggles.

With a firm grip on the steel pipe, Chanté swung at her husband’s head like Barry Bonds going for another home run record.

Matthew ducked and felt the air swoosh past his head as he dropped the chainsaw.

The force of the swing twisted Chanté around in a complete circle and before she could adjust, her husband charged and tackled her to the ground.

This time the air was knocked out of Chanté’s lungs as the steel pipe bounced out of her hands.

“What the hell were you trying to do—kill me?” Matthew barked.

“Damn right,” she growled and tried to twist away and reclaim the pipe.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Matthew scrambled above her and pushed the pipe further out of reach. “You’re absolutely certifiable. You know that?”

“Me?” she shrieked. “Look what you did to my car!” Chanté squirmed and then started pelting him with her hands—a constant occurrence, especially in the last six months.

While the wrestling match grew fast and furious in the grass, the sprinklers came on and immediately drenched the couple from head to toe.

“My hair,” Chanté sputtered. “I just had it done. Let me up!”

Matthew tried, but the grass was slippery now and he had a hard time getting his footing.

“Get up!” she insisted, smacking him again.

After one too many pops against the head, Matthew waved a finger at her. “Has anyone ever told you that it’s never okay to hit?”

Her answer was to smack him again.

“Uh, excuse me.”

Chanté and Matthew froze, and then slowly turned their heads to see old man Roger, the lawn guy, peering curiously over at them.

“Uh, is everything all right, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine?”

Their smiles were instant and their expressions as innocent as they could manage.

“Everything is f-fine,” Matthew said, finally climbing off his wife and pulling her up with him. For a few strained and awkward seconds they stood before the elderly gentleman in the sodden grass while the sprinklers continued to drench and plaster their clothes against their bodies.

“Uh-huh.” Roger eyeballed them as if they were Martians.

Chanté snuggled against her husband and slid her arms lovingly around his neck. “We were just trying something new. You know...to keep things...fresh.” She planted a kiss on Matthew’s cheek. “Isn’t that right, hon?”

Matthew’s smile tightened. “Right...hon.”

Roger’s dusty brown face wrinkled as he scratched his short-cropped, cotton-white hair. “Uh-huh.”

“Well, hon,” Matt said. “I think we better move this lovefest back into the house.” Before Chanté had a chance to respond, Matthew swept up his wife, tossed her over his shoulder, and smacked her hard on the butt.

“Matthew!” Her fist pounded his back.

“Patience, baby.” Matthew winked at Roger. “She gets a little impatient from time to time.”

“Right.” Roger nodded as he watched Matthew march toward the house. From behind, Chanté lifted her head and waved.

At last, Roger turned toward the Mercedes. “Hey, what happened to the car?” He glanced back to his employers, but they were already entering the house.

Mrs. Valentine screeched. “Now put me down!”

The door slammed closed, leaving Roger to scratch his head and glance from the car to the front door. “I swear those two are as loony as they come.”

Chapter 4

Master interviewer, Larry King, dressed in a starched periwinkle shirt, black suspenders and matching striped tie performed his trademark haunch over the desk and welcomed the audience to the night’s show.

“It’s always a pleasure to welcome Dr. Matthew and Chanté Valentine to the show. Dr. Matt is the host of the highly-rated TV talk show, The Love Doctor. He is the author of four New York Times bestsellers...”

Matt smiled and scratched at his collar.

Chanté drew a deep breath and forced steel into her spine while keeping her smile on full wattage. This interview called for her finest performance.

Matt shifted in his chair, scratched his arm and then jerked the arm to scratch at his back.

Mr. King flashed Matt an inquisitive glance but kept on with his spiel.

“And this little lady, Dr. Chanté Valentine, has quite a résumé as well,” Mr. King praised. “She is the host of her own syndicated radio talk show The Open Heart Forum. Her first book, I Do—I have the book right here—has been on the bestseller list for ten weeks running. Welcome to the show.”

“Thank you.” She smiled and leaned closer toward her husband.

Matt jerked his head back and tried to scratch at his neck, his chest, his back and his crotch.

“Is everything all right, Dr. Valentine?”

“Oh, uh. Yeah, just fine,” he panted, jerking this way and that. “I just seem to have a little itch.”

Chanté smiled serenely, thinking about the itching powder she’d sprinkled in his clothes. That’ll teach him to destroy my car.

Off set, Edie and Seth Hathaway took turns experiencing chest pains as they watched the Valentines attempt to charm their host, but watching them was like watching and expecting a train wreck.

“This was a mistake,” Edie whispered and glanced nervously around.

“This is damage control. We needed to do something other than let them continue taking public potshots.”

“Look at her. She looks like a plastic Stepford wife and he...what the hell is he doing?”

“Calm down.” Seth looped an arm around her shoulder. “They’re doing fine. Look, Larry is eating it up.”

“Larry is the least of our worries. It’s the court of public opinion that matters here.” She hid her face in the palms of her hands. “Why did she have to call his TV guests Jerry Springer rejects?”

Seth chuckled. “Because some of them are.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know?” He shook his head. “You’re probably the only one who didn’t.”

“Well, we wouldn’t have to do any damage control if your client reined in his jealousy on Letterman.”

“C’mon. If you graduated from a place called Kissessme, you should grow a thick skin.”

Edie stepped away from her husband. “Are you saying all of this is Chanté’s fault?”

Stagehands, cameramen and the director glanced toward them and Edie realized she’d forgotten to use her “inside” voice. “Sorry,” she whispered to the set.

On camera, the Valentines smiled lovingly at each other and their host. But then Matt started raking at his skin like a madman again.

“I’m not saying that it’s anyone’s fault,” Seth resumed the conversation. “But I do think we’re sitting on top of a time bomb. We may be able to fool the public right now, but how long do you think they’ll be able to keep it up?”

Edie thought of Chanté’s constant demand for a divorce. “Not much longer.”

“Right.” Seth’s voice lowered. “Which is why I think it’s up to us to do something about it.”

“Us?” She laughed. “How are we going to help professional psychologists—the top in their field, by the way—mend their own relationship?”

Seth’s lips slid into a wide grin. “An intervention.”

“An intervention?” Edie repeated and turned her gaze back to Chanté and Matt, just as Matt twisted one too many times and fell out his chair, then proceeded to writhe on the floor. “Forget the intervention, I think we need an exorcist.”

* * *

“Oh, hell no,” Chanté snapped at Edie above the den of diners at the prestigious Gramercy Tavern. When all eyes shot to their table, Chanté quickly covered with a bland smile, and then added under her breath, “I’m not going to marriage counseling.”

Unfazed by her friend’s outburst, Edie calmly peered over the rim of her glasses. “If you look me in the eye and tell me that you honestly want a divorce, I’ll back off.”

Chanté opened her mouth to make her daily proclamation, but when the words failed her, she closed it and shifted in her chair.

A triumphant smile bloomed across Edie’s lips. “I didn’t think so.”

“Explain to me how it would look for two relationship experts to seek relationship counseling. Wouldn’t that also put a dent in our precious credibility?”

“The public will never know,” she assured.

“Come on. We live in the information age.” Chanté stabbed at her spinach salad. “Secrets always come out—usually on the Internet.”

Edie slumped back in her chair, thoughtful. “Then we could release the information ourselves.” She bobbed her head, warming to the idea. “Hear me out on this.” She sat up again. “You and Matthew promote counseling. What better way to show that all relationships hit rough patches? Right now, you guys appear to have the perfect marriage. There are a good percentage of people who think you guys can never understand their problems because you have it so good. But if they see perfect marriages being not-so-perfect then we can tap into a few more readers.”

“What are you talking about? People see those marriages all the time. They’re called celebrity marriages.”

“Be serious. No one takes celebrity marriages seriously. We’re talking about two famous love doctors, and when you fix their marriage, it will renew hope.”

“If we can fix our marriage.” Chanté bit into her salad and rolled her eyes. “And that’s a very big if.”

“Okay. We’ll keep it out of the papers for now, but if a leak happens we’ll be prepared.”

