Melanie sighed. “I wish I had my camera.”
“We can pick up one of that throwaway kind at the store,” he suggested.
She looked at him as if he’d had a divine inspiration. “Now?” she asked with so much eagerness that he laughed.
“You are so easy to please,” he teased. “A cheap camera and you’re a pushover.”
“I’ve decided to go with the flow today,” she informed him.
Now there was a notion he could get behind. “Oh, really?”
She frowned at him in mock despair. “Not that flow,” she scolded.
He shrugged. “Just a thought.”
She gave him an odd look. “It’s not as if you really want to seduce me,” she said with surprising certainty. “So why do you say things like that?”
“What makes you think I don’t want to seduce you?” In truth, the idea had been growing in appeal by leaps and bounds.
“You’ve admitted as much,” she reminded him. “Not that I think you’d turn me down if I agreed to take you up on it, but you’re really flirting to annoy me.”
Richard wondered about that. He seemed to be taking the idea more and more seriously by the minute. Melanie wasn’t his type, but there was something about her, something refreshingly honest and open and enthusiastic. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d encountered that particular combination, much less been drawn to it. Maybe Destiny was right about that much, at least. Maybe he was ready for a change in his life, a spark of excitement and a few heady thrills. It would beat the mundane existence he’d been telling himself he was perfectly contented with.
He glanced at Melanie, noting the expectant look on her face as she awaited a reply to her challenge. “Maybe I am trying to annoy you,” he agreed. “Then again, perhaps I’m just trying to prepare you for the moment when I make my first totally irresistible move.”
She blinked at that, but then a smile broke across her face. “I don’t think so,” she said with complete confidence.
Vaguely disgruntled by her conviction, he asked, “Why not?”
“Because you don’t play games. You take life far too seriously to be bothered with them.”
His gaze narrowed. “Destiny’s theory again?”
“No, my own personal observation,” Melanie assured him. “I’m a good judge of people. That makes me an excellent public relations person, because I know how to make the public see what I see.”
Richard was more curious than he’d expected to be about her perceptions. “What would you make them see about me? Not that I’m stuffy, I hope.”
“No, I’d emphasize that you do take responsibility seriously, that you’ve worked hard at Carlton Industries and would work just as hard for your constituents. Those are good, solid recommendations for a candidate.”
“I thought you didn’t think I’d be a viable candidate because I hadn’t walked in the shoes of those who’ve struggled,” he reminded her.
She shrugged. “Maybe you convinced me otherwise.”
“Or maybe you want this contract so badly, you’re willing to say whatever it takes to get it,” he said with an edge of cynicism.
She stopped in her tracks and scowled at him. “If you believe that, then you don’t know me very well,” she said, sounding genuinely miffed. “I don’t work for anyone I don’t believe in.”
“You don’t know me well enough to believe in me,” he countered.
“Actually, I think I do. After your aunt suggested we meet, I did a lot of research before I agreed. I talked to people. I read everything in print. I wanted to be sure that Destiny wasn’t being totally biased about your capabilities or your honesty and integrity. She wasn’t. You’re a good man, Richard. The consensus on that is unanimous.” She gave him a considering look. “Whether you have what it takes to win an election is something else entirely.”
Richard bristled at the suggestion that he wasn’t up to the challenge of running for office or winning. “What is it you think I might be lacking?”
“An open mind,” she said at once.
He started to argue, then saw exactly the trap she’d laid for him. “Because I made up my mind about hiring you before we’d even met,” he guessed.
“That’s one reason,” she agreed. “And because now that we have met, you can’t divorce my professional capabilities from the fact that I’m a woman who rattles you.”
“You don’t rattle me,” he claimed, doubting whether he sounded the least bit convincing.
She regarded him with amusement. “There’s the first real lie I’ve heard cross your lips.”
“That you know of,” he said, not denying that he’d lied in that instance. She did rattle him, no question about it. He’d just hoped to convince her otherwise. The woman saw too darn much. He didn’t like it that she could get into his head. He prided himself on keeping most people off guard and at a distance. That kind of safety suited his comfort level.
“The first lie,” she insisted.
Richard sighed. “Okay, say you’re right about that. Say I’m addicted to telling the truth and that you rattle me, so what?”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” she said more cheerfully.
He stared at her in confusion. “Where?”
“You’re very close to admitting that you’ve been mule-headed and stubborn and that you will read my business proposal when we get back to the cottage.”
He regarded her incredulously. “You got that out of my admission?”
She grinned. “Brilliant, aren’t I?”
He laughed despite himself. “Not necessarily brilliant, but sneaky. You’re a lot like my aunt, in fact.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He sighed. “To be honest, I’m not sure you should.”
* * *
Melanie was feeling confident and in control when they sat down to lunch at a small café in the center of town. She was finally making progress. Maybe coming all the way down here hadn’t been such a harebrained idea, after all. If she’d done this well before the man had even eaten, just think what she could accomplish once a crab-cake sandwich, some coleslaw and homemade apple cobbler with ice cream had improved his mood.
He gave her an odd look as she ordered the hearty lunch, then chuckled. “Trying to ply me with food, so I’ll be in a more receptive frame of mind?”
“It did occur to me,” she said. “Of course, you don’t have to have what I’m having. And lunch is on me, by the way. I’m wooing a prospective client.”
“I’m buying,” he contradicted for the waitress’s benefit. “As for the meal, I have to have what you’re having if I expect to have the energy to keep up with you.” He gave the amused waitress a conspiratorial wink. “Same thing for me, along with the strongest coffee you have.”
The older woman grinned. “Honey, we don’t serve it any other way.”
“Too bad you’re not running for office here,” Melanie said when the woman had gone to place their order.