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without conceit, but still I winced. “Groupies.”
    “I suppose so.” He picked up a piece of cheese that had fallen from his sandwich and threw it in his mouth.
    All those chemicals and hormones surging through my bloodstream from the day’s events suddenly had a new focus. Annoyance. That must be how he’d always seen me, as a groupie. “So, to relieve your boredom, you thought you’d set yourself a new challenge?”
    “Something like that.” He shrugged and picked up another sandwich.
    “And I’m helping you overcome an obstacle in your plan?”
    “Yep.”
    “That’s why you were willing to go to such lengths to get me to help.” I knew my voice had a sharp edge, but I was powerless to stop it.
    He shrugged and swallowed. “No point taking on a challenge then being half-hearted about it.”
    “Do you even like Scarlett?”
    “Of course I do. She seems nice.”
    That he was oblivious to my annoyance was making me even more annoyed. I stood to collect the plates, even though he still had a sandwich in his hands, and carried them into the kitchen.
    “Annalise, is anything wrong?” A regular Sherlock, no doubt about it.
    I put the plates down then turned slowly to look at him. “Don’t you think it sounds a bit callous?” When he didn’t answer, I continued. “How do you think Scarlett would feel about being considered a challenge?”
    He looked a little taken aback. “Scarlett only likes to date guys once or twice before moving on. That’s part of the reason I chose her. Besides, she’s met me—she wouldn’t be expecting more than a short relationship.” He shrugged. “And who knows, there’s every chance we’ll get along really well once we’re together.”
    Telling myself to calm down, I forced an imitation of a happy face. I wasn’t sure how much of this emotion was coming from my crush, how much was about his plan, and how much was from a particularly stressful morning, so I let it go for the moment. “You’re right. Do you want a drink?”
    “I’d better be going.” He stood and moved to kiss my cheek. “Thanks for lunch, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    “It’ll be fun,” I said half-heartedly.
    He paused with a hand on the doorknob and chuckled. “Enthusiasm wasn’t a requirement of the job, Annalise, just the advice. You don’t have to pretend.”
    “Actually, I think it will be fun. I’ll see you then.” I closed the door behind him, thinking that it would be fun putting Jake Maxwell in his place, even if it was only about his fashion sense.
    …
    That night, I speared my fork into my salad with a little too much force. The monthly dinner at my parents was living down to its usual standards. This was the time I always longed for siblings to share the scrutiny.
    So far, we’d covered my nails—apparently, I needed a manicure—and my jewelry—the tangerine necklace was a bit too outlandish for dinner. And now we were moving on to their favorite topic—my love life. Or lack thereof.
    “But I don’t understand why you don’t settle down, darling.” I could tell my mother was genuinely bewildered. And I could almost understand. A woman who, as a nineteen year old medical receptionist, had made the coup of the hospital’s most promising young heart surgeon, had certain expectations of her only child, especially now that child had bypassed the age her mother had been when she’d married.
    “It’s not that easy. I have to find someone first.”
    Please don’t bring up Thomas again.
    “You had that lovely Thomas. Then as soon as you took him to Kelly’s wedding, you broke up.” My mother paused as I chewed a snow pea.
    Please don’t ask why. Please let something distract her.
    “And that’s another thing, why won’t you tell us why you split? Was it from seeing Kelly married? Did you want your own wedding and he didn’t?”
    Please let the house catch on fire or a freak cyclone hit Sydney.
    Given I couldn’t smell smoke or hear wild winds, I quickly counted