Angela turned the phone on. “Hi, Mom. You’re up early.” She listened patiently as her mother laid out a very logical case for meeting this man, reminding Angela that the prospects for marriage were diminishing with each year that passed. It had always been a point of conflict between the two of them. Her two sisters were already married, but Angela didn’t see anything in their marriages that she envied.

Both of her brothers-in-law were dull, unromantic men who didn’t know half of what Max Morgan did about seducing a woman. If Angela was going to have a man in her life, he was going to be sexy and exciting and fabulous in bed. Otherwise, what was the point?

Angela held her hand over the phone. “Now, we’re moving into the guilt phase. My mother knows exactly how to pull my strings.”

When Kathleen Weatherby set her mind on some thing, there was no changing it. “Just meet him, Angie. He’s a very successful fellow. He’s actually a bit of a celebrity, at least your father thinks so.

He plays baseball. Now I know, you might think he’s some kind of arrested adolescent, but from what his mother tells me, he’s made some very wise investments.”

Angela stopped, grabbing Ceci’s arm. “He plays baseball?”

“Yes. On some team in Florida. What was the name of that team, Jack? The Deviled…Eggs?”

“Devil Rays?” Angela asked. “He plays for the Devil Rays?”

“You know the team? Yes, that’s it. Your dad says it’s the Devil Rays. His name is Max. His mother and I have become such good friends and we just got to talking. He’s single and you’re single and it would be perfect for both of you. It’s a week from this Saturday.

Surely, you can fit it into your schedule.”

“Mom, I really can’t. I have to-”

“You cannot continue to avoid social situations like this.” She paused. “Your sisters are both happily married. Don’t you want that for yourself?”

“Mom, I’m not going to marry a guy just so I can say I’m married. I’m happy. I have my work and-”

“That silly Web site of yours is not a career. You spend your whole day with all those nasty men and when a good one comes along, you won’t even try.”

Angela’s expression must have looked worrisome, because Ceci grabbed her arm. “Just hang up,” she whispered.

“I’ll have to call you back, Mom,” Angela said. “The reception here is really bad. Ceci and I are on our way to the office. I’ll talk to you later.”

Angela hung up the phone, then bent over at her waist, desperately trying to draw her next breath. “You won’t believe this. This is so, so weird. I mean, it’s like, spooky weird.” She looked up at Ceci. “My mother is trying to set me up with Max Morgan.”

Ceci dragged her over to a nearby bench and pulled her down. “Oh, my God. Angie, this is like all the karmic forces in the universe have finally converged. I was reading about this at that New Age bookstore on Damen. You can’t mess with this. No matter what happens, you and Max are destined to be together.”

Angela stood up. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, starting back down the street. “It’s a coincidence. Don’t forget, we grew up in the same town, went to the same high school. Our parents live ten blocks away from each other. They belong to the same tennis club. They’d have met sooner or later. It just happened later.”

She picked up her pace. The quicker she got to the office the better. She needed to get back into her routine, work hard and put all thoughts of Max out of her head. As they approached the office, Ceci grabbed her arm again, but this time, she pulled her behind a bus shelter.

“What are you doing?” Angela asked, twisting out of her grasp.

“Look! Isn’t that him?”

Angela peered through the Plexiglas wall of the shelter, then quickly turned around. “What is he doing?”

Ceci looked over her shoulder. “He’s sitting on the steps, reading the paper and drinking a latte, I think. He’s really cute, Angie. I mean, I thought he was cute at the bar last night. But he’s cute in actual daylight. See, I told you. Karmic forces. They cannot be denied.”

“Stop it. He didn’t come here for me. He’s probably just taking a run and stopped to rest for a bit. He doesn’t know where I work.”

“It wouldn’t be hard to figure it out,” Ceci said. “All he’d have to do is put an Internet search out for your name and SmoothOperators would come up. There was that article in the Trib six months ago. And you were on that news show in January.”

“Oh, God. Maybe he’s seen the Web site. Maybe he read his profile. What am I going to do? Does he look angry?”

“Go talk to him,” Ceci said. “He’s sitting there waiting for you. How sweet is that? Maybe he brought you a donut. Oh, that would be so romantic.”

“Why are you so determined to put us together? You’re going to be the one picking up the pieces when he dumps me. And you know he will. And that’s when I’m going to say, I told you so.”

