friendâs shoulders. Now she was convinced more than ever that she was doing the right thing in tricking Chanté and Matthew into sex therapy. âLook, go to this conference. When you get back, Iâll make sure you get a break. Iâll talk to Julia in the publicity department and arrange a book tour for you. Thatâll keep you out of the house for a little while.â
âTrue.â Chanté sighed, but then perked up. âOoh. These are nice.â She picked up a pair of leather pumps.
âDonât you already have a pair like that?â
âNo. It doesnât have this cute little buckle on the side. Iâm going to try them on.â
Edie just shook her head as she followed her friend to a nearby chair where she asked a saleswoman for the correct size. âNo offense, but how many shoes can one woman own?â
âHey, when I was growing up, I never owned more than two pairs of shoes at a time.â
âAnd now you have a whole department store in your closet.â
âAll right, I admit it. I love shoes. Sue me.â
Edie continued to shake her head. âSo what do you say? Will you do the conference?â
âSeparate hotel rooms?â
âCâmon. How will that look at a relationship conference?â
âLike weâre trying to preserve our sanity.â
âChanté.â
âAll right. All right.â She held up her hands.
âYouâll do it?â 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.
âPlease?â Edie folded her hands in mock prayer.
âAll right. Iâll do it,â she huffed. âJust make sure the room is stocked with enough alcohol to dull my pain.â
Edie smiled smugly behind Chantéâs back. One down, one to go.
Chapter 9
âIâ m not going anywhere with that psycho!â Matthew spat to Seth and then ducked his head back over the toilet bowl. âIf you havenât noticed, she damn near tried to kill me this morning.â
âAm I to believe that you did nothing to provoke her attempted murder this time?â
âNo,â he lied, coming up for air again. âWellâ¦not exactly.â
âUh-huh.â Seth finished wringing cold water from a face towel and then tossed it to his client. âWhat exactly did you do? It wouldnât happen to have involved a four-legged friend I told you not to take home?â
Matthew placed the towel over his face, in part to cool his forehead and in part to hide his guilt while he reviewed last nightâs major disastersâ¦and one mind-blowing sex dream.
âIf itâs taking you that long to answer the question, I donât think I want to know what happened.â
âThatâs probably best.â He paused and then added, âI think my, uh, streak ended last night.â
Sethâs eyebrows rose in surprise, but then quickly crash-landed. âYou think? I take it since the porcelain god is your best friend today that it didnât go too well?â
âHorrible,â Matthew groaned. âI was drunk and it had been so longâ¦I grew too excitedâ¦and was a little quick on the trigger.â He glanced up at Seth. âAnd thatâs not the worst part.â
âYou didnât.â
He nodded. âI did. I fell asleepâ¦and then this morning I wasnât sure if Iâd dreamed the whole thing. When I asked Chanté about it, she said that it never happened, but I donât know.â
It was Sethâs turn to groan.
âI didnât mean for it to happen,â Matthew said defensively. âIt just did. And then this morning when she was cooking breakfast I started to apologizeâ¦and I couldnât quite get the words out. Me! King of the talk shows couldnât find the words to apologize to my wife. How pathetic is
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