Chanté lowered her gaze and stared at her half-eaten salad, remembering the first time she’d laid eyes on Matthew. He’d blown a tire out on the main highway and walked ten miles to Sam’s Café on the edge of Karankawa, Texas, where she waitressed. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out with his perfect speech, soft manicured hands and expensive shoes that he wasn’t from around those parts.

Chanté chuckled aloud from the memory, but snapped to attention when Edie’s sharp gaze zeroed in on her.

The last thing she expected today was to be ambushed with an intervention for her own marriage. However, her own solution to surviving the rest of her life with her self-absorbed, self-righteous and pretentious husband had already cost her a new Mercedes.

However, the question was whether she wanted to fix her marriage. As she struggled for an answer, her vision blurred, but she blinked away the tears and forced down another bite of food.

Edie watched Chanté from over the rim of her glasses for a long time before she prompted, “Well? You have to do something before you kill each other or kill yourselves. You know psychologists have the highest suicide rate.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“I read it somewhere.”

“Huh. I always thought it was dentists who had the highest rate.”

“C’mon. What do you say? Will you go to marriage counseling?”

* * *

Matthew Valentine, handsome in a royal-blue suit, stared over the heads of his studio audience and into the camera. “Today we will be talking about how to take the bitterness out of your marriage.” He smiled, but remained serious. “Oftentimes, it’s not the big things that break a marriage. It’s the small things.” His voice quivered and for a brief moment, Matt appeared to have lost his concentration.

Seth shifted his gaze from one of the monitors to glance at his client on the stage.

The ultimate professional, Matthew recovered and continued with his spiel. The irony of today’s subject matter didn’t escape Seth so he found himself paying close attention to how Matthew interacted with his guests and the advice Matthew gave them.

“Couples tend to argue over something safe or superficial during battle, but they avoid talking about the serious problems.”

Seth nodded as he listened. Everything Matthew said was sound advice. Everything made sense to him—so what were the serious problems between Matthew and Chanté? Where had they gone wrong?

While Matthew continued to mingle with his audience and offer handkerchiefs to sobbing guests, Seth thought back to when he first sensed trouble between Matthew and Chanté. Actually, he didn’t sense, more like he dodged a glass vase when he’d entered the Valentines’ home during a heated argument. Chanté was a small woman but she had one hell of an arm.

Two hours later, with the day’s show finally completed taping and the last of the audience filtered out of the studio, Seth made it to Matt’s dressing room and lingered just outside the door while a young, petite, yet curvaceous intern fawned over her employer.

“Great show today, Dr. Valentine,” she said breathily. “I swear it’s like you really know how a woman thinks and feels.”

Seth lifted an inquisitive brow.

“Thank you, Cookie.” Matt didn’t spare the young girl a glance as he stripped the light coat of makeup from his face.

However, Cookie ignored his indifference and stepped forward until her perky bosom brushed against Matt’s arm. “I know I’ve only been here six weeks, but I have to tell you—working with you has been like a dream come true.” She reached out a hand and gently stroked the side of his face.

Belatedly, Matt flinched from her touch.

“You’re using the cologne I bought you for your birthday.”

“Yeah, I decided what the hell. I’ve been using the same cologne for ten years.”

Smiling like a seasoned temptress, she winked. “If there’s ever anything you need—I’ll be more than happy to help.”

Matt finally met her gaze, but didn’t respond.

Enough was enough. Seth cleared his throat.

Matt jumped again and then his face flushed a deep burgundy. “Seth,” he boomed too loudly. “C’mon in. Cookie, that will be all for today.”

The vixen’s lips managed to spread wider as she demurely cast her gaze down. “If you say so, Dr. Valentine.” She turned and walked saucily toward the door.

“Remember, if you need anything—anything at all—call me.” Cookie winked and disappeared from the door.

“Can you spell trouble?” Seth asked, blinking from the trance her swaying hips induced.

“Who—Cookie?” Matt asked. “She’s harmless.”

“So is a starved lion—as long as you’re not locked inside its cage.” Seth folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Look, Matt. I don’t know how to say this other than to just come out and say it.”

Matt cast a curious glance at the mirror and met Seth’s reflected stare. “All right. Let me have it.”

“I think you and Chanté should see a marriage counselor.”

A silence roared on the heels of his words and judging by the intense glare from Matthew, he expected the vanity mirror to crack at any second.

“Have you lost your mind?” Matthew asked, standing from his chair and storming toward the door.

Seth managed to jump out of the way before Matt slammed it on his arm.

“Chanté and I are fine. The last thing we need is a marriage counselor,” he said and barked a humorless laugh.

Seth glanced around the room and feigned surprise to find there were no other parties surrounding him. “I’m sorry. Are you talking to me—or someone else who hasn’t refereed a few screaming matches at your home?”

“All couples have disagreements,” Matt answered flatly and then exchanged his starched white shirt for something more appropriate for the tennis court. “Of course, they usually refrain from putting itching powder in each other’s clothes.”

“Or cutting each other’s cars in half.”

A wide smile monopolized Matt’s face. “That was pretty good.” He jutted a finger. “Extreme—but pretty good.”

“Come on. What’s the big deal?” Seth shrugged. “You encourage and educate people everyday about the importance of counseling. What’s the big deal in practicing what you preach?”

Matthew unzipped his pants and jerked them down his legs. “The big deal is there isn’t a damn thing that a psychologist can tell us that we don’t already know. We’re both controlling perfectionists with hot tempers. Theories and overblown rhetoric are not what we need. Especially when you’re dealing with someone who is stubborn as an ox.”

Seth frowned. “Help me out. Who’s the ox in this scenario?”

“Not funny.” Matthew tried to pull his left leg out from the bunched pants leg, but instead lost his footing and fell face forward. “Goddamn it.”

Seth covered his mouth in time to cork his laughter.

By the time Matthew recovered and climbed back to his feet there was no trace of amusement on Seth’s face—despite Matt’s sock suspenders and Daffy Duck boxer shorts.

Matthew cleared his throat and then launched into an explanation for the boxers. “Chanté burned just about everything in my underwear drawer after the car incident.”

“I think you got off lucky.”

At last, Matthew smiled as he reached for his pristine-white tennis shorts. “I do, too.”

A knock rapped on the door.

“Come in,” Matt shouted.

Cookie peeked inside with a sheepish grin. “Your package arrived, Dr. Valentine.”

Matthew’s eyes lit up as he clapped his hands together. “Oh. Bring him in.”

Seth’s brows furrowed in curiosity but the feeling was quickly sated when Cookie entered the dressing room with the most adorable brown-and-white puppy.

“There’s my little man,” Matt exclaimed, finally stepping free from his trousers to reach for the dog. “Thank you, Cookie.”

“My pleasure. Do you know what you’re going to name him?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Matt scratched behind the puppy’s ear. “I have to spend some time with him and get a sense of his personality.”

Cookie leaned over and kissed the dog on top of the head. “Well, keep me posted. I love dogs!”

“Will do.”

The intern gave either Matt or the dog a wink, Seth couldn’t tell which.

“Call if you need anything,” she reminded him again and then disappeared with another wink.

“Excuse me, uhm,” Seth said once the door closed. “But isn’t Chanté allergic to dogs?”

“She’s not allergic,” Matt said unconcerned. “She just hates them.”

“I stand corrected.”

Matt sat in his makeup chair and began to coo and imitate baby talk to the bundle of fur.

“What kind of dog is he?”

“Bulldog. Isn’t he handsome? Maybe I should name him Buddy? As in my Buddy.”

“You know your wife is going to hit the roof when she sees him.”

“Probably.” Matt smiled. “But I’ll just keep him on my side of the house. Besides, everyone needs companionship. A fact my wife seems to have forgotten.”

Seth stared at his friend. Finally, he decided to stop pussyfooting around. “Let me ask you something. And be honest if you can. If you and Chanté continue on the way you have been, how long do you think it will be before you finally accept Cookie’s invitation?”

A flash of anger returned to Matthew’s eyes. “You’re out of line.”

“And you’re in denial.”

