Free Bluegrass Seduction (The Bluegrass Billionaire Trilogy Book 1) by Alice Ward, Jessica Blake

earnest now. I was not moved.
    “We… that is… we don’t share a room. Haven’t for two years,” she finally sputtered.
    “Is this your preference or his?” I asked, driving in the knife.
    “Well, a woman can only be turned down so many times before she has to remove herself from the opportunity, doctor.”
    “Have you talked to him about this? Perhaps there’s something you can do to remedy the separation?” I asked. I knew I was pushing and it was working.
    “Yes! I ask him about it all the time!” She was crying openly now. I could literally see the guilt pouring out of her wretched mouth.
    “And what did he say?”
    “He said he just wasn’t attracted to me any longer.”
    “Did your husband say why?” I was going for her throat.
    “A woman my age can’t keep her girlish figure forever, you know. So what if I’ve put on a few pounds? He wouldn’t say that was it, but I knew. I’m so miserable, doctor,” she cried.
    “Yes, I can see that.” I observed her dramatics. “Were your husband and his mother close?” I pushed again.
    She looked up with a quizzical look on her face. “How did you know? Yes, yes they are. David didn’t want her to move, but she was too much to handle.” The tears had turned off immediately and the pretense had disappeared.
    “Would you like my advice, Mrs. Jessup?” I waited, letting the silence lengthen until she nodded. “Very well, and you may not entirely like it. It is my opinion that the only reason you’re here is due to your unhappy marriage. I believe, Mrs. Jessup, that you have the ability to set things right again. I believe Mr. Jessup is probably suffering from guilt for placing his mother in a home.”
    I held up a hand when it seemed she was about to interrupt.
    “This may have given him performance issues,” I went on. “Impotence is often a strong indication of guilt. I would suggest that your husband be allowed to minimize that guilt by doing something special for his mother to make up for the abandonment. He should look for opportunities to do that. As for you, perhaps you could feel better about yourself if you set up an appointment with a personal health and fitness assistant.”
    Her mouth opened. “Wha—?”
    I didn’t give her time to finish, just bulldozed over her. “They’re quite the rage now, among our set. My receptionist can give you the name of someone on your way out. I don’t believe we’re serving any further purpose here, Mrs. Jessup. Why not give the assistant a try? I believe that will resolve all your issues… completely.” I emphasized this last. I knew by including her in “our set” she felt the rush of snobbery it would take to agree to my plan. That was fine. Our set was hardly anything to brag about.
    The bitch agreed and stood up to leave. “Thank you so much, doctor,” she said, wiping her eyes one last time for effect. “You’ve saved my marriage,” she claimed and left my office.
    I scoffed at her pitiful exit. Her problems were simple: she was a bitch, she maneuvered her husband into taking the old lady’s money and then sent her to a pit, she was fat and over-pampered, and the one thing she could do nothing about was that her husband would never bed her. After all, she’d found his panties.

C HAPTER F OURTEEN
    Auggie
    “I want to talk to you, Auggie,” it began again. I rolled my eyes.
    “Yes, Mother, what is it?”
    “You were out all night.”
    “I was? Huh… I had no idea.”
    “Don’t get smart with me, young lady.” Her voice was condescending and that always pushed my buttons.
    “Mother, I don’t think there’ll ever be any danger of my being smarter than you.” I pushed one of hers.
    “You cannot behave this way, Auggie. This simply isn’t done. What will people think?”
    “Well, Mother,” I sat down on the stool at the breakfast bar and took my time stirring my coffee, “no one will ever know unless you make it your business to tell them. Secondly, why don’t you