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?”