This book was turning into a nightmare. Every time Angela thought she had her thesis nailed, something came along to screw it all up. She just needed to be right about this. These men-these smooth operators-weren’t supposed to change. They weren’t supposed to fall in love and get married and live happily ever after.
She hadn’t set out to write a book about bad boys and the women who loved them. With her career as a freelance writer stalled, Angela had begun writing a blog, ruminating on the state of the male-female dynamic in contemporary dating. After hundreds of women had begun relating their own dating disaster stories, the blog had turned into a Web site, filled with profiles of thousands of men and a catalog of their dating atrocities. And now, Angela was about to put all of her theories and research into a book, Smooth Operators: A Woman’s Guide to Avoiding Dating Disasters.
“Ever since you’ve started this book, you’ve been really tense,” Ceci said.
“I should be tense. It was due at the publisher three months ago and I can’t seem to finish.”
“Maybe you should put it down for a while and reconsider your reasons for writing it.”
“I know what you think,” Angela said. “And I’m not doing this because I want to prove something to my parents.”
“Oh, really?” Ceci asked. “Both your parents are psychologists who’ve written numerous books. They both teach at prestigious universities here in Chicago.
Your older sister is a neurosurgeon and your younger sister is a physicist. This is your chance to step up to the Weatherby plate and hit a home run.”
“A baseball metaphor?” Angela asked. Her thoughts shifted, an image of a handsome man flashing in her mind. Max Morgan. Professional baseball player. Classic smooth operator. And the subject of Chapter Five-the Sexy Devil.
“Sorry,” Ceci said. “It’s all Will can talk about.
Baseball, baseball, baseball. He’s in this ridiculous fantasy league and they get together every Monday night at some bar over in DePaul. I have no idea what they do, but he can’t stop talking about it.”