by Gina Wilkins
“It might be worth it,” he murmured.
She placed a hand on his chest, resisting the urge to curl her fingers into his silky shirt and draw him closer. “Whoa, there, Vlad. We have a party to get to. And we’re already late.”
He laughed at the ironic nickname, flashing his fake teeth and easing the sudden tension between them, if only a little. “Okay, Elvira. Let’s go. Before I decide to find out just how good that pretty neck of yours tastes.”
She absolutely had to stop this silly blushing, Catherine told herself sternly, turning her head to try to conceal her warm cheeks from Mike. She was too old for such nonsense, and it hardly fit her costume. But just thinking about him nibbling on her neck made her go warm all over again, much to her despair.
Mike couldn’t get over the way Catherine looked. Yeah, sure, he’d always thought she was attractive. He’d spent a lot of time thinking about the way she’d looked in that red dress the night she’d gone out with Dr. Bill. He even liked the casual clothes she wore on a day-to-day basis, and the way she made simple camp shirts and khakis look oddly elegant.
But tonight…tonight she took his breath away.
The black dress fit her like a second skin, gliding against her body when she moved. The skirt flirted with her legs, drawing his attention once again to the length and shape of them. The neckline dipped just low enough to send his imagination into overdrive. Her glittering dark lipstick almost begged him to take a leisurely taste. Even the damned flower in her hair made him hot.
She brushed lightly against him when he helped her into his truck, and he caught a scent of something spicy and exotic. He could imagine her dabbing the perfume lightly behind her ears. On her wrists. Perhaps between her breasts. He drew his cloak a bit more snugly around him as he rounded the front of the truck, thinking that maybe the concealing garment was going to come in handy tonight, after all.
He slid behind the wheel and fastened his seat belt, glancing at Catherine as she snapped her own. Funny how her appearance tonight made her look so much more distant. Unobtainable.
He didn’t really think of her as a scientist with a Ph.D. and all, when she wore her usual clothes, even though that was her work uniform, in a way. How ironic was it that what should have been a frivolous Halloween costume would do the very opposite? Okay, so maybe she looked like a vampire, but he was very aware that she was Dr. Vampira.
His sisters would surely laugh at him if they could hear him thinking such crazy things. And heaven only knew what Catherine herself would think.
Maybe his fake teeth were too tight.
The party was being held in the clubhouse of Laurie’s apartment complex, which wasn’t far from the one where Catherine and Mike lived. Mike had to drive carefully to get there, mindful of the groups of costumed trick-or-treaters being escorted around the residential area by parents in slow-moving vehicles.
The clubhouse was spacious, with high ceilings, glittering chandeliers, a stone floor, scattered couches and small bistro-style tables and a kitchen with a large serving bar. Laurie must have reserved the room a long time ago for this occasion, Catherine mused, knowing how popular the clubhouse at her own complex was.
There were, perhaps, forty people mingling in the room. Maybe more. The music was on the loud side and prerecorded, piped in through unseen speakers. Simple Halloween decorations were scattered around the room, just enough to convey the reason for the party without going overboard. Costumes ranged from simple to elaborate, from traditional to rather perplexing—such as the guy wrapped in aluminum foil with kitchen utensils taped to various body parts. Catherine had no idea what he was trying to be.
From everything he had said about them, Catherine expected to like Mike’s sisters. He was obviously crazy about them, in a long-suffering, younger brother way. He had talked about them teasing him and overindulging him and being there for him when he needed them. He had assured her that he was confident they would like her. Which made it all the more jarring when she got the distinct impression that they were fully prepared to dislike her from the beginning.
Two of the four sisters were at the party, and both descended on them as soon as they entered, as if they’d been waiting for their brother to show up. Apparently, the married sisters were spending Halloween evening with their children.