That loud silence returned to the room, but this time it was layered with a tension usually reserved for heavyweight boxers on fight night.

“Look, I’m your friend.”

“You’re my agent.”

Seth thrust up his chin at the verbal blow. “All right. I’m your agent. As your agent I think I should warn you that a marriage counselor is better for your reputation than getting caught with your hands in the Cookie jar.”

Matthew’s heated black gaze snapped up to Seth as he opened the door.

“Think about it, Matt.” His gaze shifted to the puppy. “Good luck, Buddy. Something tells me that you’re going to need it.”

Chapter 5

“Hello, Shawanda. Welcome to The Open Heart Forum.”

“Dr. Valentine? Oh, Lawd, girl. I didn’t think I would ever get through.”

Chanté chuckled as she glanced up at Thad through the glass partition. “Well, I’m glad you did, Shawanda. What’s on your heart tonight?”

“Yeah, well, I need to get some advice on what I should do about this (beep!) that’s been creeping around with my man.”

“Whoa, whoa, Shawanda.” Chanté laughed. “I got to tell you this isn’t one of those trashy talk shows, so I’m going to have to ask you to watch the language. You think that you can do that?”

“Yeah, girl. Just tell me what I should do about this...heifa stalking my man ’cause I’m seriously about to catch a case if she calls my house one more damn time.”

“Well.” Chanté shook her head and braided her fingers. “Have you confronted your husband about this woman?”

“Oh, we ain’t married or nothing. We’ve just been living together the last fifteen years.”

Thad slapped a hand around his mouth while Chanté remained composed.

“I see. Before I address your question, Shawanda—do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Uh, well, I guess not.”

“Why have you wasted fifteen years of your life on a man who clearly doesn’t respect you enough to marry you?”

“Hey, that’s my baby’s daddy. The ring will come. I mean, you know, he first has to get his wife to sign the divorce papers.”

“His wife?”

“Yeah, she’s been trippin’ ever since he chose me over her trifling behind.”

“So let me get this straight—” Chanté straightened in her chair. “You’re calling because your man is exhibiting the same behavior you benefited from fifteen years ago when he left his wife for you. Do I understand that right?”

“Look, Rufus left my sister because she didn’t know how to treat him right. She never could keep a man, if you know what I mean.”

“Unfortunately, I think I do.” Chanté sighed. “All right, Shawanda and the rest of you ladies out there who think that hanging on to a man, any man, by any means necessary is the road to eternal bliss. Snap out of it!”

Chanté drew a deep breath and shook her finger at her desk microphone like it was an errant child. “This sort of behavior is unacceptable, despicable and downright counterproductive. It’s bad enough that you destroyed one family, but you’re calling me to help you stop someone from paying you back for what you put out in the universe. The way I see it, Shawanda, you have two choices, get out or suck it up.

“If you have any sense left you’ll do the right thing and crawl to your sister on your hands and knees and beg for forgiveness. Got it?”

A loud click followed by a dial tone filled the airwaves.

“Humph. Another woman who can’t take the truth.” She shook her head. “Look, ladies. One of the hardest things you’ll ever have to learn is to know when to let go. It’s not always healthy to only listen to your heart. Your heart can convince you to give up things you have no business giving up. Trust me, I know.”

Chanté stayed her tongue, realizing that she’d nearly said too much. To her surprise, Thad had already removed his headphones and was stretched out in his chair, shaking his head.

“We cut to Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s repeat show about a minute ago.”

“Oh, thank God.” Chanté sighed and dropped her head on her desk. “I was about to experience a serious case of verbal diarrhea.”

Thad stood from his chair and strode out of the control room and into the studio booth. “Hey, what do you say we grab some coffee at our favorite diner? We could talk and...talk.”

Chanté rolled her head to the side and peeked up at him. “Talk?”

Somehow, she managed to lift her head and smile. “Thanks, Thad...but I think I’m going to have to take a rain check.” She removed her headset.

He nodded with obvious disappointment. “All right. But I got to tell you—the rain checks are stacking pretty high. I’m going to start cashing them in soon—real soon.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow night it is.” Thad slid the bill of his Yankees cap to the front and winked. “Get some rest. You look like you need it.”

Chanté watched the young producer as he shuffled out of the studio and then felt herself tumble back into a void so complete, she barely had any energy to pack up her belongings. “Sleep,” she mumbled under her breath. “What a novel idea.”

Like a zombie, she headed out to the employee parking lot. Despite exhaustion, Chanté knew when she climbed into bed, sleep would be rationed out in fitful doses. Such had been the case for the past five months. Ever since she’d kicked Matthew out of their bedroom.

She was angry. He was angry. She threw things. He shouted hurtful things at the top of his lungs. Neither apologized. To do so would mean that one of them was wrong. After eleven years of marriage, Chanté was tired of always being wrong.

Chanté’s heels clicked louder against the asphalt, renewed anger brewed in her blood. Over the past five months, she’d lamented over every argument they had ever had and not once had Matthew apologized.

Not once.

As she approached her parking space, the sight of the rented Mercedes only fed her anger. Matthew deserved more than just some itching powder sprinkled in his clothes—maybe being thrown into a cage with a wild animal would elicit some sense of satisfaction.

“Okay, maybe that’s a little too harsh,” she admitted, but a smile curved her lips all the same.

As Chanté merged into traffic, she wished that she’d taken Thad up on his offer for coffee and a talk. She wanted to talk to someone, but hated feeling pressured to do so. The irony of that didn’t escape her.

She drove for hours, most of the time going back and forth over the same stretch of highway—never really ready to make the right exit for her house. No matter the hour, she knew Matt would be waiting up for her in the living room, although he would never admit it. He’d always claimed to be working whether his laptop was on or not. That still meant something, didn’t it? What about the other night when he’d nearly made love to her on the floor of the foyer?

Wasn’t that a sign that he still wanted her?

At least her body...or what her body should be capable of giving him.

A child.

The white lines of the road blurred at the sudden sting of tears. Why couldn’t Matt just let it go? Not every couple had children. Not everyone was meant to be parents.

But in the last six years her husband had grown obsessed. From endless tests to new and innovative positions, Matthew was determined to have a child. Making love had become sex and sex had become a dull, emotionless act that had left her feeling more empty and dissatisfied than when they started.

Matt never noticed. After all, to a man, an orgasm was an orgasm.

Chanté reached the point that she didn’t even bother faking it anymore. And if she wasn’t enjoying it, then why do it?

Still, the other night, an old familiar spark had flared between them. Or had she imagined it? She mulled the question over a moment, but in the end was no closer to an answer than she was that night.

But I wanted to make love to him.

That was an inescapable fact.

* * *

After a marathon of hot and sweaty sex, Edie and Seth curled into a nice spoon while they waited to catch their next wind.

“God, you’re beautiful,” Seth panted, peppering his wife’s back with butterfly kisses.

“You just make sure you don’t forget it,” Edie purred and wiggled her rump against his growing erection.

Seth laughed but reached over and snatched a white Kleenex, a surrender flag, from the nightstand and waved it in front of his wife. “I give up. I can’t go on without the aid of a medic.”

Edie groaned and then inched out of their beloved spoon to roll over and face him. “You know if you keep conking out on me, I just might have to get myself a younger man.”

“Then I’ll just have to get myself an older woman. Someone who knows how to roll over and go to sleep after four rounds.”

“Better not.” Edie giggled before she laid another long, hot kiss on him. When she pulled away, she gazed deep into his eyes. “Promise me that we’ll always be like this.”

“I promise that we’ll always be like this.”

“Even when I grow old and my skin gets all wrinkly?”

“Even then.”

“Even when my hair turns all gray and I’ll have to put my teeth in a glass next to the bed?”

“Ooh, no teeth, huh? That could come in handy.”

Edie popped him on the arm. “Promise.”

Seth chuckled and drew her soft body close. “I promise to love you until my dying breath.” He kissed her upturned nose.

Edie released a long sigh and tried to relax against him.

“Something else is on your mind. Out with it.”

“Oh,” she said disconsolately. “It’s nothing.”

“It sure doesn’t sound like nothing.”

