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cheese on the floor.
    I chuckled at the crazy symbiosis she and the cat had developed, then thought about her question. “Yeah, it’s like the instinct for surfing, knowing what the waves will do next.”
    “How does that relate to business?”
    “I followed the same principle to know when to expand, what people want to buy, and who to employ. Once you employ the right people, the rest gets easier.”
    “It seems you have good business instincts as well as surfing ones.”
    I winced. People had always thrown compliments my way—part of the legacy of having famous parents, then being on the pro surfing circuit—and in general I’d learned to accept them. Smile, say thank you, and move on. But it felt wrong to do that with Annalise. To accept her words was to allow that they were the truth, despite knowing full well I didn’t deserve them. Basically, it would be lying to her. And Annalise didn’t deserve my lies.
    Dragging in a deep breath, I told her the truth. “I’ve just been playing at being a businessman. It’s not who I am.”
    She almost brushed my knees as she put the ingredients back in the fridge. “If that’s playing, you deserve an acting award. You’ve been incredibly successful at it.” She handed me the plates. “Here, carry these out to the table while I put the rest back in the fridge.”
    I took the plates but hesitated. Should I say more? Explain how it really was? But, the thing was, Annalise had invited me into her home because she was doing me a favor, not because she wanted to hear about all the ugliness in my soul.
    Setting the plates on her dining table, I gave myself a mental shake. Time to refocus.
    …
    Annalise
    When I joined Jake at the table, the mask of self-assuredness was back in place, and I immediately regretted not following up on the opportunity I’d been given—in the kitchen, he’d seemed vulnerable, uncertain. It just all seemed so strange coming from Jake that I hadn’t known what to do.
    He picked up his first sandwich. “So can I ask what happened with your job?”
    I shrugged. “The studio was making cutbacks. I’d only been there three months, so it was the principle of last in, first out. Plus, I was the most junior—I spent most of my time cutting fabric from patterns.”
    He winced. “That’s rough.”
    “There had been rumors, so I knew it was coming, I’d just hoped to sell some of my designs before the axe fell.”
    “And now you have.” His eyes crinkled as he smiled. My entire body sighed in appreciation of that eye-crinkling. Honestly, this man had charisma in every cell, in every movement. I’d probably never be immune. Never be able to see him and not want to reach out and touch him.
    “And now I have,” I repeated faintly. Which brought my thoughts back to the reason for my sale and even this lunch. “Tell me a bit about Scarlett. It might help me know what we need to do.”
    He grinned. “Scarlett Logan. She’s a receptionist at Ferguson and Johns. She’s classy.”
    That Scarlett? “Scarlett Logan ?”
    “Yep. Do you know her?”
    Did I know Scarlett Logan? Did I know Scarlett Logan? Scarlett Logan, sister of Thomas Logan? The woman who’d told her brother, my former boyfriend, he could do better than me? The woman I’d repeatedly prayed would be taken by killer tomatoes? The woman to whom I was now going to serve Jake on a platter? Did I know her? “We’ve met once or twice.”
    “She’s great, isn’t she?”
    “Mmm-hmm. She’s something all right.” Scarlett Logan? Did he have no taste? “So, what attracted you to her?”
    “The challenge,” he said simply.
    I blinked. “Pardon?”
    “I’ll be honest with you if you promise not to tell Kelly or my mother any of this.” He grinned again.
    Slowly, I put my sandwich back on my plate. “I promise.”
    “I’ve been bored at work lately. The challenge has gone. And dating has never taken much effort; women have always come on to me.”
    He spoke matter-of-factly,