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  “Damn it,” he said, swinging around to face Liza. “Stop doing that.”

  “I will if you will,” she said.

  “No, really,” Min said, sounding dazed. “It was okay. It was just another bet.”

  “Scum,” Liza said.

  “Look,” Cal said, trying to catch his breath. “Min can take care of herself.”

  Liza stepped closer. “Yeah, tell me you know her. Tell me you care about her. Tell me you’re going to love her until the end of time.”

  “What is it with you?” Cal said. “I kissed her. It happens.”

  Shanna picked up the twenty bucks on the bar. “And I, for one, am very grateful you did. Thank you very much,”

  “I thought you won,” Min said to Cal. Her eyes were hot, and she was breathing faster, too.

  “I did,” Cal said, falling back into her. “I just lost the bet.”

  “Come on, Stats,” Liza said, pulling on her arm.

  “Right,” Min said, shaking her head a little as if to clear it. “Did anybody see that?”

  “The entire bar was holding up numbers,” Liza said. “It was like the Olympics.”

  “How’d we do?” Cal said, putting an edge on his voice as he cooled off.

  “The Russian judge thought you needed work,” Liza said. “There was hooting.”

  “Well, the Russians are tough,” Cal said. “Could you let go of her, please?”

  “I don’t think so,” Liza said and tugged Min’s arm again.

  “I should go back,” Min said to Cal. “You know. Because of the plan.”

  “What plan?” Cal said.

  “Not dating. Taking a break. Remember? Both of us?”

  “Right,” Cal said, thinking, Why did I think that was a good idea?“ The plan. Waiting for Elvis. Great.” He picked up his Scotch again. “Here’s to the plan.”

  “Yeah, well, have a nice life.” Min picked up the tray of drinks and followed Liza back to the table.

  “So the tall redhead hates you,” Shanna said.

  “Liza,” Cal said. “I have never done a thing to that woman.”

  “I think it’s what you want to do to her friend,” Shanna said. “Still, it does seem like an overreaction. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “Like what?” Cal said. “I am innocent on this one.” No, I’m not.

  “No, you’re not,” Shanna said. “I saw that kiss. And you’re right. She plays for your team.”

  “Not anymore,” Cal said, feeling the back of his head. “We agreed on a plan. Not dating.” He gestured with his glass. “I’m going to drink this and then go home for aspirin.”

  “That’s not going to help,” Shanna said. “Try a cold shower, too.”

  “Good to see you’ve got your sense of humor back,” Cal said, and went home to find some peace and painkillers.

  That week, Min began screening her calls to duck David, who had developed a pressing need to talk to her, but she didn’t need to screen for Cal, who remained annoyingly silent. It was really frustrating avoiding the calls of somebody who didn’t have the decency to pick up a phone. Even the If Dinner turned annoying when Liza told them about meeting Cal’s ex-girlfriend.

  “Cynthie says he’s a great guy,” Liza said. “He’s just caught up in some kind of pathology where he has to make women love him and then leave him. He got conditional love as a child and now he’s desperate for it.”

  Min frowned. “He does not strike me as desperate.”

  Bonnie shook her head. “Me, either. The ex sounds sort of over the top.”

  “Well, she’s a psychologist,” Liza said. “You know how they are. But it does explain why he’d leave such a string of broken hearts behind him and still be the guy we know. I’m suspicious of him but I don’t think he’s cruel. He wouldn’t enjoy dumping them.” She looked back at Min. “Cynthie said one of the things he’d do would be to find things you needed and give them to you. I told her about your snow globes, and she said you should brace yourself for incoming.”

  “He brought me a cat,” Min said, and Liza put down her fork.

  “A cat?” Liza said. “He must be losing his touch. That should have been a snow globe. Where is this cat?”

  “Bedroom,” Min said and Liza got up and went to look. When she came back she said, “It’s the cat from hell. What was he thinking?”

  Min shrugged, not wanting to argue. “He brought me takeout from Emilio’s and it followed him in. And then he saw the snow globes.”

  “And?” Liza said.

  “And he told me I collect couples,” Min said. “Which I had never seen before, but he’s right.”

  Liza opened her mouth to object and then got up and went to the mantel. “I’ll be damned,” she said after a moment. “They’re all couples except mine, unless Captain Hook is dating Maleficent on the sly. How’d I miss this?”

  “Better question is how’d he get it?” Bonnie said.

  Min shook her head. “I think he’s just really, really, really good with people. Empathetic.” She hesitated and then said to Bonnie, “After you said he was dyslexic, I researched it on the net. There are all kinds of barriers—”

  “Do not feel sorry for him,” Liza said.

  “I don’t,” Min said. “Are you kidding? Look at him, he has it all. But he’s had to work for it. Anyway, one of the aspects of dyslexics is that they’re often very empathetic. That’s Cal. He spends all his time looking outward, making sure he understands other people. I don’t think he has much self-knowledge, but he makes sure he knows the people in his world. He knows me.”

  Liza put the villains down with a clunk and came back to the table. “No, he doesn’t. He’s trying—”

  “No,” Min said, losing patience with her. “We talked about my weight. He said I dress like I hate my body.”

  “Good for him,” Liza said. “I mean, he’s a beast, but he’s right on that one. What did he say exactly?”

  Min pushed her plate away. “Lots of things, but the gist was that I had a sexy body and I should dress like I’m proud of it.”

  “Then he asked you to bed,” Liza said.

  “No, then he said we should eat,” Min said. “Oh, and he told me what I was doing wrong on the chicken marsala, so I’m going to try it again.”

  “He brought you food, understood your snow globes, taught you to cook, said you had a sexy body, and left without making a pass,” Bonnie said.

  Min nodded.

  Bonnie looked at Liza. “He is a beast.”

  “No, this is what Cynthie was talking about,” Liza said. “He will fulfill her every need until she falls for him and then he’ll leave.”

  Min bit her lip. “Look, I’m not falling for him, although I swear every time he kisses me, I hear voices and see stars. If nothing else, there’s that bet. Which I asked him about and which he lied about, so it’s over. Really.”

  “Uh huh,” Liza said, clearly not convinced.

  Neither was Min, so on Friday afternoon while she was at work, she very sensibly decided not to go to The Long Shot that night and called her sister instead. “I want to go shopping.”

  “Shopping?” Di said.

  “Somebody told me that I dress like I hate my body.”

  “You do,” Di said. “You want to change? Yes.”

  “Just a little,” Min said, hastily. “I—”

  “I know where we’ll go,” Diana said. “We’re going to transform you!”

  “No,” Min said. “Soften a little, maybe, but not—”

  “I’ll be waiting out front at five,” Di said. “This is going to be so much fun.”

  “Well,” Min said, but Di had already hung up. “Oh. Well. All right.”

  She hung up and decided not to worry about transformation until she was actually in Diana’s clutches. She went back to finishing up her work week, and then, as she was putting on her jacket to go meet Di, the phone rang. When she answered, a woman said, “My name is Elizabeth Morrisey, and I’m