Laurie was dressed as a fairy, her stunningly perfect body draped in white gauze, small silver wings attached to her shoulders. Everything about her twinkled—the dress, the wings, her rhinestone sandals. Glitter dusted her exposed skin—of which there was rather a lot—and she wore sparkly eye shadow and lipstick. There were even rhinestones scattered in the mass of red hair that fell almost to her waist.
If Karen and Julia had thought Laurie was gorgeous in the restaurant, they should see her now, Catherine thought.
Charlie was almost as beautiful as her younger sister, though in perhaps a less obvious sort of way. Her hair was a mop of red curls, her face slightly more gamine than Laurie’s classic features. She had dressed as Peter Pan, and her escort as Captain Hook, though his broad, tanned face was much too genial and approachable to play the villain properly.
Mike greeted them, then made the introductions. “Catherine, these are my sisters, Laurie and Charlie Clancy, and Charlie’s friend Drew Conroy. Everyone, this is Dr. Catherine Travis.”
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Travis,” Drew said immediately, his voice a deep, country drawl. “You any kin to the Travises from Malvern? I went to school with some Travises there.”
“Please call me Catherine. And no, my family isn’t from Arkansas. I moved here a couple of years ago to accept a job with the medical sciences school.”
“My brother told us you’re a medical researcher,” Laurie said.
Catherine nodded. “I’m an associate professor in the immunology department.”
“Where did you study?” Charlie asked, her tone that of a person who felt obliged to ask polite questions.
“I earned my undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt, and my doctorate at Harvard, then did postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins.”
“Harvard?” Mike turned to Catherine in surprise. “You never told me that.”
“You never asked,” she replied gently. As interested as he had been in hearing about her childhood, he hadn’t asked many questions about her higher education. She had assumed that he’d been a bit uncomfortable comparing their educational experiences after high school. She had mentioned to him that she’d lived in Boston for a few years, but she supposed he hadn’t put the clues together.
“No, I guess I didn’t.”
“Harvard to Little Rock?” Laurie asked, lifting one rhinestone-enhanced eyebrow. “That must have been quite a transition for you.”
Catherine held on tightly to her patience in the face of what felt increasingly like an inquisition. “I grew up primarily in Texas and Florida and attended three years of college in Tennessee. I’m comfortable in the South. I was offered several nice benefits here, so I accepted, and I haven’t regretted my decision.”
“Okay if Catherine and I get a drink now, or do you want to know her shoe size first?” Mike asked his sisters ironically.
“Seven and a half,” Catherine said, turning to him with a slightly strained smile. “And I would love a drink.”
He slipped an arm around her waist and turned with her toward the bar. “Come on, Vampira, I’ll try to find you a nice glass of blood. See you guys later.”
“Don’t forget, Mike, there’s someone I want you to meet before you leave,” Laurie called after them, raising her voice to be heard over the loud music.
Mike threw an annoyed look back at her, his fake scar twitching in irritation, then turned pointedly away.
“That was subtle,” Catherine murmured, accepting a glass of wine from him. Red wine, of course, she noted in wry amusement. “Your sister wanted to fix you up with someone tonight?”
He sighed and glanced back at Laurie and Charlie, who had their heads together while Drew
stood awkwardly nearby. “Don’t let them get to you. They really are great, but they get pretty weird about the women I see. You know how families can be sometimes.”
“Well, not exactly. Remember, mine is just me and my parents. And they tend to stay out of my personal life.”
“I wouldn’t trade my sisters for anything, of course, but they can be pains at times. But anyway, Laurie’s just grumpy tonight because her boyfriend had to work and couldn’t come to her big party. He’s a meteorologist. Cole Peoples from channel seven?”
“I’ve seen him. He seems nice.”
“Yeah, he’s okay. Kind of obsessed with weather systems, but I suppose that comes with his job.”
“There have been a few people who have accused me of being the same way about science.”
“Mmm.” He took a sip of his wine, his expression suddenly rather somber. “Oddly enough, I don’t have a lot to say about maintenance work.”
“As long as you enjoy what you’re doing and you do it well, that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, well, this isn’t the time to talk about work. Let’s dance.”
