‘Oh, thank you, Doctor.’ The mother smiled, but it wasn’t at her. It was at Dare. No doubt she was still thinking about those broad shoulders and that scruff he hadn’t bothered to shave off his horrible face that morning.
Disgusted with herself, Carly stood up and brushed herself off before finally looking at him, unconsciously setting her chin at a challenging angle. This wasn’t the moment of victory she had anticipated and she knew Dare wasn’t a stupid man. He’d guess straight away that his grandfather was ill.
‘So you’re a doctor?’
‘Yes,’ she said as if it were of no importance at all.
He scowled. ‘And pretty pleased about it, by the look of you?’
‘Why shouldn’t I be?’ Carly retorted, frowning into his angry face. ‘I worked hard for my degree.’
His mouth tightened. ‘I don’t care if you got it from a paper bag.’ He stared at her hard. ‘What I want to know is whether you’re tired of working so hard, or if the old man is sick and you’re his attending physician.’ His blue gaze pierced hers. ‘Not that I’ve met too many doctors who live in.’
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t that smart, Carly fumed, incensed that he was so determined to think ill of her.
‘Unbelievable.’ She shook her head. ‘You have no shame, do you?’
‘Not much. Which is it?’
‘None of your business.’ She stalked away from him but of course he followed.
‘Are you saying that my grandfather’s welfare is none of my business?’ he asked silkily.
‘I’m saying—’ Carly stopped and whirled on him ‘—go take a hike. Off a high cliff preferably.’
Dare grabbed hold of her arm as she turned to walk off and swung her around to face him. ‘What is your problem, lady?’
‘I’m looking at it.’
‘If you would just apply some logic—would you stand still? I’m the one who has a right to be angry here, not you.’
Carly slapped her hands on her hips. ‘Of course you do,’ Carly soothed with all the ice from the polar cap. ‘And I suppose I should be the grateful little maiden on my knees apologising for making you feel that way?’
The air between them pulled taut.
Dare let out a slow breath. Talking to this woman was like trying to pull up weeds with a pair of tweezers. ‘If you’re on the straight and narrow, why all the cloak-and-dagger stuff?’
Aware of the small crowd still milling around, Carly kept her voice low. ‘As far as I’m concerned there is no cloak-and-dagger stuff. There’s you jumping up and down drawing conclusions that belong in a Picasso painting and me caught in the crossfire.’
‘Little Miss Innocent, is that it?’ His lips twisted. ‘Or should I say, Dr Innocent?’
If she had been expecting an apology—and she had been—she was sorely disappointed. ‘Tell me, Mr James, do you have a low opinion of every woman you meet or is it just me?’
‘I have a healthy disrespect for lying,’ he ground out.
‘I haven’t lied to you.’
‘You haven’t been honest either.’
‘Maybe it’s just that you’re so quick to pass judgment on everyone else’s motives you don’t ask the right questions.’
‘If you think being a doctor somehow elevates you above gold-digger status, sweetheart, I have to tell you I’ve come across a lot of educated women who look at a rich man with dollar signs in their eyes.’
‘Maybe women look at you that way because it’s the only positive thing about you!’ Carly turned and strode towards the path that led back to Rothmeyer House, disconcerted when he easily kept pace with her. ‘I, on the other hand, have more sense.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Yes, that is right. But what’s your excuse? Has a woman broken your heart in the past? Is that why you’re being so horrible to me?’
‘No woman has ever broken my heart.’
‘Because you don’t have one?’ she asked sweetly.
Dare called for patience. ‘Because no woman has ever gotten close enough.’
Her brow rose in surprise. ‘And never will, by your tone.’