What in the world was he talking about? Natalie loosened fingers that had gone stiff in the last few seconds and set her pen on the blotter.
“Well good evening to you, too,” she murmured calmly.
He gave her an irritated glance and fell into the leather chair in front of her desk like a dead weight.
“That’s just great, that’s priceless,” he muttered. “It’s so…you, to say something like that. That response proves my point completely.”
“And what point would that be?” she asked, strangely not at all offended by his behavior. If anything, she was a little concerned by his distracted, agitated manner.
“It means just what I said. That’s just the kind of thing you’d say to something inflammatory. Well good evening to you, too. Or what about, no, nothing personal, it was just a business meeting.” He shook his head as though he was exhausted by her antics, but his eyes studied her with a sharp gleam. “If that’s the way you kiss all your business associates it’s a wonder you aren’t the most popular accountant on the planet.”
The mention of that kiss finally pricked her anger, which is what he’d intended all along.
“How dare you barge in here and say something like that to me,” she said as she began to straighten the papers on her desk.
“I’d dare a hell of a lot more.”
She paused in her paper shuffling and glanced at him. He looked as lazy and uncaring as a big cat stretching in the hot summer sun. The analogy was completely apt. A big cat could turn dangerous in a heartbeat.
It took her a second to realize she’d stood up in her mounting fury and confusion.
“We do have a business arrangement. I was just stating the truth last night,” she said, her voice quavering.
“We kissed, and it was good. Really good. Now I’m just stating the truth, Natalie.”
She halted the retort on her tongue at the last second. She studied him more closely, noticing the tension in his muscles that belied his lazy pose. “What’s happened? What’s gotten into you? You didn’t come here to talk to me about…that,” she said, not wanting to utter the word kiss.
At first, he didn’t reply or move, but then his lean body uncoiled from his sitting position. He stuck one hand into a back pocket of his jeans.
Natalie stared at the folded piece of paper he tossed on her desk. She felt sick. She didn’t need to open it to know it was the check she’d written him for a retainer.
“My mother seems to be of the opinion that the reason I took this case is because I find you so attractive,” he said.
“You…you told your mother I hired you?” she asked, her queasiness mounting.
“I went to try and ask her about my dad’s behavior on the night of the crash. She’s not very happy with me at the moment.”
Compassion swelled in her breast. No wonder he seemed so out of sorts.
“I’ve been thinking about this situation all afternoon, and you know what I decided, Natalie?” He pointed at the check on her desk. “That
was making things more complicated. Not me kissing you.”
She glanced up at him cautiously. He looked a little fearsome in that moment, his face tight and eyes blazing.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe you were right for calling it business last night. You paying me made this a business arrangement, just like you said. So you can keep your money.”
Yes. Of course he was right, Natalie told herself. She quashed down her intense disappointment at the thought of Liam changing his mind about the investigation and forced herself to breathe evenly.
“I understand,” she said.
“No you don’t.”
She gaped at him as he continued.
“See, my mother was right, too. A little. I didn’t take the case just because I find you attractive, but it might have been a contributing factor.”