Maggie

I saw the call from Shane but I just couldn't talk to him right then. I still couldn't believe he'd lied to me just to get me into bed. I mean, hadn't he slept with enough women? Did he really have to stoop so low to get a nobody like me to have sex with him?

I poured over the whole evening and morning I'd spent with him and tried to remember anything that would have given me a clue that he was being insincere. But everything he'd said to me came out so naturally and sounded so real and heartfelt that I was starting to feel like I was crazy, or incredibly stupid.

When my phone rang for the second time I froze. It was Shane again. I didn't know what to do, but I figured it would be silly for me to try to hide from him. I took a deep breath and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Maggie, it's Shane."

"Hi." I knew my tone was cold and I was being really short with him, but I honestly didn't know what to say.

"Hey."

There was a long pause where neither one of us said anything and I thought that was kind of weird. As I sat there, waiting for him to say something, my stomach felt like it was free-falling out of my body. I didn't know why he was suddenly so quiet, but I figured it had to be because of what he'd told me.

Everything was starting to make sense. He had said all those things just to get me into bed, and now he was probably going to back pedal like crazy so that he could get out of everything. Maybe even arrange it so that he could keep sleeping with me.

"Maggie, something happened a little while ago that I'm having a hard time understanding. I talked to a reporter, someone my manager had set me up with, and they asked me about you. They referred to you as an old flame. Do you know why they would be asking me about that?"

"What?" My mind was still reeling from the acceptance that Shane was just like every other asshole on the planet when what he said knocked me for another loop. "Old flame? I have no idea—"

"I thought you told me that you never said a word to anyone about us, about our night on the beach."

"I didn't, Shane—" but suddenly I remembered what I'd told Janine just the other day. "I … Shane, I—"

"Did you just use me, Maggie? I didn't think you were like that."

"I'm not, Shane, you know I'm not. I didn't mean to … Shane I honestly didn't—"

"If you didn't tell anyone then how did the reporter know? Can you explain that to me? Can you explain why she would have referred to you as my old flame? Is that what you told people?"

"No, of course not! I can't believe you're accusing me of—"

"Did you lie to me, Maggie?"

"No, I didn't. Not really. But … just wait a minute, Shane. I can't even believe that you're calling me a liar after what I found out."

"I didn't call you anything. I'm asking you if you lied—"

"—because if there is a liar here, it is most certainly you, with your song and dance about wanting to preserve that sacred land. I can't believe I fell for all that crap about you moving back to the island for me. And telling me that you had a hard time trusting people. That's a good one."

"Whoa, what are you talking about? What the hell happened?"

"I have a friend at the law firm that's handling your deal, Shane. I know you pulled permits to build condos on that land, on that very spot where we walked on the beach together. Don't bother trying to cover your tracks now, I know you lied to me. But did you really think you needed to lie to me just to get me to … ugh, never mind. If you wanted to make me feel like an idiot you've more than succeeded," I said, my voice shaking as tears started streaming down my face. "Congratulations."

"Maggie, I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

I didn't say anything for a moment. I was straddling a fine line of still wanting so desperately to believe that Shane was a good guy—that it was all a misunderstanding—and forcing myself to pay attention to the feeling in my stomach. The feeling that told me that I wasn't someone he would have ever considered being in a serious relationship with anyway. "Are you sure about that? I have to go." I hung up before he had a chance to give me any more lines. I couldn't bear hearing him lie to me again.

I immediately called Janine. She had to have said something to someone. She's the only person on this planet that I'd told, the only one that knew about our kiss.

"Hey, Mags, how are you feeling?"

"Okay. I just talked to Shane."

"Yeah? What did he say?"

"He said he doesn't know anything about permits for a condo."

"Yeah, he would say that. Look, Maggie, he's a dude. And he's a freaking actor. It's his job to make people believe stuff that isn't even real. He probably doesn't know difference between the truth and a lie anymore."

"Yeah, you're probably right. But he said something else, Janine."

"Don't let him pull anything over on you, Maggie. I know you have feelings for him, but—"

"No, it's not about the land. It's about something else."

"What?"

"He told me that a reporter asked him about me today … that they referred to me as an old flame."

"Yeah, so?"

"You're the only person I told about that kiss, Janine. I never told another person."

"Oh, wow, Maggie. I'm so sorry."

"What? Who did you tell?"

"Oh God, I feel like such an asshole now. There was this woman at work, one of the paralegals. I didn't actually say anything, but … well, she was going on and on about Shane Holloway and how incredibly hot he is and how she couldn't believe that he was living on the island again and blah blah blah. So, I told her that I had a friend who knew him really well and she asked 'how well' and … well, I didn't say anything specific, but I didn't not say anything either."

"What? What do you mean?"

"God, I feel like such a shit. I don't know … I guess I sort of raised my eyebrows a couple times. I honestly didn't expect her to tell anyone else. Jesus, I'm gonna call her in here. That is so freaking unprofessional. Of both of us."

"No, no, whatever. It's all done now."

"No way, Maggie. I'm gonna make sure she doesn't tell anyone else."

"Well, if one reporter knows, then I'm guessing it's not up to her any more who else finds out."

"God, you're right. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I don't know, being anywhere near someone who's a celebrity does weird things to you. I'm not that kind of person, Maggie. You know me."

"Yeah, I do. And I'm not mad. I mean, Shane thinks I lied to him, but whatever because he actually did lie to me."

"Yeah, and I'd say his lie is way bigger."

"Well, I'm not interested in ranking lies or anything. To me a lie is a lie and even a little one can wipe out all of the trust you have in a person."

"Yeah, I hear you. Don't take it so hard, Mags. Just try and forget about him. There are plenty of other guys out there."

"Yeah, but the problem is they don't live on this island."

"That's true. Listen, why don't we go out and get a drink tonight. It might do you some good to have a little fun, maybe do some dancing. Forget about Shane for a while."

"I don't think so, Janine. I think I just want to stay in, probably for about a month straight."

"Come on, don't let this one experience shut you down. You're an awesome woman and you're going to find a guy that doesn't lie, I promise."

"Yeah, sure. I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Call me if you need anything, all right?"

"I will."

I hung up the phone and fell backward onto the couch. Janine was right. I needed to forget about Shane. I should never have agreed to go out with him to begin with. I should have known there was no way, after ten years of spending all his time around supermodels and beautiful actresses, that he could fall for someone like me.

I didn't understand how I was supposed to forget about him, though. After all these years of playing our kiss over and over in my head—actually feeling it in every inch of my body—and then what happened last night and this morning, I just couldn't forget. When I thought about all of it I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my body.