Grace Under Fire (Buchanan-Renard 14)

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.”