“I expected you to lose a lot up front. That’s normal. But you lost eight inches and twenty-two pounds, and that’s too much in one month. I need to keep you in the two-pound-a-week range.”

Lucy perked up at that. “So I get to eat more?”

“You wish.” Theo playfully tugged on the towel around her neck, then made some notes on his clipboard. “I’ll weigh and measure you once a week for a while to keep a better eye on things, see if I need to make adjustments. But that will be for my eyes only. I don’t want you to get too attached to numbers.”

He looked up, caught her eye, and smiled. “The bottom line is you’re doing great, Lucy. I’m proud of you. So how was your New Year’s?”

Lucy tried to let everything he’d just said sink in. She was a success. She was too successful! Maybe she didn’t have to tell him about the pecan pie after all.

Obviously, it hadn’t hurt her. Maybe this whole weight loss thing would be a snap. Suddenly, for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t tried this sooner!

“My New Year’s was marvy. Partied all night with the beautiful people.”

Theo gave her a crooked smile that made her stomach do a strange flip-flop. “Yeah, I spent it with my family, too. Less aggravation.”

“We obviously don’t have the same family.”

Theo let his smile linger for a moment while he reached for her wrist and took her pulse. Lucy had become accustomed to Theo touching her, but it still sent a charge through her nervous system every time, and she knew he’d never get an accurate pulse rate that way. She was tempted to tell him to subtract at least 10 from the figure.

When he was done, he patted her forearm affectionately and went back to his clipboard. “How did you do with your nutrition plan the last few days?”

“Good. My journal’s in my gym bag.”

She watched Theo bend down, push aside her water bottle, and root through her clean underwear before he pulled out the journal.