“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?”

“Yes. I know it’s short notice, but I’m really desperate. This would be a huge favor and I promise that we’ll have you on again to plug your book when it comes out. In fact, you can pick the date.”

“I don’t know, I-”

“Please,” Kelly said. “Did I mention we’re desperate?”

“Yes. All right. What time do I need to be there?”

“We’re going to give you a later spot, so if you arrive by 7:15, we’ll be fine. Thank you so much! Our graphic guy is going to pull some shots from the Web site. If you have a cover for the book and a solid release date, we can mention that, too.”

“I do have a cover,” Angela said. “But I’m really not sure of the release date.”

“Bring it along and we’ll get it up anyway. Thank you again. I’ll see you Thursday morning.”

Angela hung up the phone. This was beyond strange. It was as if her life was rewinding, back to a time when everything seemed to be moving along quite nicely. But could she really go back after what she’d experienced in the last week?

She walked out into the warm evening, heading toward her flat. She’d spend the night alone. It felt strange to have no plans, nothing to look forward to. Just her empty bed and a quiet house.

On her way home, she stopped at the grocery store and picked up dinner, a salad, soup and some freshly baked bread. As she passed the dessert case, she picked up a small strawberry cheesecake.

At times like this, when her life looked a little bleak, eating an entire cheesecake was the only prescription for happiness. And it was just a small cheesecake.

Her flat was silent and cool as she stepped inside. The place was a bit messy. Over the past week, she’d run in and out, to dress, to shower, to get ready for fun with Max. She kicked her sandals off and walked into the kitchen, setting the bags on the granite countertop.

She picked up her phone, then set it down before listening to her voice mail signal. He wasn’t going to call. And waiting for him was only going to drive her crazy. But her curiosity got the better of her and she picked up and dialed. “One message,” she murmured, listening to the number. It was Max’s home number and he’d left the message early that morning. She held her breath, then replayed the message.

“Hi. It’s me. You just left for work and I’m lying here in my bed wondering what we’re going to do tonight. I think you should put on your prettiest dress and I’ll take you out for dinner. I have something I need to talk to you about. Don’t worry. Nothing bad.

I’ll see you later. Love you.”

“Love me,” she muttered. “Not anymore.”

She hung up the phone, then retrieved the bottle of wine from the fridge and yanked out the cork.

Not bothering with a glass, Angela took a drink of the Chardonnay, straight from the bottle. There was a half bottle left. She’d have to be careful. The last thing she wanted to do was drink too much and start drunk dialing.

Setting the wine down, Angela grabbed the bag with the cheesecake in it. She retrieved a fork and dug in, then carried the box with her to her bedroom.

When she’d settled herself in the center of the bed, she flipped on the television and began to devour the cheesecake. “So this is my life,” she murmured. “Empty calories and reality television.”

There was one bright spot. It could only get better from here.

8

THE ACHE IN HIS HEAD throbbed along with his pulse, an incessant rhythm that kept him from falling back asleep. Max rolled over in bed and pulled the pillow over his head, blocking out the early morning rays of the sun. He peeked at the bedside clock then groaned. Four hours of sleep was usually not enough for him, especially if it came after a night of too many beers.

He threw his arm out on the opposite side of the bed, just to make sure there was no one else in the room with him. He’d been almost drunk enough to bring a woman home. But not quite. In truth, he probably would have passed out before he drank enough to put Angela out of his mind for good.