She hesitated a moment, kissed his firm chest, and then tilted her head back so that she met his gaze in the dimly lit room. “Did you talk to Matthew today?”

It was Seth’s turn to sigh wearily. “Yeah, I guess you can say that.”

“I take it you ran into the same brick wall I did with Chanté?”

“Unfortunately.” He rolled onto his back, but kept Edie locked in his arm. “I think they’re worse off than I originally thought.”

“What do you mean?”

Seth relayed his suspicions about Matt’s potentially straying eye and waited for the eruptions he knew that would follow. Edie and Chanté were best friends, after all. Jumping to her girl’s defense was only natural.

But she said nothing.

In a way, the quiet was more unsettling than any explosion.

“Baby?”

“Do you think he’ll have an affair?”

Seth drew in a deep breath while he replayed what he’d seen in Matt’s dressing room and what he knew of his friend’s character. He wanted to say “no, absolutely not,” but something kept the words from falling from his lips.

Edie sat up. When their eyes met again, Seth read the sadness she felt for her friend. It had nothing to do with book sales or public image.

“We have to try harder,” she whispered. “Everyone knows they’re soul mates.”

“That doesn’t mean anything, if they don’t know they’re soul mates,” he reasoned, caressing her arm. “We can lead deer to water, but we can’t make them drink.”

With a slow nod, she turned toward the window. As she gazed out at the full moon, Seth watched as a smile crept across her face.

“We’re going to have to do more than just lead them to the water,” she said.

Seth frowned, lost on her meaning.

Edie faced him again. “We’re going to have to throw them in.”

Chapter 6

Somewhere around two a.m., Matthew began to worry. Would this be the night Chanté decided not to come home? He held his breath as his eyes scanned the dimly lit property. For the last five months he tried to prepare himself for such an occasion, but at this moment he realized he could never truly be prepared for that.

Day after day, he taught and counseled couples on how to rebuild a broken marriage, but he was absolutely clueless on how to fix his own. The sudden beam of a car’s headlights piercing the night made Matthew’s shoulders deflate with relief.

His marriage would see another day. Break out the champagne.

Matthew moved away from the window and returned to the sofa. He opened his laptop and spread out a folder of paperwork around him. When the door opened, his heartbeat sped up while he questioned if his wife would buy his “working late” act.

The door closed and he heard the locks engage. Soon their nightly script of light bantering would ensue.

Juvenile—yes. Necessary—absolutely.

However, at the sound of Chanté’s heels clicking up the stairs, Matthew realized there was an unexpected change in the script. He removed the computer from his lap and rushed to the living room’s archway.

“I’m glad to see that you remembered our address,” he quipped, crossing his arms. He mentally berated himself for saying the words with blatant concern. He was supposed to sound aloof and nonchalant.

Chanté stopped halfway up the stairs and turned to face him. “Can we not do this tonight? I’m really tired.”

Matthew moved from the archway, instantly concerned about the overwhelming sadness in her eyes and her slumped posture.

“Is there...?” He stopped himself at her sudden flash of anger.

“I think you’ve done enough, don’t you?”

He had no response for the soft reprimand. All he could do was watch her turn and climb the rest of her stairs. Exactly one minute later, her high scream filled the entire house.

Matt’s heart leaped into the center of his chest as he flew up the stairs. When he rounded the corner to Chanté’s room, he quickly skidded to a stop while his eyes grew wide as silver dollars.

The entire room looked as if a tornado had hit. Curtains were pulled from their rods, paper, cotton and goose feathers were spawned across the floor—along with most of the bedding.

“What the hell happened in here?” Matthew asked, though the moment the question was out of his mouth, he suspected the answer.

Chanté rounded on him with fire in her eyes. “You know damn well what happened. You did this!” She stalked toward him.

Raising his hands in surrender, he took a retreating step. “Wait, it’s not what you think.”

A low growl caught their attention and Chanté slowly turned toward her walk-in closet.

Buddy trotted out, growling and shaking his head with a leather pump clenched between his teeth.

“What in the hell?” Chanté screeched.

“Buddy, no.” Matthew raced into the room and knelt to rescue the prized possession. “Give me that. How did you get out of my room?”

“Buddy?” his wife snapped. “This mongrel belongs to you?”

Matthew pried the shoe out of the dog’s mouth, but then groaned at the numerous teeth marks around the heel.

Chanté approached with her fist jabbed into her hips.

He glanced up. “Uh, looks like we were a little too late.”

“Uh, you think?” She snatched the shoe from his hand. “These are Weitzman pumps. Do you know what I had to do to track these down?”

He quickly scooped the dog into his arms before his wife did something rash. As a matter of fact, he realized that he better stand up if he wanted to keep his own teeth. “Chanté, calm down. This was an accident.”

“An accident? You expect me to believe that? What the hell is a dog doing in this house in the first place? You know I don’t like dogs.”

“Well, I do. And I think it’s high time I had one. I need something around here to be happy when I come home.”

She sucked in an indignant breath. “And who is going to take care of him?”

“I’ll take care of him!”

Chanté swept out an arm to indicate her bedroom. “Does this look like you’re taking care of him?”

“He must have gotten out of his crate.”

“Did you come to that conclusion all by yourself, Dr. Valentine?”

“It was an accident. It won’t happen again.”

Rage trembled through Chanté’s body like a bolt of lightning. “Get out!” she seethed through her clenched teeth.

“Chanté...”

Pivoting on her heel, she marched toward the door and held it open. “I said, get out.”

Realizing that she wasn’t going to listen to reason, Matthew waltzed out. He’d barely crossed the threshold when the door slammed behind him.

Matthew stood still for a long moment, reviewing what had just happened.

Just apologize. Seth’s advice rang in Matt’s ear and reverberated through every cell of his body.

But apologize for what? Okay, maybe he could start with the car and the damage the dog did to her room—or even his callous remarks on national television. But all of that transpired in the last week. It would hardly cover the past five months.

It’s a start.

Matthew turned around and knocked on the door.

Chanté didn’t answer.

He drew a deep breath and tried again—this time a little louder. When she didn’t answer the second time, he knew he was officially being given the silent treatment.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” he murmured to the door.

Buddy lifted his head and delivered a sloppy lick against Matthew’s cheek.

“At least you still like me.” Turning, Matthew followed the gray duct tape back to his room.

* * *

Thinking she heard something, Chanté shut off the shower and waited to see if she’d hear it again. After a minute, she shivered from the cool chill of the bathroom and turned the hot water back on. The steady, warm pulse of the water did a considerable job of easing the tension from her body.

However, she fully intended to make herself a hard drink once she climbed out of the shower—maybe even two.

As she lathered and rinsed, lathered and rinsed, she churned an inventory of Matthew’s prized possessions over in her mind. Which item would pack the most wallop and which one would hit below the belt?

How long are you going to keep this up?

The question threw her, mainly because she didn’t have an answer. This tit-for-tat game they played was taking on a life of its own, and in a weird way, it fed something in her—in Matthew, too, if she wasn’t mistaken.

She shut off the water again and stepped out of the shower. Wrapping the towel around her body, she traipsed back into the adjoining bedroom. She stripped everything off the bed, and then put on fresh linens before she crawled on top.

Sighing, she stared up at the ceiling and laughed. She laughed so hard and so long, the voice inside her head questioned her sanity.

Sitting up, she took a long look around her gilded cage—albeit a trashed cage—and felt an incredible loneliness. It hadn’t always felt this way—not when Matthew used to lie beside her. Chanté groaned. Why did her heart constantly flip-flop where Matthew was concerned?

She loved him. She hated him. She loved him. She loved him.

“Aw, hell. Maybe Edie was right. Maybe we do need help.” After all, it had been easy to fall in love with Matthew, though many of her friends thought they were oil and water from the start.

Growing up, she hadn’t known any affluent black families—not in a small Texan town like Karankawa. She was charmed by everything from the way he talked to the way he walked. She was in awe of his intelligence, captivated by his sophistication and seduced by his good looks.