“Oh, boo freaking hoo. I feel so sorry for you. You have a gorgeous man who wants to take you out on a date and you’re grumbling about how miserable he’s going to make you. Well, don’t fall in love with him then. Go out, have a nice time and see what happens. And quit being such a beeyotch or no one is going to want to date you.” She paused. “Ever again.”

“You’re the beeyotch,” Angela whispered. “And I’ll hate you forever if this blows up in my face.”

“I may be a bitch, but I’m your best friend,” Ceci replied in a low voice. “And I love you. Now go talk to him or I will.”

When Angela refused to move, Ceci stepped back out on the sidewalk and started toward the office. As she approached, Max stood up. Angela watched as they chatted for a bit, then Ceci turned back and waved at Angela. Left with no choice, Angela walked up to the pair, a smile pasted on her face.

“There she is,” Ceci said, with a cheery expression. “What was wrong? Did you have a pebble in your shoe?”

“It came untied,” Angela said. “My shoe.” She looked up at Max. “Hi. What are you doing here?”

“He came to see you,” Ceci said. “You gave him the wrong phone number last night. I always have trouble remembering my own cell phone number. I mean, you never call yourself, right? Why would you remember it.” She gave Max a cute little wave, then reached for the door. “I’ll see you in a bit, Angie. Don’t hurry.”

“What are you doing here?” Angela asked.

“I thought I’d bring you some breakfast. But I’ve been sitting here so long, I ate the cheese Danish and drank the latte I bought you. Do you want to walk down to Starbucks with me?”

Angela knew she could use work as an excuse to beg off. This had disaster written all over it. Even if he didn’t know about the Web site, chances were he’d find out sooner or later. And she already knew the effect he had on her. When she was with Max, she forgot all the reasons she was supposed to mistrust him. Still, she couldn’t help but be a little curious as to what he was planning to say. “Sure,” she said.

“They won’t miss you at work?”

“I’m the boss. No one will miss me,” she assured him.

“Good.”

They strolled down the sidewalk in the direction of the coffee shop. “You didn’t answer my question,” she said.

“Which one?”

“Why are you here?”

“You gave me a bogus number last night. I was wondering if you’d done it on purpose or by accident. By the way, I already know you gave me the number of your favorite Thai restaurant, so don’t bother lying. That’s how I found you. I sent some chicken soup to this address last night at 1:00 a.m. I thought this was where you lived.”

“Chicken soup?”

“It’s a long story. So why did you give me a bad number?”

Angela knew she ought to make up some excuse, but for some reason, she wanted him to know what kind of effect his behavior had on women. “I didn’t want to be disappointed when you didn’t call,” she finally said.

“But I asked you to dinner. We had a date.”

“In the heat of passion, you asked me to dinner. Things look different the morning after.”

“God, you must really think I’m a jerk,” he said. “And you don’t even know me.”

His words brought her up short. True. She didn’t know him. She was lumping him in with all the other misogynists she catalogued on her Web site and wrote about in her book. And she was accepting the opinions of women she didn’t know. Maybe she ought to put more trust in her own observations.

“Man, you must have dated some real scumbags to be so cynical,” he said.

“No,” she said. “I’m sorry. It’s just that…I don’t understand why you’re interested in me. I know about you, Max Morgan. I’m not your type.”

“Maybe I’m looking for a new type,” he said. “And maybe you’re exactly what I’m looking for.”

Angela smiled and shook her head. “You are smooth, I’ll give you that. I’m not sure whether to believe you or to run away as fast and as far as I can.”

“Give me a chance,” Max pleaded. “Just one date. And after that, maybe another five or twenty. And if you don’t like the way things are going, you can dump me. I promise I won’t kick up a fuss.”

“I’ll get to dump you?”

“Yes.”

She thought about the offer for a long moment. Every fiber in her being told her to refuse. She knew the danger of spending time with Max. But curiosity overwhelmed common sense. “Okay, it’s a deal,” Angela said, holding out her hand. “I’ll give you three dates to convince me of your honorable intentions. If you don’t make the grade, I’m going to cut you loose.”

“Five dates,” he said.

“Four,” she countered.

“Does last night count?”

Angela thought about it then shook her head. “No.”

“What about this morning?”

“Yes,” she said.

“All right. I guess that’s fair.” He grabbed her hand as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. “So, how am I doing so far?” Max asked. “Are we having fun?”