At her comment about sleeping together, Richard had actually snorted with laughter with a mouthful of coffee. The brief moment of discomfort that followed as he tried not to shoot coffee out of his nose was almost worth it, just for the extra time it bought him to think of a response to Lia's challenge. It wasn't the first situation like this he had found himself in lately, but in this context the stakes were a lot higher than they had been in the stalled elevator. She was nice enough, and he was having fun, but he was neither desperate nor bored enough to offer potentially damning information to someone who might get him a job.
Still choking a little on the throat full of coffee, he spoke. "You'll have to let me get over my soul-crushing disappointment, first," he said, glancing up at her mournfully. "And second, that's hardly fair, is it? I mean, we've all done bad things in our time. But if all you know about me are the 'worst qualities', well, that's not exactly a balanced picture of the many and varied aspects of my charming personality, is it?"
"Besides, who's to say that I won't be working for you?" he added, tilting his head to the side. "Shouldn't I get at least a little info from you in return?"