“Um, dance?”
He smiled, flashing those wicked teeth. “You know, moving in time to the music? Maybe a little body contact during the process?”
“I’m not a very good dancer. Especially to this type of music.”
He took the plastic wineglass from her hand and set it aside. “Don’t worry, Professor,” he murmured, sliding his arm around her waist again. “No one will be grading you tonight.”
Glancing back at his sisters, she wasn’t so sure he was right about that.
Catherine learned during the dance—fortunately, a slower-tempo number—that while Laurie was the official hostess because she had provided the venue, Mike and Charlie had contributed to the expenses for the party. They had each invited some of their own friends to attend.
Mike seemed to know most of his sisters’ friends, but he looked pleased to spot a group standing in a back corner of the room, beneath a cluster of black and orange balloons. “Hey, I see Bob and Brandon back there in that bunch. Come meet them. You’ll like them.”
She couldn’t help remembering that he had made the same prediction about his sisters.
There was something inherently bizarre in meeting people for the first time while wearing costumes, Catherine thought, as Mike introduced her to a pirate and a marauder. “Catherine, these are my two best friends, Brandon Williams and Bob Sharp. Guys, Catherine Travis.”
Pleased that he’d left off the title this time, she smiled. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Brandon, a black-haired pirate with a stuffed parrot attached to his right shoulder, smiled at her and lifted a black patch to study her with both of his eyes. “A pleasure to meet you, too, Catherine.”
Bob Sharp was squarely built and florid-faced. Messy near-orange hair spilled from beneath a horned metal hat to almost brush his shoulders. His costume was amusing—a ragged shirt, thick, furry vest, fake-leather kilt with a long plastic knife strapped to one side, leather sandals that laced up his hairy bare calves. He was leering at her in a way that should have made her uncomfortable, but somehow did not. Maybe because the mischievous twinkle in his eyes made her automatically inclined to smile back at him.
“So you’re the one who’s been helping Clancy study?” he asked.
She wasn’t sure how much Mike had told his friends about her, so she nodded and said simply, “Yes.”
“Then no wonder he’s been so eager to hit the books. If I had a study partner like you, I might take a few classes myself.”
His pirate friend snorted derisively. “You’d have to learn to read first.”
“In your ear, Williams,” Bob retorted, and grabbed Catherine’s hand. “C’mon, honey. I’ve been wanting to dance with a beautiful vampire all evening. And since pretty-boy Clancy would probably turn me down, I’ll choose you. I’ll even let you take a bite out of my neck if you want.”
“She’d have to disinfect it first,” Mike muttered, giving Catherine a look of apology.
Wondering what she had gotten herself into, she allowed herself to be towed onto the crowded dance floor by Bob the Hun.
“So, Cathy,” he said, wrapping both arms around her in a cross between a dance hold and a bear hug. “Mike told me you’re a scientist. You must be really smart, huh?”
It was amazing how often people said that to her. Yet after all this time, she still hadn’t really learned how to respond except to say, “I just like science. What do you do, Bobby?”
Grinning at her pointed nickname table turning, he replied, “I deliver snack foods to local retailers. Be nice to me and I’ll hook you up with a case of those cream-filled chocolate cupcakes.”
“Vampires don’t eat cream-filled chocolate cupcakes,” she responded, trying to match his silliness.
“Then be real nice to me and I’ll scare you up some blood-filled ones.”
She laughed. She liked Bob, even if he did seem a little…odd. At least he wasn’t treating her as if she were planning something evil and dastardly for Mike, she thought with a glance across the room to where Laurie had already descended on him.
“Mike, this is my new friend Erin,” Laurie said brightly, drawing forward a blushing blonde in a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader costume. “The one I told you about.”
Mike managed to politely acknowledge the introduction while giving his sister a chiding look at the same time. Laurie was actually still trying to fix him up, even though he was here with Catherine? “Good to meet you, Erin.”
