Lucy was swimming, up, up into the bright world, surfacing from a heavy and sensual dream, where she was being kissed like nobody’s business, kissed so hard her lungs burned. She tried to embrace her dream lover, but her arms felt too cumbersome to move, so she just angled her mouth to better accommodate his kiss.

“The ambulance is here, so you can stop making out with her, Theo.”

That voice sounded like fingernails on glass.

“Lucy? Miss Cunningham? Can you hear me?”

That voice was sooo much nicer.

Then it came back to her, and Lucy opened one eye to see the face of Theo Redmond hovering above. He had exquisite soft blue eyes framed in dark brown lashes and brows. He had smooth but strong lips. He was stroking her cheek.

“Welcome back.”

Lucy closed her eyes tight and tried to melt into the plush carpeting of the cardio room floor. The paramedics rushed in. Their voices were hurried as they took her blood pressure, asked her what medicines she was taking, and-could this possibly get any worse?- heaved her onto a stretcher, wheeled her out through the busy Palm Club, to the elevator, the model and the trainer hurrying along at her side.

“We’re taking you to the hospital, where-”

“No.” Lucy’s eyes snapped open. She glared at the paramedic.

“Just to be on the safe side,” he said.

“I’m fine.”

As Gia Altamonte signed autographs for the ambulance crew crammed in the elevator, Theo leaned down close to Lucy’s face.

“Do it for me, OK, Lucy?” One side of his mouth hitched up, and he winked at her. “When a woman loses consciousness on our first date, I have to wonder-is it my antiperspirant? My mouthwash?”

“It was my Milk Duds.”

“Those things will kill you, you know.” He let his little grin explode into a blazing smile.

Lucy couldn’t help it-she smiled back, still feeling the astounding pleasure of that dream kiss. And in the heat of Theo Redmond’s smile, something inside her ignited. It occurred to Lucy that dropping a hundred pounds had just become her second-biggest challenge.

December

“Nice to see you again, Lucy.”

She heaved herself up from the low white leather couch in the Palm Club’s lobby and stood before Trainer Ken in all his glory, wondering how the man had managed to become better-looking in the last four days.

“I’m baaack,” Lucy said.

Theo laughed, and she scanned his crisp uniform of navy blue athletic shorts and white Palm Club polo shirt, then looked at those perfect bright teeth framed in those perfect man lips and thought if it weren’t for the mouth-to-mouth-induced nirvana she’d experienced in his presence, she’d need to poke Theo to make sure he was real flesh and blood. The guy was way too perky for first thing in the morning.

“So how are you, Lucy?”

“I’m breathing on my own today. At least I got that going for me.”

“And I can assume you’re not armed and dangerous?”

Lucy wasn’t sure she’d heard right, and frowned.

“I’m asking if you’re packin‘ any Milk Duds this morning, Miss Cunningham.”

Lucy’s jaw fell open. It seemed that Buff Body Theo’s sense of humor was a little edgier than she’d assumed. Maybe she’d been too preoccupied with her own mortification and near-death experience four days ago to appreciate it.

“No ammo today,” she said, letting go with a nervous laugh. Then, as if on cue, she patted her sweatpants pocket in search of the comfort of a Milk Dud. She looked up in horror to see Theo smiling softly.

“It takes about six weeks to establish a habit or to break one,” he said, his voice kind.

“So I hear.”

“The good news is we’ve got fifty-one weeks left.” He reached for her hand, squeezing her fingers in a gentle grip. “How about we start over? I’m Theo Redmond, your trainer for the next year.”

Lucy steadied herself with a deep breath, aware that passing out was passe. “And I’m Lucy Cunningham, your worst nightmare.”

“Let’s think positive, shall we, Miss Cunningham?”

She pulled her hand away and huffed. “Call me Lucy. I’m not that much older than you, and when you call me ‘Miss Cunningham’ I feel like your spinster piano teacher or something.”

“I’m thirty-two.”

“I’m only twenty-nine.”

“I know.” He tapped his thigh with his clipboard and scowled a little, like he was thinking hard. “This is where I usually ask my new clients to fill out a bunch of

– forms, but I don’t feel like filling out forms this morning. How about you?“

“So we’re going out for doughnuts instead?”

Theo tossed his clipboard on the reception counter and cupped Lucy’s elbow, turning her toward the elevators as he chuckled. “How about coffee and a sunrise? We can get to know each other a little, see what approach we’re going to take, while we watch the sun come up.”

As they walked down the three flights of stairs to the lobby on Washington Avenue, Lucy checked out her trainer from the corner of her eye and, as she always did, wondered how much more she weighed than the person next to her. She knew it only made things worse, but she couldn’t seem to stop her brain from doing the calculations. Maybe it was another one of those habits she could break with Theo’s help.

“Are you originally from Miami, Lucy?” The elevator doors opened and they headed for the street and into the pleasant, saltwater-scented city air.

“Pittsburgh. I moved here about a year ago to be closer to my parents. They retired to Fort Lauderdale.”

“Are you enjoying it?”

Lucy smiled to herself as they turned east along Fourth Street, heading toward the strip. The truth was that moving to Miami had made her feel like a foreign exchange student plopped down in an alien land. But her appreciation for the sun and heat and colorful array of humankind was slowly beginning to chip away at the culture shock. “It’s growing on me,” she said.

Theo gestured toward the front patio of the News

Cafe on Ocean and motioned for her to go up the steps in front of him. He pulled out a wrought-iron chair for her, then sat down across the table under the market umbrella.

“I already know what approach I’d like to take to this whole business,” Lucy said.

Theo grinned. “Oh? What approach is that?”

“I’d like to stroll through one of those magic chambers and come out a hundred pounds lighter, a hundred grand richer, and drop-dead gorgeous.”

Theo leaned back in his chair to leisurely study his newest client. Her brown hair was yanked into a tight and shiny ponytail. She had a sweet face, with smooth and clear skin, nicely shaped full lips, and adorable cheeks. Theo briefly scanned the rest of her. At about five-seven, she was a big woman but evenly proportioned. She carried herself well. It dawned on him that Lucy Cunningham might be the real deal if she lost the weight. No. When she lost it, he reminded himself.

It was true that Lucy had ended up in the ER before she’d even laced up her sneakers, but he still saw this yearlong project as doable. He’d help the marketing executive lose up to one hundred pounds, documented in monthly TV appearances, magazine columns, and nonstop advertising, and they’d each make a thousand dollars each for every pound she shed.

At the end of the year, Lucy would be thin and rich and he could afford to get his butt back to med school. Everybody wins.

Theo took note of the hefty-chick camouflage Lucy wore that morning-navy blue leggings that ended just below her knees and a large T-shirt that hit midthigh, an attempt to hide what couldn’t be hidden. He returned his gaze to her face and encountered a set of big gray-blue eyes that were lit up with anger and defiance. Her pretty smile had transformed into a smirk.

The waitress appeared and Theo ordered decaf. Lucy followed suit. “I’m assuming you know where we can find one of those magic chambers?” he asked.