“Max does make me feel wanted,” she said slowly. “At least, so far he does. He’s made his interest in me clear, since the very beginning. But it’s not just that: he listens when I talk, really listens, he always looks at me like he’s so focused on me and glad to be with me, and … did I tell you he went back to the hotel bar to look for me after that first night? But it’s still early, that doesn’t—”

Ellie cut her off.

“Then I believe you have your answer, don’t you? And look, I know it’s still early, and I know you don’t want to risk anything here, but sometimes the only way to get something good is to take a few risks.”

Easier said than done. She loved Ellie, but married people gave such glib dating advice sometimes. Plus, didn’t Ellie remember she hated taking risks?

“I’d say remembering your favorite cake after a quick conversation—then sending it to you—says the man wants you all right,” Ellie said, that smug-married smile still on her face.

The problem was, as much as Olivia wanted to argue that point, she couldn’t. She still marveled that Max had done that.

“Sure, fine. But … maybe he’s just good at that kind of stuff, and it’s not about me.”

Ellie smiled at her.

“Only one way to find out.”

Max got back to his office late Wednesday afternoon after three interminable committee meetings in a row. Four members of his staff followed him into his private office, and he waved them all back out.

“Give me ten minutes to catch up on things; decide among yourselves on who goes first. You all get the next hour, but divvy it up responsibly.”

He shut the door before they could argue with him, and immediately pulled his personal phone out of his briefcase. Did he have a text from Olivia? He scrolled through the texts that had come in, looking for her name, but nothing.

Not to be arrogant, but there were a hell of a lot of women out there who would jump at the chance to be his girlfriend. Hundreds! Maybe thousands!

Okay, that was pretty fucking arrogant, and also absolutely untrue. But there were at least a few! Why was it that the one person he’d met in the past two years whom he couldn’t stop thinking about was not in that number?

Olivia had seemed all in on him on Friday night, until she very much wasn’t. He winced at the memory of that night—he really should have figured out a plan in advance. The look on her face when he’d said the word “girlfriend” … well, he hadn’t expected that.