“You, too, Mike.” Despite the impressive cleavage revealed by her costume, she looked younger than twenty-four. She gazed up at him through heavily darkened eyelashes and gave him a smile that was probably intended to look sweetly shy—but didn’t quite. “Laurie’s been telling me all about you.”
“Has she?” He wondered if his sister had mentioned that he’d been seeing someone.
Erin nodded. “She said you’re into hiking and kayaking. I spent a week last summer kayaking and camping out with friends in Vancouver.”
“Really? That must have been great.”
“It was awesome. I took a lot of pictures. Maybe you’d like to see them sometime?”
“Um, have you met my friend Brandon?” He tugged his very willing friend closer and made the introductions.
Laurie glared at him, though her voice was still almost chirpy when she said, “I thought you could tell Erin about the best places to kayak around here, Mike. Didn’t you say this is the best time of year to go?”
He was saved from having to answer when Bob returned from the dance floor with Catherine. He reached out quickly to draw her to his side. “Looks like you survived your dance with this crazy man.”
Catherine’s smile was only a bit strained as she glanced from Laurie to Erin and back to Mike. “Bob offered to give me a case of blood-filled cupcakes.”
Looping an arm around her shoulders, Mike scowled darkly at Bob. “Trying to bribe her away from me, Sharp?”
His friend grinned unrepentantly, apparently enjoying the undercurrents of tension. “If I thought that would work, I’d offer her a whole truckload of goodies.”
Mike watched as Erin appraised the situation and then turned to Brandon with a bright smile. “Tell me, Brandon, do you like kayaking?”
Giving Mike a nod of gratitude, Brandon escorted the bubbly cheerleader onto the dance floor, much to Mike’s relief and Laurie’s dissatisfaction.
Chapter Nine
Catherine had no intention of being alone with Laurie that evening, but fate apparently had other plans. They ended up in the ladies’ room at the same time, both poised in front of the mirror with tubes of lipstick in their hands.
Feeling the need to say something gracious, Catherine capped her lipstick. “Your party is very nice, Laurie. Everyone seems to be having a good time.”
“Thank you.” Tucking her tube of glittery gloss
into her belt, Laurie turned to face her. “Nice costume. You and Mike obviously coordinated your outfits. His idea?”
“Actually, no. It’s just coincidence that we both ended up in black and purple.”
“Great minds, hmm?”
“I suppose so.”
“My little brother seems to be quite taken with you.”
Little brother. Definitely a message embedded there. Because Catherine couldn’t think of anything to say in response, she let it go. “I’d better get back out. He’s waiting for another dance.”
“You know, as many women as Mike has dated, I’m not sure he’s ever gone out with a scientist before.”
Another message, not so subtle this time. Catherine felt her rare temper starting to simmer. Laurie’s little barbs were starting to annoy her. As many women as Mike has dated… Indeed.
Because she simply didn’t have the patience for catty games, she placed her hands on her hips and faced Mike’s sister squarely. “Is there something you want to say to me, Laurie?”
Laurie looked surprised only for a moment, then she lifted her chin. “I just can’t help wondering why you’ve been spending so much time with Mike. I’d hate to think you were just stringing him along or anything.”
“Well, isn’t it obvious?” Catherine asked curtly. “I’m just using him as a pretty boy toy. After all, what else could I possibly see in him?”
Laurie’s cheeks darkened—whether from embarrassment or anger, Catherine couldn’t say. Maybe a combination of both. “Well, you are a Harvard trained scientist. Mike’s a maintenance man who doesn’t even have an undergraduate degree. You can’t blame me for being concerned.”
“Actually, I can. Not only are you selling Mike short, you’re making some fairly unpleasant insinuations about me. I think your ‘little brother’ is capable of handling his social life without your interference—and I know for a fact that I am. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
She turned and shoved against the bathroom door, almost flattening an incoming Raggedy Ann in the process. Murmuring an apology, she moved across the room toward Mike.
