his head as though that action would get rid of his raunchy thoughts. Hell, he was going to be thinking about what she’d said for the rest of the day.
“That isn’t funny, Isabel,” he said.
Laughing, she said, “Yes, it is. If you could see your expression . . .”
“You shouldn’t taunt a man about sex,” he said. “I might take you up on it.”
“I wasn’t offering,” she said nonchalantly.
“Sure you were,” he countered with a grin.
“And I’m not worried,” she continued as though he hadn’t said anything. “The last time I saw you, you made it abundantly clear that you didn’t like me.” She put her hand up so he wouldn’t interrupt and added, “It’s all right. I didn’t particularly like you, either.”
He laughed as though her comment were ridiculous. “It doesn’t matter if we like each other. Sex is . . .” He stopped himself before he said something crude.
“Sex is what?”
His mind raced for an explanation that wasn’t gross and would make sense to her. “A pleasurable activity. Yeah, it’s a pleasurable activity. Sometimes it’s extremely pleasurable. And that’s all it is,”
he added with a shrug.
“Oh, come on. I would never have sex with someone I didn’t like.”
He stared at her for several seconds, then slowly looked her up and down. “I would,” he said.
“You might want to keep that in mind.”
She opened her mouth to respond, then stopped herself.
He grabbed his duffel bag and zipped it closed. “Come on. Pack your things and check out.”
“I’m not checking out. I’m going to keep this room,” she said. “I’ll ride with you to Nathan’s Bay to see everyone, but there won’t be room for me to stay there. Besides, I want to stay here.”
He wasn’t going to argue with her. “Have you talked to Kate about this?”
“I don’t need my sister’s permission.”
“I know you don’t,” he said. “But have you talked to her or Dylan since you . . .”
“Since I killed a man?” she asked, and before he could answer, she continued, “No, I haven’t spoken to either one of them since I called Dylan from the street. They’ve called quite a few times, and they’ve texted, but I let their calls go to voicemail, and I didn’t text back.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll see them soon enough,” she said. “And I don’t want to talk about what happened over the phone.”
“Yeah, okay. I get it.”
She rushed to change the subject. “When is the celebration?”
“The family dinner is Wednesday, and the party with friends and relatives is Saturday night. That will be a real blowout.”
“When I return to the city later today, I’ll rent a car through the hotel and drive back and forth.”
Michael’s cell phone rang just as housekeeping knocked on the door. Isabel handed the man the plastic bag with her laundry to be washed and dried. She explained about the tear in the jacket and
asked if it could be repaired. After thanking him, she shut the door. Gathering her purse, room card, and cell phone, she was ready to go.
Michael gave her the bad news. “Change of plans. Detective Samuel wants you to come back to the station.”
“Why?”
“More questions,” he explained. “He thinks, now that you’ve had a good night’s rest . . .”
Hands on hips, she demanded, “He thinks what?”
“You’ll maybe remember something you forgot to mention yesterday.” He shook his head. “Hell if I know what he really wants. He’s got the video. It’s all there.”
“I can’t turn him down, can I?”
Smiling, he said, “He’s not inviting you to lunch, so no, you can’t turn him down. Come on. Let’s get this done.”
Isabel suddenly felt guilty. Michael hadn’t signed up for any of this. He had come to Boston for a celebration and a vacation, and she was interfering. “You don’t have to go with me. You’ve done enough. You should go on to Nathan’s Bay.”
“For now, I’m your attorney. I’m going with you.”
He opened the door, stepped back, and waited for her to go ahead of him. She stopped an inch away from him, put her hand on his chest, and tilted her head back so she could look into his eyes.
“How much is this going to cost me?”
He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “Later, babe. I’ll tell you what I want later.”
It wasn’t what he said as much as how he said it that gave her goose bumps. Time for her to stop flirting with him before she got into trouble. As satisfying and as fun as the playful banter was, she had a feeling he was a pro at this sort of thing. She didn’t want to get into a competition with him, knowing full well he would make mincemeat of her. Fun time was over.
? ? ?
ONCE THEY WERE IN THE CAR AND ON THEIR WAY TO THE STATION, HE SAID, “I SHOULD CALL
Dylan. He could meet us.”
“No, absolutely not.” Her voice was emphatic. “He’s on vacation, and I don’t want to bother him.
I’ll see him soon enough. Besides, I only need an attorney with me, and I’ve got one of those.”
He glanced over at her. “What’s going on? Why haven’t you talked to Kate? And Dylan could be a big help. There’s more to this than your not wanting to explain over the phone.”
She shook her head. She didn’t tell him the truth, that she didn’t want her sister and brother-in-law to think she had lost track of where she was because she had been distracted. She had, but she didn’t want them to know it.
“Why haven’t you called them?” he asked again. The man was relentless. No wonder he became an attorney. Arguing to get his way seemed to be second nature to him.
“You’re a nag.”
He wasn’t giving up. “Why?”
“Because they’ll know I zoned out.”
“You what?”
“Zoned out,” she repeated.
He looked puzzled by her confession. “How did you zone out?”
“I got distracted. I do that . . . sometimes,” she said hesitantly. “I write songs in my head. A thread of a lyric or a phrase comes to me, and I have to finish it before I can think about anything else. I’m kind of obsessive-compulsive, I’m told.”
“You write songs and you sing, don’t you? You sang a song at Dylan and Kate’s wedding. I remember you didn’t want to, but your sister got you to change your mind.”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so you got distracted . . . nothing wrong with that.”
“I walked for over an hour, maybe closer to two . . . I don’t know . . . I didn’t look at any street signs. I got lost because I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. I turned around and started back . . .”
Michael pictured her naively wandering around the city, and every muscle in his body tightened.
Did she have any idea what could have happened to her? He got mad thinking about it.
Isabel could see his jaw clenching. When he looked at her, she swore there were sparks in his eyes.
“I’m usually very aware of my surroundings,” she said, trying to placate him. “And I don’t take chances.”
“But you got distracted.”
He made it sound like she’d committed a grave sin. “Yes.”
“You’re damned lucky.”
“Yes, I am.”
A minute passed in silence, and then he said, “And you saved a man’s life.”
“Maybe I did. He’s critical.”