Facing Anthony, she steeled her jaw. “I meet a lot of people when I’m out, and many of them ask for bits of advice. It’s all very casual, not in the least professional—”
“Casual?”
Anthony’s stunned tone silenced Lecia. She thought he was going to tear a piece off her hide, but he merely shook his head before leaning back in his seat. Thank God, she thought, only to be horrified an instant later when he leaned forward again.
“You think telling my wife I’m a pervert is
casual
advice?”
“If I met her, I don’t even remember her,” Lecia lied. Because she remembered the woman, all right. Remembered how she had begged her for a moment of her time outside a Beverly Hills bar, almost on the verge of hysteria. Lecia had agreed to talk to her, although she’d had her reservations, given the woman’s agitated state. In the end she’d written off the woman’s hysteria as desperation over a critical situation in her marriage. “And I wouldn’t have said…what you said she said.”
“According to her, you did. In fact, she made sure to tell me a number of times that you’d called me a pervert, so I knew exactly why she was ending our marriage.”
“I did not call you a pervert.” Lecia knew she should stop there. She
wanted
to stop. But somehow her mouth opened and she heard herself saying, “Deeply troubled, perhaps, but not a pervert.”
“Ha!” Anthony sounded victorious as he aimed a finger at her. “So you do remember!”
Lord, she should have kept her big mouth shut. But she was a Gemini, and hard-pressed to back down from an argu
ment. And hell, she was only human. How was she to remain dignified and stiff-lipped with the likes of Anthony Beals egging her on?
Lecia acknowledged to herself that she shouldn’t have commented on Anthony’s character at all with his wife. With her patients, she remained impartial, even when they confided the strangest of fantasies. But Ginger hadn’t been a patient, so she’d spoken to her woman-to-woman. Given everything Ginger had told her about her superstar athlete husband in the span of five minutes, she couldn’t help but give the woman her honest opinion.
And maybe, just maybe, her attitude toward Anthony had been soured even before she met his wife. Infidelity was a personal sore spot for her. Especially with men who felt it was their inherent right. Men like her ex-husband.
“Serious bit of advice,” Anthony said. “Think twice before you mess with people’s lives. Because I’d still be with my wife right now if it weren’t for you.”
Lecia grinned sweetly as she said, “No, you’d still be with your wife if you’d kept your pants zipped up. That’s another area I cover in my book—women who find intimacy too difficult because they can’t trust their partners.”
“Whoa, wait a second.” Anthony looked genuinely offended. “You don’t know me. Where do you get off saying that?”
“I know a lame story when I hear one. Small-town Tennessee boy. Please.”
There was another hum of perverse excitement throughout the audience. Lecia met Anthony’s hard stare before turning away. She picked at an imaginary piece of lint on her dress.
“You think you have my number?”
Shut up. Don’t say a word….
“I know I do.”
Anthony shook his head in disbelief. “I hope you’re happy.” There was venom beneath his words. “Because not only did she leave me, she’s gonna take me to the cleaners. All thanks to your advice.”
“That is not my problem,” Lecia countered.
“Down, folks,” Jay Leno said. He made the sound of a cat meowing as he extended a clawlike hand in the air. “Any more of that and I’ll have to see if we can find a pair of boxing gloves.” He paused briefly. “Or I can send you to the Springer show, two doors down.”
Breathe,
Lecia told herself. She felt her lungs constricting, and wished she had her inhaler.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Lecia said, laughing. She sounded like someone had put a gun to her head and screamed, “Laugh!”
In her peripheral vision she saw a man standing near a camera whirling a finger in the air.
Jay said, “I wish we had more time.”
“Me, too,” Lecia lied. She pasted a smile on her face, though her heart beat out of control. It was all she could do to pretend this situation wasn’t the worst she’d ever experienced.
Looking into one of the cameras, Jay said, “The book is called
The Big O: Getting Everything You Want and More.
You can pick it up at your nearest bookstore. We’ll be right back with our musical guest, Forgotten Promise.”
Kevin Eubanks and the
Tonight Show
band began playing. Kevin wore that permanent and ever annoying smile of his. Or maybe she only found it annoying because this interview had turned into a certified disaster.
Leno leaned forward and said, “I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
“I apologize, Jay,” Lecia said.
“No, don’t apologize. This is great. You’re not taking yourselves too seriously. My viewers love that.”
Lecia snuck a glance to her right. Anthony looked like he was barely containing a keg full of anger.
Anthony said, “Maybe I should get out of here.”
“No, no.” Jay held out a hand to keep him at bay.
“Then maybe I should,” Lecia said.
