Orna laughed warmly. "It is, isn't it??? It's weird the way annoyance can so easily take that turn. I guess that's what you need, Case. Less admirers, more antagonizers. That'll get you sorted and you can be just as embarrassing as the rest of us." She smirked, her eyes twinkling with a wicked thought. "Though I suppose that would make Thomas Wood the man for the job, eh?" she added, nudging his shoulder suggestively.
"But back to the matter at hand," she continued, absentmindedly rubbing her own hands together, the cuffs of her sweaters hanging low past the palms, and strings poking out after being fussed with too often, "I see what you mean about the auction. I'd hate for him to just take it as some kind of mean-spirited thing and make Becca feel awful, particularly after she thought she was really putting herself out there. But I can see why after all this time it would be hard to see it as anything else." Orna regarded him seriously. "I'm willing to trust you to take the lead on this one. If you think we should bring Max in, then that's the right thing to do. I know you wouldn't want either of them to get hurt."