“You’ve got to talk to me, Luce.”

“Just don’t touch me anymore, Theo.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Theo felt himself go numb.

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

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

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

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

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

“Damn right, Cunningham.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh yeah?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

He grabbed her other hand in his.

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

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

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

“Of course. Homely creature that she is.”

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

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

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

“Palm Club policy.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Of course.” Her lips grazed his.

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

‘Then just violate me.“

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

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

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

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