“Neither of you has to go anywhere. I’m telling you, this was great.”
“Great?” Lecia asked, horrified. “You
will
cut that before tonight’s broadcast, right? The last thing I need—”
“The audience loved it,” Jay said, dismissing her protest. “Hey, wait a second—”
Lecia looked up to see Anthony Beals give Jay a wave as he exited stage left.
Lecia had been silent on the drive to her sister’s place, but as soon as she crossed the threshold into the Baldwin Hills home, she kicked off her shoes and said, “Oh…my…God.”
“I see you have your voice back,” Tyanna commented wryly.
Lecia darted into the living room. She plopped her body down onto Tyanna’s sofa, throwing an arm across her forehead. “Tell me that didn’t just happen,” Lecia said. “Tell me I wasn’t just humiliated on a taping of the
Tonight Show
.”
“It wasn’t as bad as you thought.”
“No,” she whined. “It was worse.”
“Speaking as someone who was at the taping, I think the audience found it funny.”
Lecia lifted her head and met her sister’s gaze. “Funny? You are joking, right? I thought that guy was going to…going to pummel me or something. And I think he would have, if the cameras weren’t rolling. According to his wife, he’s got an explosive temper.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Lecia whimpered as she dropped her head back. “I think I’d have preferred a pummeling to national disgrace.”
“Relax,” Tyanna told her. “It really wasn’t that bad.”
Easy for her sister to say. She was the one who had lived a life full of drama. The latest had occurred a couple years earlier, when Tyanna’s boyfriend had been working undercover to find his brother’s killer. The guy behind the murder had kidnapped Tyanna and would have killed her if the police hadn’t shot him dead first. Tyanna had gone on to marry the boyfriend, and Sheldon was now Lecia’s brother-in-law. He and Tyanna had moved to Los Angeles to pursue Tyanna’s new career as a fitness video star.
“You want some tea?” Tyanna called from the kitchen.
“No.”
“Coffee?”
“No.”
“Juice?”
“No. I don’t want anything.”
Tyanna waltzed back into the living, her arms crossed over her chest. “You’re not gonna sulk all evening, are you?”
“Yeah, I think I will, thanks.”
Shaking her head, Tyanna sank onto the leather sofa beside her sister. “Come on, sis. Don’t let this ruin your day. If anything, Anthony Beals is the one who’s gonna look bad when the show airs tonight, not you.”
Lecia sat up, a sigh escaping her. “I should have kept my mouth shut. Why didn’t I keep my mouth shut? No woman will trust me to ever give her advice again. My career is over.”
“That’s not true. Mark my words. You’ll be more popular than ever.”
“That’s what Angela said,” Lecia said glumly. “But how can
anyone have faith in a therapist who…who goes on national television and acts like a three-year-old? And then there’s Mom and Dad.” Lecia groaned.
“Oh, don’t worry about Mom and Dad. You thought they’d have heart failure when you gave up practicing medicine to be a sex therapist, then again when you decided to write a book about sex. They survived.”
Yeah, they had. But just barely, Lecia was sure. “They’ll be horrified by this.”
“Think of it this way: if you had to verbally spar with anyone on national television, you couldn’t have picked a better person. That Anthony Beals is a definite hottie.”
Lecia gaped at her sister. “Like that matters.”
Tyanna raised her eyebrows suggestively. “So you noticed. You wouldn’t act so offended if you hadn’t.”
“I did not!” But despite her words, Lecia felt a flutter of nerves deep in her belly. She
had
noticed. However inappropriate it was.
“Of course, he’s married.”
“Not for long.” At Tyanna’s suspicious gaze, Lecia added, “And it’s no wonder. Talk about a walking powder keg.”
“It’s called passion.” Tyanna smirked. “You have to admit, there’s nothing sexier than a passionate man.”
Lecia scowled at her sister. “I forgot, you’re still honeymooning. No wonder your judgment is lost in your libido.”
Ignoring her, Tyanna asked, “Did you believe his story about not knowing that woman was a hooker?”
“The last thing I’m concerned about is his story. Do you think they’ll cut that piece from the show?”
“I don’t know. But I imagine they will if they think it’s bad enough.”
“It
was
bad enough.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.” But Tyanna sounded as if she was just saying that to make her feel better.
“I still can’t believe Angela,” Lecia went on. “She wouldn’t stop saying that negative publicity is still great publicity, how I’ll sell a gazillion more books.”
“She’s right. Even the people who e-mail me to whine that my fitness video is lacking are helping to spread the word. I’m not gonna complain.”
“It’s my reputation I’m worried about.”
