“I’m not going to make excuses,” Angela said. “This is what I do for a living. You don’t have to like it.”
“But you’re doing it to me,” he said. “What does that say about us?”
“There was no
“How can you be such an optimist and a cynic at the same time?” he asked, shaking his head.
“That’s always been my problem. I want the fantasy, but I’m too practical to believe it when I get it.” She closed the door and crossed the office. Kneeling down in front of him, she placed her hands on his knees. “I know I’ve probably messed this up. And I don’t know if you can forgive me. But if you can’t, I’m all right with that. I had my chance and I blew it. But at least I had my chance. No matter what you say to me, I don’t regret it.”
Max looked down at her, his anger waning. He wanted to gather her in his arms and kiss her until all the confusion went away, until he was sure of his feelings again. But at the moment, he wasn’t certain of anything. He quickly stood, stepping around her, and walked to the door before he could touch her.
“I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
Angela sat down on the floor, then nodded as he closed the door. Max stopped, bracing his hand on the wall as he looked back at office. Every instinct told him to go back inside, to begin again, to forget everything that had happened. This was a woman who had just admitted she loved him and he was ready to throw that all away because of-of what?
He needed time to sort this all out. Time to figure out exactly where Angela belonged in his life. She’d been a part of his past. Would she be a part of his future, too?
“YOU KNEW THIS MIGHT HAPPEN,” Ceci said. “There is no such thing as anonymity in the age of Google. So how did you leave it?”
“He walked out.”
“That’s it?”
“He said, see you later. But he says that to everyone.”
Ceci smiled wanly. “Well, maybe he means it this time. Maybe he just needs time to think this out.”
“No. It’s definitely over,” said Angela, shaking her head. “And that’s good. I accomplished what I set out to do. I got to know him. I turned the fantasy into reality. He seduced me and he dumped me. My thesis is proved.”
“And that makes you happy?”
“No,” Angela said. “But I’m back to where I was before we met. Only now, I won’t have to compare every guy I meet to Max Morgan. He will not be the standard by which every other man in my life is judged.”
Ceci leaned up against the edge of Angela’s desk. “You seem to be handling this very well.”
She swallowed back her tears and tried to put on a brave face. “What’s there to handle? We were together a week. For Max Morgan, that’s pretty good.” A tear trickled down her cheek and then, a sob slipped out. Angela couldn’t seem to stop herself. Her composure was shattered.
Ceci gathered her in her arms. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.”
“You should be,” Angela replied, forcing a laugh.
“I told you you’d have to pick up the pieces.” She wiped her damp cheeks with her fingers. “I tried not to fall in love with him but it was so difficult. He is a devil. He tempted me and I just…cracked.” Angela drew a ragged breath. “But I had fun. The sex was great. And I got to do some interesting things.”
A soft knock sounded on the office door and a few moments later, Will stepped inside. Ceci turned, her arms still around Angela. “Hi. You’re early.”
“Yeah. I thought you’d be too excited to wait.”
Angela glanced back and forth between them.
“Excited about what?”
Ceci shook her head, stepping away to grab her purse. “Now’s not a good time,” she said. “We’ll tell you later.”
“Tell me what? I’m fine, really.”
“She just broke up with Max,” Ceci explained. “I really don’t think-”
Angela cursed softly. “What?”
Ceci bit her bottom lip. “Will and I are engaged.
He proposed last night and I said yes.”
Angela felt the tears start again, only these were tears of happiness. “Oh, Ceci, that’s wonderful. So you had your moment?”
“The mustard stain at the baseball game. That was it.”
Angela hugged Will. “You’ll be so happy. I know you will. You picked the best girl.”
Ceci wrapped her arms around Will’s waist and they all hugged each other. “He’s my guy! Besides, if I didn’t marry him, who would?”
“I think it’s perfect,” Angela said through her tears.
“Stop crying or I’m going to start. Why don’t we all go out for a glass of wine?”
Angela drew a calming breath. “You two go. I’ll be fine. I have some work to do on the book.” She gave them a little wave as they walked out. Then, pressing her lips together, she fought back another surge of tears. She was happy for them, really she was. But she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever find a guy who loved her as much as Will loved Ceci.
She sat down at her desk, cupping her chin in her palm as she scrolled through the site. She clicked to the main menu and then typed in a search for Max’s name. His profile came up, along with a series of photos that the women had posted.
As she looked at each one, Angela was struck by how none of the photos resembled the man she knew. For all she could tell, she was looking at a complete stranger. Max’s smile was warmer, and his eyes darker, and the dimple in his cheek deeper.
She knew every post in his profile by heart but as she read through them again, it was clear that they’d never known the real Max Morgan. Angela closed her eyes and cursed softly. Or maybe she was the one who’d never known him.
When she’d finally regained her composure, Angela opened the site maintenance program and found the tab to delete a profile. Then she clicked over to Max’s. She and Ceci had always been adamant about their own neutrality in editing the site. Profiles were meant to inform, not to slander. It was a fine line to walk, but Angela had been proud of the job they’d done so far.
Deleting a profile had never been an option. If one of the men got married, the profile was tagged, but not deleted. She drew a deep breath, the pointer hovering over the delete button. It was the least she could do for him. And if someone complained, they could always write it off as a technical glitch.
Drawing a deep breath, Angela clicked and Max Morgan disappeared from SmoothOperators.com. She felt as if an unbearable weight had been lifted. The deception, though not forgotten, was at least undone. She pulled up the manuscript for her book and found Chapter Five. Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite as easy to delete.
It was just one chapter. Would he even recognize himself in her words? There were eleven other archetypes in the book. No, she wouldn’t delete it. She’d simply change the title of the chapter. “The Sexy Sinner,” she murmured. “The Sexy Scoundrel.” Angela nodded. That would work.
When she’d saved her change, Angela turned off her computer and grabbed her bag. The past week had been a whirlwind of emotion. It was time to get her life back on track. Tuesday night was laundry night. She’d have time to give herself a pedicure, catch up on all her reading, and take a long hot bath.
There was a time she’d actually enjoyed her single life. She could find that happiness again. Angela walked to the door, but as she opened it, the office phone rang. She hesitated, desperate to leave business behind. But then she walked back inside.
“Hello, this is Angela.”
“Angela! Kelly Caulfield at Daybreak Chicago. How are you?”
“Hello. I’m fine. How are you?”
“Well, we have an opening in our schedule for Thursday morning. One of our guests cancelled. And since you were so great when you were on with us in January, I was hoping you might come back and do another segment.”
“Thursday morning?”
