‘Is that so?’
‘Well, whileyou’restaying out here, andI’mout here, I thought maybe we could get together and…’
‘And?’ His voice was low and dark. It tingled down my spine, but I still had to bite my lip to hold in a giggle. He was setting himself up for such a fall.
‘And I heard you’re looking for someone in New York. I can help you with your search.’
There was a pause. ‘What precisely did you hear?’ he asked slowly.
‘That you’re searching for the guy from your mother’s will.’
‘How do—’ He broke off and sighed. ‘Beth. She told you, I expect?’
‘Yup.’
‘I might’ve guessed you two would end up gossiping.’
‘It’s no great leap of the imagination. Friends talk to each other. It’s kinda the point once you’re too old to play hopscotch on the street.’
‘That’s everything she told you?’ Any charm or flirtatiousness had evaporated from the conversation now, he was all business.
‘Yeah. Well, you see, we’d been chatting about Nick coming out to visit you and she mentioned that he wanted to help you with it.’
‘It’s all in hand.’ His voice was frostier than a popsicle at the North Pole. ‘Thank you for your kind offer but—’
‘Wait a minute.’ I stood up, sensing that he was about to put the phone down on me. ‘Just hear me out. I’m good at this kind of thing. And I know New York. I’ll be a valuable asset.’
‘I’m not assembling a crack team for a heist,’ he said dryly.
I found my little nugget of excitement withering. He’d dismissed me very quickly. Maybe I shouldn’t have wound him up at the beginning of the conversation? I needed to backtrack and nurse his ego a little. ‘OK, just bear me in mind if you get stuck. I never had a chance to thank you last night for getting that Logan guy to leave me and Keisha alone. Or for stopping me falling flat on my face on the way to the bar. I thought if I help you with this, we’d be all square.’
He was quiet again. ‘Hmm. I’m not convinced. You don’t need to embroil yourself in probate admin to show your appreciation. A simple thank you will suffice. What’s in it for you?’
‘How can anything be in it for me?’
‘I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking. You can appreciate I’m not inclined to take your word at face value anymore.’
‘Ouch. You wound me, Stevie.’ Damn, I wasn’t meant to be screwing with him anymore. ‘Can I call you Stevie?’ I quickly added.
‘No.’ Judging by the glacial chill coming down the phone with that one word, I really had pushed him too far.
‘OK. Stephen.’ I took the three steps necessary to stand in front of my wall of sad Post-its again and exhaled heavily before I took the plunge and played it straight with him. ‘Honestly, Ihave a touch of writer’s block at the moment. I can’t approach the problem head on. It’s like a wild animal; it gets frightened and runs away whenever I try. So, helping you with your mystery inheritor is perfect. I get to use my deductive muscles without scaring inspiration away.’
‘That sounds so insane, I could almost believe it’s true.’
‘Itisthe truth. I promise you.’
‘Regardless, I don’t need anyone’s help with this. I’ll figure it out by myself.’
I turned and sat on the edge of my desk. I’d hit a nerve somewhere but now I wasn’t so sure it was just from me leading him on a little at the beginning of the conversation or teasing him. Maybe he was just the kind of guy who thought he could handle everything? It would make sense with my theory that he’d interfered with Beth and Nick because of control-freak tendencies.
‘Well, I’ll text you my address. If you change your mind, I’m not doing much tomorrow. We could go out and start the search together.’
‘I’ve already said no, Noelle. Thank you but no thank you.’
‘Ah, fine. I’ll still do it. Send you my address, I mean. I trust you not to post dog poop through my mailbox.’
‘I wouldn’t.’
