I had a cat do this to me as well, once.

It had been in a carrier all the way from JAPAN, and
so was not in a good mood when we came to visit. The
owner made a point of telling me, personally, not to
even try to go near the cat, because the owner knew
how much I loved animals, and that I would naturally
go try to pick it up. So I ignored it, sat down in a
chair and flipped through a book - only to have the
cat creep in, circle the chair, and then jump up to
sit in my lap & fall asleep. Boy was I snarky when I
called her owner in to look!