While wallowing in a moment of honesty, she realized he still had those qualities. Maybe she was the one who’d changed. Maybe if her body had given them a child, she wouldn’t be so bitter.

She stretched out across the bed, hoping to fill the empty spaces—but it didn’t work. Chanté closed her eyes and struggled to remember all of their firsts. The first time he took her into his arms. Their first kiss. The first time they made love. After a while, the memories flooded her senses.

The first time they were together they’d lain on a bed of rose petals. Roses were her favorite flowers. That night, she thought she’d die from the sheer joy of their consummation. The tenderness of his probing and inquisitive hands. He was masterful in figuring out all her hot spots.

She remembered his mouth tasting like a fusion of heaven and sin. One minute, she was his precious angel and in the next, his little devil. Back then, Matthew kept a beautifully groomed goatee and her sensitive skin always quivered beneath its light tickle.

Lost in the memories, Chanté unwrapped the towel from her baby-oiled body and fanned her fingers across her chest. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to travel back in time and experience that night again. Love seemed so effortless and happiness was always just a kiss away.

Nothing is stopping you from going to him now.

Her eyes snapped open. For a second her eyes darted around to see if someone else had actually made the comment. When she realized she was still alone, she sighed in relief.

But the bud of her femininity began to ache for fulfillment.

“I could go,” she whispered, warming to the idea. Heck, who said that she had to apologize in order to get laid? Hell, she didn’t even have to talk.

Chanté sucked in her bottom lip and nibbled for a little while. There’s the danger of Matthew thinking that sex would be some sort of peace offering.

The ache between her legs intensified.

Then again, I could correct him in the morning. Chanté liked that idea and bounded off the bed, in search of the perfect negligee to seduce her husband.

Chapter 7

After a half bottle of Jack Daniels, Matthew dreamed of his wife’s creamy thighs, firm breasts and perfect apple bottom. He tossed and turned and even smacked his lips while remembering her distinctive taste. The wanting, aching and longing had stripped him of his sanity.

No matter how many times he tried to think or concentrate on something else, Chanté’s teasing body would crystallize in his mind. If he thought about work, Chanté would materialize as a naked cue-card girl. When writing material for his next book, Chanté would be the naked girl on his Internet pop-up, asking him if he wanted to see her in action.

It was maddening...and a complete turn-on.

In need of relief, Matthew grabbed hold of his erection and tried to assuage the ache. Even at this desperate hour, his hand was a lousy substitute.

You could always go back and knock on the door again.

Matthew’s hand stilled. The thought had possibilities. But then he remembered how Chanté had turned him down the other night and how she closed the door in his face tonight. How many times could he face her rejection?

Knock. Knock.

Matthew remained frozen in the bed with his erection still throbbing in his hand.

Knock. Knock.

Buddy barked from his crate.

“Yes?” he asked sluggishly.

Instead of an answer, he listened as the doorknob turned and the heavy door creaked open. Pushing himself up, he wasn’t quite sure what to expect—an intruder, his wife, or an intruder impersonating his wife.

He waited until the curvaceous figure illuminated under the silvery moonlight. Even then he wasn’t sure he believed what he was seeing or if his old buddy Jack now had him hallucinating.

“Chanté?”

She glided toward the bed and pressed a slender finger against his lips. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to catch her meaning—and he was only too willing to oblige.

Damn it, it’s been five months.

Wait, his brain screamed. Something wasn’t right. Matt eyed her suspiciously. “Is this a trick?”

Again, she didn’t answer. Just gave him a slight shake of her head.

Matthew weighed whether to believe her. Then again, if this was a hallucination, what harm was there in having a little fun?

A bright smile bloomed across Matthew’s face and glowed in the moonlight. “Hey, baby. You finally decided to come pay Big Daddy a visit?”

Chanté frowned. “Have you been drinking?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. There’s no law against a man drinking in the privacy of his own home, is there?”

“Never mind. This was a mistake.” She turned.

Matthew hopped out of bed and clutched her arm. “Don’t go, baby. You know we’ve both been waiting for this for a long time,” he slurred.

She hesitated, giving Matthew all the confirmation he needed.

“Why don’t you give me a big, fat juicy kiss to seal the deal?”

Eager, both Chanté and Matthew leaned forward, only to bang their foreheads together.

“Ouch.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” Matt fluttered a nervous smile before trying again. This time, their lips connected and their bodies sagged with relief.

However, when Matt leaned her back onto the bed, he’d forgotten about his laptop and piles of paper occupying the other side.

“Ow, ouch.” Chanté shoved him off.

“Oh, just a minute.” Matt pitched everything, including the laptop, over the side of the bed. “See? All gone.” He flashed another toothy smile and clumsily reached for her again.

Buddy barked.

“Shh. Buddy, be quiet,” Matthew warned. “You’ll scare my dream girl away.”

Chanté hesitated.

“Don’t worry, no more surprises,” he assured, patting the empty bed for emphasis.

After another beat of hesitation, Chanté decided to give it another try. She glided effortlessly into his arms and imagined herself cast into her own romance novel. But everything didn’t play out quite the way she’d hope.

Matthew grabbed for her like a starved man before an all-you-can-eat buffet. He fumbled and cursed while he tried to pry her out of her lingerie.

“Here, let me do it,” she offered before he had a chance to destroy one more thing of hers. Three snaps later, she chiseled on another smile and then lay back on the bed in all her naked glory.

That was when the real pawing began.

Matt’s once tender and caressing hands were now rough and forceful. Lips that once gave loving worship to her sensitive nipples now seemed determined to chew the damn things off.

“Easy. Easy,” she coached, wanting him to slow down and enjoy the ride. Instead, her husband skipped foreplay and went straight for the main attraction.

He entered with one mighty thrust and nearly split her in two.

What the hell?

Chanté gripped his bulging biceps and tried to hold on during the ride. However, she was nearly rendered senseless several times as her head was rammed into the headboard. Meanwhile, Buddy continued to bark his head off. This was like nothing she’d ever experienced before.

“Shh, Buddy. Shh, Buddy,” Matthew hissed in between his “Oh, Gods.” His hips hammered away while his eyes damn near rolled to the back of his head.

Chanté watched in resolute boredom until Matthew stiffened with one last thrust, and then collapsed in a sweaty heap.

Is that it?

“Oh, baby. I missed you so much.” Matthew panted and peppered sloppy kisses across her face and eyes.

“Uhm.” She searched for the right words. “Matt?”

“Hmm?”

“I, uh, didn’t...well, you know.”

Matt lifted his head and stared down at her. “You didn’t?”

Chanté shook her head. Not even close.

“I, uh, I’m so—well, I guess, I did get a little carried away. It being a while and all.” He absently wiped the sweat from his brow.

She nodded in feigned understanding. “That’s all right. You can try again.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He smiled and wiggled his hips.

To Chanté’s dismay, she noted Matt Jr. wasn’t exactly standing at full salute.

“Just give me a minute to...catch my breath,” Matthew panted.

Chanté’s brows furrowed, but she had no choice but to bob her head in agreement and wait for her husband to catch his second wind.

Two minutes later, Matthew was fast asleep.

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, Seth decided it was time he dusted off his culinary skills to make his wife breakfast in bed. Unfortunately, his specialty was cold cereal.

“Oh, honey.” Edie smiled brightly when he appeared at their bedroom doorway with her breakfast tray in hand. “You shouldn’t have.”

Seth beamed proudly as if he’d prepared a five-course meal. “My baby deserves the best.”

“Special K, huh?”

“Special K with strawberries.”

“Then bring it on!” Edie set aside the pamphlets in her lap and punched up her pillows before her husband delivered her meal.

“What are these?” he asked, picking up one of the pamphlets.

“Some brochures I picked up yesterday before my talk with Chanté.”

Seth frowned as he opened one and then another. “Sex therapy? I thought the idea was to get them to see a real counselor?”

“They’re real.” Edie snatched one of the brochures back. “I’ve heard some great things about these places.”

“Where? On one of those women’s talk shows?”

Edie poked out her bottom lip as she shrugged her shoulders. “What if I did? A reference is a reference.”

