Night Smoke - Night Tales 4 Part 48

"Nothing. Your opening made a real splash," he continued as they walked out of the terminal.

"It met our expectations."

"You're getting write-ups inNewsday andBusiness Week." He shrugged when she looked at him. "I heard."

"AndWomen's Wear Daily ," she added. "But who's counting?"

"I've been. It's great, Natalie, really. I'm happy for you. Proud of you." He set her luggage beside his car, and his limbs went weak.

"G.o.d, I've missed you."

She stepped back, evading him, when he reached for her. He was not going to hurt her again, she promised herself. She would not allow it.

"Okay." Slowly, stunned by the ache that one quick rejection caused, he lifted his hands, palms out. "I had that coming. I've got plenty coming. I'll give you the chance to take all the shots you want."

"I'm not interested in fighting with you," she said wearily. "I've had a long trip. I'm too tired to fight with you."

"Let me take you home, Natalie."

"I'm going to the office." She stepped back and waited for him to unlock the car. Once inside, she sat back and shut her eyes. She just sighed when Ry laid the bright yellow flowers in her lap.

"They, ah, haven't gotten any more out of Clarence," he said, hoping to chip at the wall she'd erected between them.

"I know." She couldn't think about her suspicions yet. "I've kept in touch."

"You moved around fast."

"I had a lot of ground to cover."

"Yeah." He dug out money for the parking attendant. "I got the picture, after I chased you around Atlanta."

She opened her eyes then. "Excuse me?"

"I couldn't get a d.a.m.n cab," he muttered. "You must have hooked one the minute you walked out of my apartment."

"Yes, I did."

"Figures. I'm running the marathon to your apartment, then you're gone when I get there. I see the note, figure the airport, and get there in time to see your plane take off."

She felt herself softening, and stiffened. "Is that supposed to be my fault, Piasecki?"

"No, it's not your fault, d.a.m.n it. It's my fault. But if you could have sat still in Atlanta for five minutes, we'd have settled this."

"Wehave settled it."

"Not by a long shot." Turning his head, he aimed a deadly look at her. "I hate it when people hang up on me."

"It was," she said with relish, "my pleasure."

"I might have strangled you for it when I got down there. If I could have caught you. 'No, Ms. Fletcher's at her shop.' Then I get to the shop, and it's 'Sorry, Ms. Fletcher's gone back to her hotel.' I get back to the hotel, and you've checked out. I get to the airport and you're in the sky. I spent hours chasing my tail, trying to catch up with you."

She shrugged. She didn't want to be pleased, but she couldn't prevent a little frisson of pleasure at the frustration in his voice.

"Don't expect an apology." Still, she gathered up the flowers to keep them from sliding from her lap when he braked.

"I'm trying to giveyou one."

"There's no need. I've had time to think about it, and I've decided you were absolutely right. I don't like the style you used, but the bottom line rings true. We had some interesting chemistry. That's all."

"We had a lot more than that. We've got more than that. Natalie- "

"This is my stop." Forgetting her luggage, she bolted out of the car. By the time Ry had parked, illegally, she was waiting for the security guard to open the front door of her building.

"d.a.m.n it, Natalie, would you hold still?"

"I have work. Good evening, Ben."

"Ms. Fletcher. Working late?"

"That's right." She breezed past the guard, with Ry at her heels. "There's no need for you to come up with me, Ry."

"You said you loved me."

Ignoring the guard's speculative look, Natalie pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton. "I got over it."

Panic spurted through him, freezing him in place. He barely made it into the elevator before the doors shut in his face. "You did not."

"I know what I did, I know what I didn't." She jabbed the b.u.t.ton for her floor. "It's all ego with you. You're causing a scene because I didn't come back when you called." She tossed her hair back. Her eyes were bright. Not with tears, he saw with some relief. But with anger. "Because I don't need you."

"It has nothing to do with ego. I was-" He couldn't admit he'd been scared, down-to-the-bone scared. "I was wrong," he said.

That was hard enough, but at least it wasn't humiliating. "It was you-there in my place. I asked you to come because it was so obvious."

"What was obvious?"

"That it couldn't be real. I didn't see how it could be real. Who you are, the way you are. And me."

Her eyes sharpened, narrowed. "Am I following you here, Inspector? You dumped me because I didn't fit in with your apartment."

It didn't have to sound that stupid. His voice rose in defense.

"With everything. With me. I can't give you... the things. The first time I remembered I should give you flowers once in a while, you looked at me like I'd clipped you on the jaw. I never take you anywhere. I don't think of it. You've got friends who live in mansions. And look, d.a.m.n it, you've got diamonds in your ears right now." He tossed up his hands, as if that should explain everything. "Diamonds, for G.o.d's sake."

Her cheeks were hot now. She was all but radiating heat as she stepped toward him. "Is this about money? Is that it? You broke my heart over money?"

"No, it's about... things." How could he explain what made no sense at all anymore? "Natalie, let me touch you."

"The h.e.l.l with you." She shoved him back, bounding through the elevator the minute the doors open. "You tossed me aside because you thought I wanted you to get me diamonds, or a mansion, or flowers?" Furious, she tossed the daffodils on the floor. "I can get my own diamonds, or anything else I want. What I wanted was you.''

"Don't walk away. Don't." Swearing, he rushed after her.

Somewhere down the long corridor, a phone rang. "Natalie." He grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her around. "I didn't think that, exactly."

She rammed her briefcase hard into his gut. "And you had the nerve to call me a sn.o.b."

Out of patience, he rammed her back against the wall. "It was wrong. It was stupid.I was stupid. What more do you want me to say? I wasn't thinking. I was just feeling."