Mal gave a slight start and looked up at her. "No-o. No impropriety here. We've had plenty of propriety. I just meant - That is to say -" He paused and gave a low growl of frustration. "There you go makin' everything complicated. Twistin' me up, the way you do."
He turned his head to look away from her, tense and unamused. Still, he didn't leave. Instead he just added quietly, "Y'know what I meant there, Inara. We been mad at each other since the day we met. Or somethin'." He let the word 'something' sit in the air between them until it became too big for him to handle and finally muttered, "Ain't rightly sure what to say."