“Okay, this job just went from difficult to impossible.” Seth laughed. “Sex isn’t the problem. Their ability to stay away from sharp objects is.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked, scooping out her first spoonful of cereal.

“No,” he acquiesced. “It’s not the sort of thing we talk about.”

“Well, what do you talk about?”

“His lack of sex. Five months and counting.” Seth shook his head with great sympathy. “I don’t care what anyone says, that’s cruel and unusual punishment. No wonder he’s demolishing cars.”

“I hear you.” She chomped away for a moment while her gaze returned to the pamphlets.

“Actually, I really think I’m on to something here. Last week when Chanté stormed over here about the Letterman incident, she said that Matthew used to be great in bed.”

“What the hell? Do you two give each other blow-by-blow recaps?”

“Don’t worry, sweetie. You’re still a ten in my book.”

Seth straightened his shoulders as his chest swelled from the compliment. “Ten is easy when I have an eleven in my arms.”

For that, he was rewarded with a kiss.

“So you think this sex therapy will work?”

“It certainly can’t hurt.”

“Not unless there’s a chainsaw on the premises.”

Edie chuckled.

“Any idea how we’re going to get them to one of these places?” Seth asked.

“Yes. We lie.”

Chapter 8

Chanté was beyond pissed.

No car. No foreplay. No orgasm. Enough was enough.

She slammed the kitchen cabinets as she made coffee, took her morning pills, and slaved over the hot stove. Every time she thought about last night’s lousy performance, she broke a glass, a cup or a dish. How and when did Matt become so selfish and so clueless in bed?

Not only had he fallen asleep, he snored loud enough to wake the dead.

Crash!

Another plate bit the dust.

“Good morning.”

Chanté’s gaze snapped to her husband as he entered the kitchen, and for a brief moment she weighed the consequences of smashing his head in with a frying pan.

The temptation nearly won out—especially since the bastard had the audacity to be in a cheerful mood.

“What smells so good?” he asked, with a beaming smile.

“Breakfast,” she answered with an overdose of saccharine. “Hungry?”

Suspicion glimmered in Matt’s eyes. “You’re cooking me breakfast?”

“It’s not unusual for a wife to cook for her husband.”

Matthew’s brows shot up.

“Why don’t you just take a seat at the table? The food will be right out.”

Matt didn’t move. Instead, he studied the angles of her plastic smile. “Uh...about last night,” he began. “Did we...you didn’t come to my room last night, did you?”

The jerk doesn’t even remember! Chanté crossed her arms and weighed her options. “Only in your dreams,” she lied bitterly.

“Oh, I didn’t think so.” He shook his head and gave an awkward laugh. “I knew I had a few too many.”

Chanté glared and contemplated the frying pan again. “Breakfast will be out in a minute.”

He hesitated again.

“Go on now. I’ll be out there in a second.”

Finally, he gave her a slight nod and then turned in the direction of the dining room.

I’ll fix you breakfast all right. One you’ll never forget.

* * *

Matt knew he was in trouble. Why on earth would Chanté fix him breakfast after what Buddy did to her room? The way he saw it, he still had options. He could either run from the house screaming like a banshee, put in a precall to 9-1-1, or drop to his knees and beg for mercy.

The first option had potential.

“Breakfast is ready,” Chanté sang, carrying plates to the table.

Too late. Matthew swallowed a lump in his throat while his brain threatened to short-circuit with trying to come up with an excuse to miss breakfast.

“Uh, Chanté.” He followed his wife to the table.

“Yes, dear?”

Dear? “You know, I’m not all that hungry,” he said with a nervous smile. However, the sight of fluffy scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and golden-brown biscuits made his stomach roar at the lie.

Chanté lifted an inquisitive brow.

“Maybe I am a little hungry.”

Chanté smiled and pulled out a chair. “Sit.”

Matt hesitated. His fear accelerated at the sight of her lips sliding wider.

“Come on.” She patted the back of the chair. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

How could he back down from a challenge like that? “Of course not.” He walked over to her, searched her eyes for any telltale signs and then slowly eased into the offered chair.

“There. See?” She patted his shoulders. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

The corner of Matthew’s lips quivered and then he glanced down at the meal before him. Everything looked good—perhaps too good.

Chanté hummed a merry tune like a Disney princess as she walked to the other side of the table to take her seat. “Dig in,” she said.

Matt glanced around. “You know, I think I’d like some orange juice,” he announced, scooting back his chair. “Can I get you any?”

“I’ll get it.” She jumped up from her chair and nearly raced out of the room. “You sit there and eat.”

When she disappeared around the corner, he reached across the table and switched the plates. A second later his wife rushed back into the room carrying two glasses of orange juice. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, honey.”

Her smile thinned at the endearment and Matthew grew suspicious of the drink she handed him as well. Mercifully, Buddy chose that moment to waddle into the room.

“What in the hell is he doing in here?” Chanté snapped and jumped up from the table.

“Hey, little Buddy.” Matt scooped up the dog. “How do you keep getting out of your crate?”

“Get him out of here!” Chanté screeched.

Matthew cradled the dog against his body. “All right. Calm down. Don’t have a conniption fit. I’ll go put him back in his crate.”

“Apparently he needs a stronger crate. Tie him up somewhere outside.”

Buddy barked.

Chanté stuck her tongue out at the dog.

“Now is that mature?” Matthew asked.

“After what he did to my bedroom, he’s lucky we’re not having him for breakfast.”

Buddy whimpered and snuggled against his owner.

Unmoved, Chanté stomped her foot. “Outside.”

“Come on, Buddy. Let’s see if Roger can get you situated somewhere.” Matthew rose from his chair and marched out, all the while cooing and apologizing to the dog for his wife’s behavior.

Chanté leaned across the table and craned her neck to see if the coast was clear and then quickly switched the breakfast plates back.

Minutes later, her husband returned with a pinch of annoyance in his expression. The emotion vanished when he discovered his wife had already started eating her meal. He eased into his chair and watched her expression.

Chanté stopped chewing and frowned.

“Is something wrong, honey?” Matthew picked up his fork.

“No.” She smiled but it faltered. “Everything is...fine.”

He returned the smile when she placed a hand over her stomach. “Good.” He dove into his food triumphantly and moaned aloud to emphasize how wonderful everything tasted. “You know, honey. I think this is the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time.”

“Glad you enjoy it.” Grimacing, she cupped a hand over her mouth. “Excuse me.” She bounded out her chair and raced out of the room.

Matt shoved another forkful of food into his mouth while chuckling to himself. You have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over on me.

In the half bathroom on the bottom floor, Chanté was doubled over with laughter.

* * *

The studio audience for The Love Doctor show grew restless waiting for their host to take the stage. The warm-up team had long run out of jokes and prizes to hand out and the camera crew and stagehands were growing bored.

“Where is he?” Trish from the sound department inquired. “Production is going to run over.”

“Love Doctor! Love Doctor!” the crowd chanted.

“We’d better do something or we’re going to have a studio of emotionally imbalanced women storm the stage,” Trish warned.

“Love Doctor! Love Doctor!”

“I’ll go check his dressing room,” Cookie volunteered cheerfully and sashayed off.

* * *

Matthew wasn’t feeling too good. In fact, he was feeling downright miserable—and he knew why.

“I’m never going to forgive her for this,” he vowed, exiting his private bathroom. Despite his black mood, he finally managed to pull himself together and leave his dressing room.

“There you are!” Cookie approached, wearing a wide smile. “Everyone is waiting for you.” Studying his face, the intern frowned. “Are you all right? You don’t look so well.”

“Fine.” Matthew flashed a smile but proceeded to take tiny steps toward the stage. “Never better.” He stopped and closed his eyes as another wave of nausea threatened to send him back to the toilet.

Cookie stopped, fearful that whatever he had was contagious.

After a few seconds, Matthew sighed in relief when his stomach settled and he continued his slow journey to the stage.

“Love Doctor! Love Doctor!” the crowd chanted.

“There he is!” a spectator shouted from the crowd, and the studio thundered with applause.

