MVP by Rhonda Laurel Page B

stayed away from her. Instead you decided to help her humiliate me. I think you should ask yourself why you were willing to do that. I’ve never done anything so horrible to you to warrant the treatment I received from you.”
    Jason averted his gaze. “I’ve been thinking about that. You are always so…aloof. It’s off putting sometimes. There was a part of me that was angry with you and wanted to see you hurt. To see that other people around you were capable of making you feel something.”
    “Even if those feelings were anger and shame?” Morgan clenched her fists.
    Jason hung his head. “I didn’t say it was a well thought out plan. I saw your picture in the paper. You were at some party. You looked beautiful.”
    Morgan shifted the books in her arms. “Thanks, I guess. Why did you come here?”
    “I’m leaving town. I found a job in Michigan. Being the punch line with my friends and my family is getting old. I need some space.”
    “I don’t know if Michigan is ready for you and Charisma.” She laughed.
    Jason shook his head. “I’m not taking her with me. I may be a little self-centered but Charisma thinks the sun revolves around her. I was furious when she sold that story to the tabloids. That was the last straw. I don’t know what she was trying to accomplish but I figured the two of us had done enough damage to you already.”
    “That sounds like a good move for you.”
    “Yeah.” He looked at the door. “Morgan, I just wished I could bring out in you what Seth Blake did. His being famous is a sting but it isn’t the reason I hate the dude. I would have hated anyone who could pull you out of the shell you were in and make him love you.”
    “Seth didn’t make me do anything. You just know when it’s the right person to let into your heart.”
    “Like I said, he was able to do what I wasn’t.” Jason shrugged.
    She waved at him. “Good luck in Michigan.”
    “Good luck to you too. I wish you and Blake nothing but happiness.” Jason hesitated but then walked out of the bookstore.
    Morgan stood there for a moment trying to collect her thoughts. Jason hadn’t sold her out to the tabloids.
    Michelle walked through the front door. “Was that Jason?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What did he want?”
    “Maybe forgiveness. He’s moving to Michigan without Charisma.”
    “The state of Michigan dodged a bullet.”
    Morgan bent down to pick up some bookmarks that had fallen on the floor and a wave of nausea hit her. She groaned in response to her churning stomach.
    “Morgan, you all right?”
    Morgan excused herself and bee lined it for the bathroom. A half hour later she emerged from the bathroom with a cold compress on her head. Michelle was waiting for her in the office.
    “This would be the third time you’ve hurled in a week,” Michelle mused as she ate her salad.
    “Is not.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    Morgan thought about it and realized Michelle was right. She had probably been working too hard, juggling so many projects. She made a mental note to slow down, and failing that, to buy some antacids.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Morgan had just reached her wits end after yet another failed meeting. The latest person cited budget cuts and there was no money to start another program. At least she didn’t ask about Seth. The woman did refer to her as Morgan Blake, but Morgan didn’t remember telling the woman her new last name. It was on to the next phase of her plan, if only she knew what it was.
    She walked into the stylish boutique to pick up the dress she planned to wear to the banquet. It had taken an afternoon of shopping with Michelle and Nina and threats of wearing a burlap sack if she tried on one more dress until she had found the right one. It was a pink strapless gown with an elegant corset and a long, flowing skirt. Morgan also got a matching shawl in case she lost the nerve to show all her assets that night. When she tried on the gown, she had to go up a size because her normal size six felt