Heat rushed into her cheeks. It confused her to the core, this tendency he had to say things and make it sound so warm…so intimate. It shouldn’t surprise her, of course. Liam Kavanaugh was a born flirt. He probably just didn’t know how to shut it off, even with an unlikely candidate.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone to see me on that night,” she said, trying to sound matter-of-fact. It wouldn’t do to let him believe their chance meeting on the beach had meant anything to her.
“Obviously.”
She inhaled slowly. It certainly didn’t take him long to make her feel like she was floundering.
“Accountants deserve downtime as much as police officers,” she said stiffly.
“More so,” he agreed with a shrug. “If I had to wear a suit every day to work I’d go nuts. I’d dive into my jeans the second I walked out of the office.”
He looked surprised when she laughed, but she couldn’t seem to help it. “Or your board shorts, no doubt.”
His smile was like sex distilled. Her laughter faded at the sight of it.
“I think you might be getting the hang of me, Natalie.”
“Heaven forbid.”
He chuckled appreciatively as he waved for her to follow him on the ancient stone path that circled the cottage. “Is it all right if we sit out here?” he asked, waving to the shaded terrace at the back of the house. “The fumes from the stain are fading—I’ve got almost every window open in the house—but they might still bother you.”
“Of course, it’s lovely out here,” Natalie replied, meaning it. She followed Liam up some stairs, appreciating the view of a sparkling, light blue Lake Michigan.
“Something to drink?” he asked. “I have iced tea, soda—”
“No, I’m fine. Please get something for yourself, though,” she said as she sank down onto a cushioned deck chair.
“I’ll be right back.”
Natalie nodded and leaned back in the chair. It was hot today, but the humidity had dropped. The view was amazing from there on the stone terrace—the tall prairie grass and colorful flowers in the backyard swaying in the gentle breeze, the waves hitting the rocky beach. She envied Liam. It was two years ago that she’d almost bought the Myerson cottage. She’d fantasized once about taming these surroundings into a cottage garden. Well, not taming, really—who would want to cultivate such a wild, glorious place? Her brother had been very uneasy about the idea of Natalie living in such a secluded spot though, and Natalie hated the idea of him worrying about her. In the end, she’d bought her cozy town house instead.
It was the practical thing to do, but sitting there on the terrace, she couldn’t help but feel a very illogical longing.
“If I didn’t know I was in Michigan, I’d swear I was on the English coast,” she told Liam with a smile when he came through the screen door. She automatically took the iced tea he offered her, momentarily forgetting she’d said she didn’t want anything to drink. “It looks so similar.”
“Does it? I’ve never been,” Liam said as he plopped down in the chair that faced hers. His blue eyes were fixed to her mouth. She suddenly felt foolish for saying something so whimsical and took a sip of her tea.
“So what it is it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Right. To business,” Liam said drolly.
“That is why you called me, isn’t it?”
His small shrug seemed to say that the reason would have to do.
“I don’t know how much you know about my father, but you knew that he was a lawyer,” Liam began.
She nodded. “He was the legal counsel for Langford, a defense contractor and publicly traded company. He’d worked there for over twenty years.”
“You’ve done your homework.”
She lifted her chin to face him. It must seem odd to him to know she’d gathered as much information on his father as she could over the years.
“I’ve told you how curious I was.”
He nodded slowly, his eyes steady on her face, before he took a swallow of tea and set down his glass on a wrought-iron table.
“Then you might know that for a half year before the accident, the Securities and Exchange Commission had been investigating Langford for fraudulent financial statements. As chief counsel for Langford, my father was a major part of that investigation.”