The Lawyer Also Plays Her Lover

"I was asking her to show me how she poses sexy," Bonnie says. "So she was posing and I was snapping pictures."

For years, Smith and Stern publicly denied any romantic relationship. Bonnie Stern says she had a feeling they were in love, but they wouldn't admit it. Last fall, shortly after the birth of Dannielynn and the mysterious (and as yet unexplained) death of Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, Smith and Stern exchanged vows during a nonbinding commitment ceremony. Stern declared himself the father of Dannielynn. The baby's birth certificate also lists him as the father.

Meanwhile, Larry Birkhead filed a suit claiming paternity.

How did their love blossom?

In a TV interview, Smith said that one day she finally just "attacked" the "shy" Stern.

"I kissed him first," she said.

What could they have had in common -- the glamorous high school dropout and the UCLA-trained lawyer? (That is, aside from a talent for making bad television.)

"Who's killing the Jews?" Smith says to Stern during a 2002 episode. They're riding in the back of a limo headed to a party.

"People are going with, like, bombs on their bodies into Israel and they're blowing themselves up in, like, coffee shops and, like, ballrooms and stuff," Stern explains to her.

"Whew!" Smith exclaims. "Why would they do that? Wouldn't they think it was kind of painful?"

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Was this true love, or what passes for true love in certain dark corners of the universe? Or was it something else?