After she’d made herself a bite to eat Natalie made her way into the living room and reached for the phone.

CHAPTER EIGHT

MIKE was sitting on his balcony with his feet up, sipping a glass of Glenfiddich and watching the night lights blink on all over the city, when his mobile phone rang. Putting his scotch down on the side table next to him, he lifted his right hip up and slid the phone out of his back pocket, flipping the phone open on its way to his ear.

‘Mike Stone,’ he said, wondering who it could be.

One of his contract programmers perhaps? No, not on a Friday night. It was probably Richard, warning him again to keep his hands off his prospective bride.

‘Mike. It’s Natalie.’

‘Natalie!’ His eyebrows arched in surprise. ‘I was just thinking about you.’

‘I’m sure you were,’ came the caustic retort. ‘Where are you?’ she demanded to know with a degree of puzzlement in her voice. ‘Wherever it is, it’s rather quiet.’

‘I’m at home.’

‘Oh. I needn’t have rung your mobile, then. Not that it matters. Well, I did what you wanted me to do. I told my parents the truth. You’ll be pleased to know that we’re expected at their place tomorrow for a barbecue lunch.’

‘What?’ Mike’s knee-jerk reaction had his feet falling off the chair onto the floor with a thud.

‘I could have warned you this might happen,’ she went on blithely. ‘My parents happen to care about me. Naturally, they want to look you over, make sure you’re not a psychopath, or a pervert. Which you might well be, come to think of it. I don’t know all that much about you.’

‘I am a lot of things, but a pervert is not one of them. I’m not a bloody psychopath, either.’

‘How do I know? I only have your word for that.’

Mike bristled. ‘I’m no saint, but I never lie. Ask around. You’ll find that Mike Stone is a man of his word.’

‘And who should I ask? Besides Richard Crawford, whom you admit has shares in your company and will benefit if I marry you and you get that partnership. That could be called a conflict of interest.’

‘If you marry me? I thought it was a done deal.’

‘That was before you brought my parents into it. Now, you’ll have to pass muster with my mum and dad first. If you do, I’m all yours.’

The provocative words were out of Natalie’s mouth before she could snatch them back. She should never have made this call. Never have decided to torment Mike with what would have happened if she had told her parents the truth.

Thankfully, he was on the end of a phone and not able to see the guilty heat spreading over her cheeks.