Free Dating and Other Dangers by Natalie Anderson

sounded crisp. ‘You’re everything those women said and then some.’
    ‘Not true.’ He sat back in his seat, smiling at her illogicality and her determination to resist the challenge. ‘If I was really a user I’d have taken everything you offered last night. And be honest, Nadia, you offered
everything
. But instead I was chivalry incarnate. Shouldn’t I get recognition for that?’
    ‘You’re the devil incarnate,’ she snapped, the ice barely covering her volcanic reaction. ‘This whole thing is over.’
    ‘So you’re going to identify yourself? You’re going to pull your forum?’
    ‘I’ll pull your thread. You can do whatever you want. I don’t care.’
    ‘You’ll risk your job?’ He frowned. Was she really going to give in so easily? That didn’t sound right. And it was exactly what he didn’t want. No way did he want this battle to be over—not now it was getting so interesting.
    ‘Is your thirst for revenge so great you’d see me on the street?’
    Ethan tensed. She was calling his bluff—and, no, he wouldn’t expose her. He didn’t want her to lose her job. He needed some other kind of leverage. Fortunately he figured he had it. ‘But you care about your site.’ He clicked his computer to refresh the screen. ‘Haven’t you seen the number of hits on my little blog this morning? And all the comments on yours?’
    Nadia buried her head in her hand, closing her eyes, wishing she could close her ears to his charismatic voice—she couldn’t halt the response in her bones to the smile she could
hear
.
    ‘Nadia?’
    She pressed the phone closer to her ear and sank lower into her seat. Just the way he said her name made her wet. Maybe it was somekind of hormone imbalance or something? Maybe it was because she hadn’t had a date or sex or anything remotely romantic for so long? Maybe she’d subconsciously fixated on that one bit of his reputation—the “best sex ever” bit? Okay, not even subconsciously—it was right up there in the forefront of her brain, flashing neon-sign-style.
    ‘Have you seen them?’ he asked again.
    ‘No.’ For the first time in years she hadn’t checked her computer on waking. And now she was at work. The only people in the company who had access to social networking sites on their computers were those in Human Resources, so they could check the online presence of employees and possible recruits—yes, they checked the profiles of applicants, and their posts. They didn’t hire people who made fools of themselves or who had loose lips. That meant she could check his page now. She glanced behind her—no one could see her screen. Super-quick she typed in the URL. It only took a moment to load. She gasped—there were over a hundred comments. She read the first few and her lungs froze.
    ‘Isn’t that why you run your site, Nadia? To feel important? To be popular? Don’tyou
want
to get all these hits and all these comments? Isn’t this the whole point?’
    No, it wasn’t. And there were hits and there were
hits
. And there were some really awful hits on there. Personal, derogatory, mortifying comments. As she loaded the second page to read more, another couple were added. She read them. They were getting worse. Nadia’s eyes stung and she tried to blink the acid away.
    ‘I hate you for this.’ She couldn’t keep the emotion out of her voice.
    ‘Doesn’t feel nice, does it?’ he said, in his hatefully compelling voice.
    ‘You should be moderating the comments.’
    ‘Like you moderate the lies on
your
website?’ He chuckled. ‘Surely this is the best thing ever? All this extra traffic making the world more aware of your site.’
    Nadia didn’t answer. She flicked to WomanBWarned and saw the number of comments there—with much nicer, “go-girl”, supportive words. She breathed out—they were good, and her hit rate was incredible.
    ‘So it’s not over, is it, Nadia?’ Ethan purred. ‘I don’t think there’s any going back now. And I’m