Matthew smiled, waved and hit his mark in front of the cameras. However, the moment he opened his mouth his stomach dropped to his knees and his nausea was no longer ripples but huge tidal waves.

“Hello, everyone,” he greeted, struggling to remain professional. Yet, the moment the stage lights turned up, he literally felt beads of sweat pop up along his forehead. “Thanks for coming...and good night.” Matthew turned and bolted off the stage, praying that he would make it back to his private bathroom.

* * *

“What type of conference is this again?” Chanté asked Edie for the third time as they perused the shoe aisles. “And why do both Matt and I have to attend?”

“It’s a relationship conference and you’re going because it’s an excellent promotional opportunity. A lot of press is covering this thing so you and Matt need to be on your best behavior.”

Chanté sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, Edie. I sort of need a break from Matthew—especially after last night’s fiasco. I wanted to kill that damn dog...and him.” She hesitated and then cast a sidelong glance over at her friend.

“What?”

Chanté debated on whether she should tell everything that had happened. “I went to Matthew’s bedroom last night.”

Edie’s eyes lit up. “You did? Well, good for you!” She gave her a strong hug and noticed Chanté’s lack of response. “Not good?”

“I’d rather have played Scrabble.”

Edie grimaced.

“No kissing. No foreplay. No nothing,” Chanté whispered angrily. “He just tossed me back onto the bed, pumped like an Olympic record was on the line...and then rolled over and went to sleep.”

“Ouch.”

“Damn right. I wanted to kill him.” She stopped there, not confessing to tampering with Matthew’s breakfast. No need to paint herself in a bad light. “I just don’t get it,” Chanté complained. “He wasn’t always like this. I remember a time— Ooh, girl. The earth moved, angels flew down from heaven and I thought I’d need physical therapy in order to walk again. Now? It’s wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am and, by the way, where is the baby?”

Edie fell silent as she cocked her head in sympathy.

“I used to think we were just in some kind of rut. You know, stress from the jobs, the pressure to try and beat my biological clock. Before I knew it, long lovemaking sessions were downgraded to quickies and we’ve been stuck in that same gear ever since.”

“I’m sorry.” Edie draped an arm around her friend’s shoulders. Now she was convinced more than ever that she was doing the right thing in tricking Chanté and Matthew into sex therapy. “Look, go to this conference. When you get back, I’ll make sure you get a break. I’ll talk to Julia in the publicity department and arrange a book tour for you. That’ll keep you out of the house for a little while.”

“True.” Chanté sighed, but then perked up. “Ooh. These are nice.” She picked up a pair of leather pumps.

“Don’t you already have a pair like that?”

“No. It doesn’t have this cute little buckle on the side. I’m going to try them on.”

Edie just shook her head as she followed her friend to a nearby chair where she asked a saleswoman for the correct size. “No offense, but how many shoes can one woman own?”

“Hey, when I was growing up, I never owned more than two pairs of shoes at a time.”

“And now you have a whole department store in your closet.”

“All right, I admit it. I love shoes. Sue me.”

Edie continued to shake her head. “So what do you say? Will you do the conference?”

“Separate hotel rooms?”

“C’mon. How will that look at a relationship conference?”

“Like we’re trying to preserve our sanity.”

“Chanté.”

“All right. All right.” She held up her hands.

“You’ll do it?” Her editor perked up.

Chanté drew a deep breath and tried to figure out just how long she and Matthew could share a hotel room without a homicide detective showing up.

“Please?” Edie folded her hands in mock prayer.

“All right. I’ll do it,” she huffed. “Just make sure the room is stocked with enough alcohol to dull my pain.”

Edie smiled smugly behind Chanté’s back. One down, one to go.

Chapter 9

“I’m not going anywhere with that psycho!” Matthew spat to Seth and then ducked his head back over the toilet bowl. “If you haven’t noticed, she damn near tried to kill me this morning.”

“Am I to believe that you did nothing to provoke her attempted murder this time?”

“No,” he lied, coming up for air again. “Well...not exactly.”

“Uh-huh.” Seth finished wringing cold water from a face towel and then tossed it to his client. “What exactly did you do? It wouldn’t happen to have involved a four-legged friend I told you not to take home?”

Matthew placed the towel over his face, in part to cool his forehead and in part to hide his guilt while he reviewed last night’s major disasters...and one mind-blowing sex dream.

“If it’s taking you that long to answer the question, I don’t think I want to know what happened.”

“That’s probably best.” He paused and then added, “I think my, uh, streak ended last night.”

Seth’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but then quickly crash-landed. “You think? I take it since the porcelain god is your best friend today that it didn’t go too well?”

“Horrible,” Matthew groaned. “I was drunk and it had been so long...I grew too excited...and was a little quick on the trigger.” He glanced up at Seth. “And that’s not the worst part.”

“You didn’t.”

He nodded. “I did. I fell asleep...and then this morning I wasn’t sure if I’d dreamed the whole thing. When I asked Chanté about it, she said that it never happened, but I don’t know.”

It was Seth’s turn to groan.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” Matthew said defensively. “It just did. And then this morning when she was cooking breakfast I started to apologize...and I couldn’t quite get the words out. Me! King of the talk shows couldn’t find the words to apologize to my wife. How pathetic is that?”

“No wonder she tried to kill you.”

“Nothing excuses that.”

“And what excuse is there for taking a chainsaw to someone’s car?”

“Hey! Just whose side are you on?”

“No one’s side since you’re both crazy as hell.” Seth folded his arms as he leaned back against the sink. “C’mon, Matt. About this conference—it’s going to be great for you publicly. A few of the other top relationship gurus are going to be there.”

“Dr. Phil?”

“If I’m not mistaken,” Seth lied smoothly. “It’s just for a couple of days. Surely you and Chanté can put your differences aside for a couple of days to pose as the perfect couple?”

Matthew groaned his doubt, especially since his mind was already churning for his next payback for being damn near poisoned. “I don’t know, Seth. I think what we need is a vacation from one another. Maybe you can set me up with a book tour or something. Get me out of the house before I make America’s Most Wanted list.”

“All right. You do this conference and when you get back, I’ll get you your tour.”

* * *

After hosting another long night of The Open Heart Forum, Chanté broke her promise and issued Thad yet another rain check. Mostly, she didn’t feel like hosting another pity party. What good would it do?

“Piss or get off the pot.” How many women had she told that to over the years? If you’re not happy, why stick around?

“And the hypocrisy award goes to...me.”

At two a.m., she turned the rental car into the driveway, but sat behind the wheel long after she shut off the engine. To be honest, she was afraid to go inside. Matthew was not likely to let a little thing like spiking his food go unavenged. Of course it was harmless—at most he was nauseous for a couple of hours—at worst he spent the day hugging the toilet.

Like always—she had options. Grab a hotel room for the night, sleep in the car or brave out Matthew’s next chess move. In the end, her curiosity was too strong to back down.

Opening the front door, Chanté peered cautiously inside. The first clue that something was up was that all the lights in the house were turned off. Matthew was giving the appearance that he hadn’t waited up for her.

She didn’t buy it for a minute.

Chanté inched across the threshold with bated breath and her ears strained to catch the slightest sound. Closing the door, she effectively stamped out the only light resource she had. She knew the layout of the house by heart and rushed across the foyer to take the stairs two at a time. If she could just make it to her bedroom, she’d be safe.

But once in her bedroom, she discovered Matthew’s revenge.

The scream she released was more bloodcurdling than all the horror movie scream queens put together. There, strung from the ceiling like party favors, were hundreds of her precious shoes: Prada, Gucci, Ferragamos and even her $14,000 Manolo Blahnik alligator boots, with all their heels severed.

Her shoes. Her babies.

She screamed until she realized this was not a dream or, better yet, a nightmare. “I’m going to kill him,” she seethed. Glancing around, Chanté looked for a weapon—any weapon.

“Payback is a bitch,” Matthew drawled from behind.

She spun around and launched at him.

Matthew never imagined his wife could move so quickly. Before he could think to block the attack she was already on him like white on rice. After she landed a few blows upside his head, he lost his balance and toppled onto the floor where they rolled around like seasoned wrestlers.

