Kate Hoffmann - The Sexy Devil

He stopped in for a latte and a Danish at the Starbucks closest to her place, then walked to her flat carrying her breakfast in a bag. As he waited on her stoop, Max wasn’t sure he was ready to talk to her. What was he supposed to say? He needed a plan, something to offer her, a way that they could move forward.

Maybe it would have been better to have just waited until Saturday. Max left the coffee and Danish on the step and started down the block. But before he turned the corner, he glanced back. He saw her, walking toward her flat, dressed in the clothes she’d worn on television.

Max hid behind a nearby tree, watching her. “Now who’s the stalker?” he muttered.

Angela stopped short when she saw the coffee and the paper bag with the Danish. She looked up and down the street, then slowly picked it up. Max smiled to himself. She had to know where it had come from.

He wondered what was going through her mind.

A few moments later, she took one last look around, then disappeared inside. Max decided to wait and see her when she came out again. If he ran around the block, he’d be able to run into her, as if it were an accidental meeting. They could chat, he could read her mood and maybe figure out where he stood.

But his wait was interrupted when he heard the piercing sound of a police siren. The noise startled him and he spun around to see a patrol car parked right behind him. The policeman rolled down his window and leaned out.

“You wanna tell me what-” He paused. “Hey, you’re Max Morgan, aren’t you?”

Max nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Just standing,” he said. Max pointed to his leg.

“Cramp.”

“Oh, yeah? You eat bananas? I find that if I eat a banana a day, I don’t have trouble with leg cramps. I think it’s the potassium.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Max said.

“No problem.” He nodded. “I’m gonna have to tell you to move along, though. We had a call from one of the neighbors. She’s worried you might be casing her place for a burglary. These older folks get a little nervous when they see strangers on the street.”

“No problem,” Max said.

The policeman nodded. “A lot of burglars pose as runners. If they get caught, they can escape pretty quick.” The guy chuckled. “But, hey, I don’t think you’d need to burgle in order to make money. You’ve got a nice contract down there in Florida, don’t you?”

“Actually, I’m a free agent after this season.”

“Aw, man, you’ve gotta come back and play for the Sox. They could use a hitter like you.” The radio on his shoulder crackled. He pushed a button and listened to the call. “Gotta go. Fender bender on North.

Take care now.”

Max chuckled to himself as he took one last look down the street. After another ten minutes, Angela still hadn’t emerged. Maybe she’d gone back to bed, Max thought. He stretched out his calf muscle, then jogged across the street and headed back toward the lake.

“I’ll see you soon, Angela,” he murmured.

THE MORGANS LIVED IN a beautiful old house near Ingleside Park in Evanston. As Angela searched for a place to park on the street, she drove past a familiar black BMW. “Oh dear. What am I doing here?” She drew a deep breath. She’d been invited. If she didn’t go, she’d never hear the end of it from her mother.

If she did go, then she’d definitely be seeing Max again. Just once more, just enough time to set things straight. Angela was certain she could finally put their relationship in perspective. There were no hard feelings, at least on her part, and she hoped he felt the same way.

After she parked, Angela twisted the rearview mirror toward her and examined her hair and makeup. This would be his last memory of her and she wanted it to be a good one. Not that he’d give her a second thought once he found a new woman to occupy his time. But someday, he might look back on what they shared and realize it had been good-for a little while, at least.

Angela hopped out of her car and hurried down the sidewalk toward the house. The barbecue had started at one, but she’d spent some time driving around her hometown in an attempt to work up her courage. She’d turned the car south more than once, but in the end, she’d decided she wanted to end this with no regrets. She wouldn’t spend another fourteen years thinking about what might have been if she’d only attended the Morgan barbecue.

The front door was open and she recognized the two girls standing behind the screen. Angela smiled and waved at Brit and Beth. “Hello there.”

“Angela!” they shouted as they shoved open the door and stumbled outside. They met her in the middle of the walk, each grabbing a hand and pulling her toward the house. “You’re here,” Brit said. “Why didn’t you come with Uncle Max?”

“Can we play a game?” Beth asked. “Grammy has Chutes and Ladders. Have you ever played Apples to Apples? Grammy has that game, too. Do you want to play that?”

They ushered her into the spacious foyer and then through a beautiful living room. When they reached a great room at the back of the house, she could see the party through the wall of windows that overlooked the backyard. “We brought our dog,” Brittany said.

“We don’t take him to the cabin because he throws up in the car on long trips. His name is Elwood.”

“Girls, take the guests to the backyard, please.

That’s your job.”

Angela held her breath at the sound of his voice and when Max came around the corner from the kitchen, their eyes met. A long silence grew between them and the little girls looked back and forth, their expressions curious.

“It’s Angela,” Beth said. “Say hello to her, Uncle Max.”

“Right,” Max said, forcing a smile. “Hello. I wasn’t sure you’d be coming.”

“Duh,” Brittany said, rolling her eyes. “She’s your girlfriend. Why wouldn’t she come?”

“Maybe she had a tummy ache,” Bethany said. “I had a tummy ache and I couldn’t go to day camp yesterday.”

“Girls, head back to the door. I’ll show Angela out to the backyard.” Max shooed them off, then turned to Angela. His gaze searched her face and Angela felt a flush warm her cheeks. “I’m glad you came,” he murmured.

“I thought we needed to see each other once more,” she said. “Just to…settle things.”

Max glanced over his shoulder at the crowd in the backyard. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her along after him. But instead of going outside, he took her up a rear stairway that led from the kitchen to the second floor. At the end of the hall, they stepped inside a bedroom and he closed the door behind them both.

Angela looked around at the shelves of baseball trophies that lined the walls. This was his room. She walked over to the dresser and studied the items displayed on the top. “This looks a lot different than your condo,” she said. Angela pointed to the trophies. “You should move these down there. They’d impress the girls you bring home.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Would they have impressed you?”

She turned and smiled at him. “Nothing impresses me.”

“That’s right,” he said. “I forgot.”

Angela sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at him. He looked so handsome in a blue oxford shirt and khakis. She’d become so accustomed to seeing him in various states of undress that she’d never appreciated how well he wore clothes. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry I wasn’t completely honest with you from the start. I guess I never thought we’d even speak to each other, much less spend any time together. And then, things started happening so fast, there never seemed to be the right moment.”

He sat down beside her. “I may have overreacted,” Max said. “The truth is, until you came along, I didn’t much think about the impression I was leaving with the women I knew. I didn’t really care.”