I nearly snorted the sour wine out of my nose. One of the problems with spending your life coming up with clever scams is you are sometimes taken aback when people are straightforward. I really should have known better than to expect any kind of guile from Beren at this point, but old habits die hard. I managed to coral most of the wine into the right tube while considering a response. In the end I decided, like an idiot, to repay truth with truth.

"I don't have a boyfriend," I admitted, feeling a little uncomfortable to tell the bald faced truth. Fortunately I recovered some of my normal aplomb almost immediately. I am, afterall, a professional.

"I wouldn't have agreed to that discussion if I did," I assured him. The bald faced lie washed the unpleasantly sacrin taste of truth from my mouth. I gave him a wicked smile.

"Why, do you have someone you want to fix me up with?" I asked, batting my eyelashes outrageously to make it clear I was teasing.