“I hate you! I hate you!” Chanté shouted at the top of her lungs. “How could you do such a thing?”

Because you tried to kill me, he tried to say, but the moment he opened his mouth, she socked him in it.

“Chanté, it’s never okay to hit,” he managed to scowl.

“Screw you!”

They continued to grapple. She took the top position, then it was his turn, and then her turn again.

“Goddamn it, Matthew. You’ve gone too far this time.”

“Me?” he thundered incredulously. “I could have ended up in the hospital over that stunt you pulled this morning.”

“If only I could be so lucky,” she snapped.

The rush of small padded paws rushed across the hardwood floor and Chanté glanced up in time to see the short squat bulldog barreling and barking toward her. She jumped just as Matthew shoved and flew back, and smacked her head with a loud thump on the corner of the bedroom’s doorframe.

“Chanté!” Matthew sat up. “Are you all right?”

“Oww.” She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed at the instant knot on the back of her head. “That hurt.” As Buddy continued to bark at full volume, Chanté had an evil image of skewering the dog and roasting him over an open pit.

“Shut him up!”

Matthew scooped Buddy up and jogged him back to his room. By the time he returned, Chanté managed to pull herself up off the floor and limp to the bed.

“Are you all right?” he asked again.

“Of course.” She didn’t attempt to look in his direction. “Don’t I look all right?”

Matthew crossed the room to her bed. “Mind if I take a look?”

His gruff baritone held a warmth she recognized from years long past and she was surprised by a sudden flutter in the pit of her stomach. She jumped when his hand gently touched the back of her head.

“Be still. I promise I won’t hurt you...this time.”

Why in the hell did she smile? Had he finally knocked the rest of her marbles loose?

Tilting her head, Chanté’s sanity was again called into question when her husband’s fingers combed through her hair and her heartbeat quickened.

It had to be a trick of the mind when time crawled at a snail’s pace during her examination. Sitting still and trying not to make any additional contact, she noticed for the first time his change in cologne. For years his signature scent was the sandalwood-based Hugo by Hugo Boss. She had been the one to introduce the fragrance to him as a Christmas gift back in ’96. He loved it because she loved it and he’d worn it ever since.

Now this tangy scent reeked as being a gift from another woman. Chanté sucked in a breath from the sudden conclusion and she pulled away.

Misinterpreting her reaction, Matthew held up his hands and backed away. “Looks like you’ll live.”

Chanté eyed him suspiciously, looking to see if there were any other clues that hinted that there was another woman in the picture. She found none, but once the thought escaped Pandora’s box, she couldn’t force it back inside.

“I want a divorce,” she said in a croaked whisper.

Matthew sighed.

“I mean it this time,” she added as tears gathered in her eyes. “We can’t keep living this way.” Standing from the bed, her head bumped against a pair of Jimmy Choos. “It’s time we let go.”

Her words skillfully carved Matthew’s heart out of his chest. It was probably the millionth time she’d asked for a divorce and probably the first time he knew that she meant it.

And it was the first time he was truly scared.

“We’ll talk about it in the morning,” he said, almost failing to get the words out of his constricting throat.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” she informed him softly. Her eyes swam in a pool of tears. “The only reason we’re still together is because of our careers. How pathetic is that?”

Chanté reached up and began pulling the shoes down from the ceiling. Fat tears rolled like boulders down her face.

“I went too far—”

“We both did,” she said sadly. “I, uh, did promise Edie we would attend some big conference coming up.”

“Yeah. Seth asked me about it today.”

“I think I can manage one last happy face for the public. How about you?”

“Piece of cake.”

She nodded and wiped her face dry. “When we return, I’m seeing my lawyer.”

Matthew clenched his jaw at the sound of the final nail being hammered into their marriage’s coffin and turned to leave before his tears fell.

Chapter 10

For three days, the Valentines’ household had transformed into a multimillion-dollar tomb. Even Buddy seemed to take on his owner’s melancholy and gave up barking.

At seeing the short, stout mongrel following her to the kitchen, Chanté couldn’t bring herself to get angry with him for having escaped his crate again. Especially not with him looking up at her the way he did. His wide-eyed stare seemed to urge her to tell him her problems.

More than once, she found herself doing just that—usually when she found herself filling his dog bowl with kibble.

“I just don’t know if I can handle four days pretending to be happy when I’m not,” she told Buddy. “And I don’t know what I’m going to say when the divorce becomes public.”

Buddy whined as he put his head down on the cold kitchen floor.

“I know,” she whispered, retrieving a box of cereal. “I still can’t believe it’s over.” She filled a glass with water, took her morning pills and then finished fixing her breakfast. She settled on a stool at the breakfast bar. In her head, she scrolled through a list of questions she usually asked her callers who were at the end of a relationship.

Have you exhausted all avenues for reconciliation?

Before she lied to herself, Edie’s voice floated around her head. Maybe you and Matt should seek counseling.

Like before, she scoffed at the idea, but then looking around her kitchen and imagining what it would truly be like when Matthew moved out, she reconsidered.

* * *

The moment her morning meeting with the marketing department was over, Edie raced back to her cluttered office ready to dive into a stack of unread manuscripts, but instead was surprised to see her handsome husband waiting for her.

“Baby, what are you doing here?” She eased into his arms and delivered a quick smooch against his smooth-shaved skin.

“Came to see if I could take my favorite girl to lunch...and to see if you have those fake itineraries printed up. I’m running by the studio this afternoon and I promised Matthew I’d bring them to him.”

“Got them right here on my desk.” She moved to her in-box and then handed him a glossy folder.

“The Marriage Quest conference,” he read aloud. “Catchy.”

“Why, thank you.” Edie’s smile beamed as she rocked on her heels. “I can’t take all the credit. Julia in Publicity helped.”

“The Tree of Life Spa and Resort,” he continued reading. “Sounds interesting.”

“Oh, it is. The tree of life is a part of the map of the seven chakras.”

“The what?”

“Chakras. They are energy centers that represent the dynamic flow of cosmic energy within the human body.”

“Uh-huh.” He snapped the folder closed. “Fascinating.”

“It is,” Edie went on. “You know, I was thinking—maybe we should go with Chanté and Matthew.”

“Why? There’s nothing wrong with our sex life.” Seth stepped back and folded his arms. “Is there?”

“No. No. Of course not.” She slyly opened his arms and eased back into his embrace. “But I thought it would be fun for us to try out new things. Plus, we’ll probably need to keep an eye out on Matthew and Chanté. We have to stop them from bolting when they discover they’ve been tricked.”

“What are we supposed to do—tackle them?”

“Love is a contact sport.” She laughed at her own joke.

Seth failed to see the humor.

“C’mon. We should really be there for them.”

Never being able to resist his wife’s pleading brown eyes, Seth gave in with a sigh. “All right. All right. I’ll clear my schedule.”

“Good. I already bought our tickets.”

“Of course you did.”

* * *

Matthew spent another day cruising on autopilot. He listened with great apathy to his guests’ problems, doled out his earnest opinions and advice, and then smiled and laughed with his staff once they wrapped taping.

In the coming week, the network would broadcast repeat programming while he attended his last conference with his wife. A part of him knew that he should at least give his producers a heads-up about the pending divorce, but the other part of him still hadn’t come to terms with it.

That was silly, considering their wild fights and inexcusable behavior. Deep down, he never thought she would go through with it. She was his yin to his yang. If she got crazy, he went crazy, too.

But leave?

“I should have followed Seth’s advice and just apologized,” he mumbled to the vanity mirror inside his dressing room.

“I’m sorry. Did you say something?” Cookie asked, handing him his coffee.

“No. No. I was just...talking to myself.” He smiled blandly and dropped his gaze to the steaming black liquid in his favorite Open Heart Forum coffee mug.

“Oh.” Cookie clasped her hands behind her back and thrust her surgically-enhanced bosom high into the air. “Well, is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No. I think that’s all. Thank you.” He sipped from his cup and prepared to dive back into his desolate thoughts.

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