“The truth is, even if it is controversial, people will forget about the incident by the end of the week.”
“That’s not making me feel any better.”
“All right.” Tyanna held up both hands as she stood. “I was trying to help, but I’ll keep my mouth shut. I’ll let you sit here and mope.”
“No. No, wait. There is something I need. Anything extra strength for this headache would be great.”
“I’ll see what I can find,” Tyanna said sweetly.
When her sister was out of the room, Lecia buried her face in both hands. She had begged Angela to get the
Tonight Show
to cut that piece from tonight’s show, and Angela had promised that she would. But she wasn’t sure she could believe her. Angela was a publicist, after all, and one who thought only of the bottom line. Lecia had no doubt the woman would have her mud wrestle for a national audience if it would sell more books.
“Here you go.”
Lecia looked up to see Tyanna, a glass of water extended in one hand and two small pills in another. Lecia accepted the pills. She popped them into her mouth and dry-swallowed them.
“God, how do you do that?” Tyanna asked.
“Practice.” Years of it, actually. Medical school had been a very stressful time. So had the years married to Allen. Especially after she learned of his numerous affairs.
“Now I could use some scotch,” Lecia declared.
“Come on. You’re making things much worse than they already are.”
“You don’t mind if I stay here until they air the show?” Lecia asked.
“No, of course not.”
“Good. Because I have a feeling I’m going to need the support.”
Ben slammed the
Los Angeles Times
down on the desktop. The headline,
REALITY BITES
:
SEX THERAPIST AND FOOTBALL STAR CLASH ON NATIONAL TV
, jumped out at Anthony.
“Damn it, T. I told you not to talk about that night. Did I or did I not tell you not to talk about it? I knew it would be bad news, yet you ignored my explicit instructions.”
“Do you need to walk around like that?” Anthony asked from the seat across his agent’s desk. “I’ve had a headache since last night.”
“A headache is the least of your problems.”
“I didn’t want to do the show, remember? But you kept forcing the issue.”
Ben moved away from the desk, pacing, then stopped to face him. “I told you to talk about
you
, not that tramp, and certainly not your marriage. You remember that conversation, don’t you?”
Anthony merely shrugged. He was used to much more shocking press than this, and he figured there was no point getting upset over what he couldn’t change. Hell, he might as well slug back a beer and celebrate the misery of his life.
“I thought for sure they’d pull it from the show,” he said.
“Pull it?” Ben laughed mirthlessly. “This is Hollywood, T, where the lives of the rich and famous are more scandalous than what we see on the big screen. People
love
this stuff.”
“Sorry.”
“I didn’t want to deal with this, not when you’re a free agent. I was hoping for bigger bucks out of the Raiders this year, but who knows now? They may just want to cut their losses.”
“What was I supposed to do? I didn’t think that hack who calls herself a therapist was going to be there.”
“Look at the picture, T.” Ben strode to the desk and jammed a finger on the paper. “The woman looks terrified. You’ve thrown an interception, and Ginger has taken it all the way into the end zone.”
Anthony studied the color photo plastered on the front page. The good doctor
did
look terrified. “Shit.”
“I’m working on damage control, some sort of spin we can give this, but I have to say, I’m not sure I can undo this mess.”
“The woman all but ruined my marriage. It was all I could do to sit there and listen to her go on and on about how qualified she is. I had to say
something
.”
“Do me a favor, T.”
“What?”
“Shut up and listen.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow. He had taken his chances by signing with an independent sports agent, rather than a large, established agency. He had admired Ben’s spunk, his passion. So far, his agent had done good by him, and he hadn’t once regretted his decision. But he didn’t appreciate being spoken to this way.
“I say that with much love, of course,” Ben added.
“Of course,” Anthony said, a subtle warning in his voice.
Ben smiled sheepishly. “You know I want what’s best for you.”
“And ultimately you.” Anthony held no illusions that Ben had warm and fuzzy feelings for him. This was about business. The bottom line was how marketable a commodity he was. Right now he was still hot, and, he thought, Ben would do well to remember that.
“I was out of line, sorry,” Ben said. His tanned face had turned beet red.
“What do you want me to do?” Anthony asked him. This time his tone was soft, conciliatory. If nothing else, he respected Ben’s opinion and his advice. In addition to Ben being his agent, Anthony considered him a friend.
“I think it’s best that you lay low. Don’t answer the phone unless you see my number. And forget ordering room service. I’ll bring you what you need.”
“And?” Anthony asked, because he knew there was more.
“And pray. Pray that Ginger hasn’t seen any of this.”