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Mike couldn’t remember ever feeling so confident leaving a classroom after a test. It was almost as if Catherine had known exactly what his professor was going to ask and had drilled him specifically on those points. He had found himself thinking of her during the exam, hearing her voice explaining the concepts to him as he’d read the questions.
He wasn’t quite cocky enough to believe he’d aced the thing, but he was quite certain he had passed. He wouldn’t be at all surprised to have earned better than an average grade. It was a good feeling. And he had Catherine to thank for it.
He had to stop by the supermarket on his way home. He was out of sodas and frozen waffles, his usual breakfast staples. Impulse made him wander into the florist section while he was there.
Half an hour later he stood outside Catherine’s door, having a few second thoughts about being there at all. He didn’t want her to start thinking of him as a nuisance. Maybe he should just forget about this and…
Her door opened before he had a chance to decide whether to ring the bell. Catherine came very close to barreling straight into him before she stopped herself with a gasp of surprise.
“Oh. Mike,” she said, flustered. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“You’re on your way out,” he commented unnecessarily, suddenly awkward. “I won’t keep you. I just wanted to give you these. You know, as a thank-you for helping me with my studying.”
She looked a bit startled when he handed her the inexpensive bouquet of mixed blooms. Was it because she wasn’t accustomed to receiving flowers from her handyman? Was she wondering uncomfortably if there was more to the gesture than simple gratitude?
“It’s no big deal,” he said quickly when she tried to stammer a thank-you. “I was at the supermarket, feeling pretty good about my test, and I saw the flowers and thought I should do something to repay you for your help. Since you wouldn’t take any real pay, I mean.”
She had, in fact, quite firmly rebuffed his offer to pay her for her tutoring services.
Her smile seemed to dim just a bit, but her tone was sincere when she said, “I’m glad to hear the test went well. When will you know your grade?”
“The professor is going to post them on his Web site tomorrow. I really think I did well, Catherine. I wouldn’t be surprised if I got a B. High C at the lowest.”
She smiled up at him. “That’s very good news.”
She really did have pretty eyes. Such a rich, dark brown that he could see his own reflection in them. He lowered his gaze to her mouth. And found himself captured for a moment by the soft curve of her upper lip.
He cleared his throat, using the sound to bring his own wandering thoughts back on track. “I won’t keep you any longer,” he said. “I hope I didn’t cause you to be late.”
Wrinkling her nose a little, she shook her head. “I’m just headed for the lab. I’ve got an experiment going, and I’ll probably be there until after midnight.”
He was a bit surprised. “Don’t you have grad students to handle that sort of thing?”
She smiled again. “I’m only an associate professor, just two years out of my postdoctoral position. I have a grad student assigned to my lab, but she has her own research to do. We have a lab tech, but he can’t handle what I need to do tonight. So…it’s up to me.”
“How many hours a week do you work?”
She shrugged. “Anywhere from forty to eighty hours a week. Research isn’t a nine-to-five, five-day-a-week job. But it also gives me some flexibility with my work hours when I have appointments or errands to run or just need some time away from the lab.”
A hard worker, this one, he thought. Smart, focused, self-sufficient. He admired the heck out of her. And if he were perfectly honest with himself, he would admit that he was just a little intimidated by her. And that was a new experience for him.
“Well…” He took a step backward. “Don’t work too hard.”
“Thank you again for the flowers.”
He noticed that she had her nose buried in the bouquet when she turned away and closed the door. She seemed to really like the flowers. He was glad now that he had given in to his impulse to buy them.
“And I’ve put in almost seventy hours on that one case this week,” Julia announced.
Stabbing her fork into a grilled scallop, Catherine replied with the expected murmur of amazement. Yet she knew her friend wasn’t actually complaining. There was nothing Julia enjoyed more than a challenging legal case.
A burst of laughter from somewhere behind her interrupted their quiet conversation. It wasn’t the first time it had happened. “That group behind me is certainly enjoying the evening,” she commented without looking around.
“Looks like a birthday party or something,” Julia said, glancing past Catherine’s shoulder. “Big group.”
“Must be that redhead’s birthday,” Karen Kupperman remarked from the other side of the table. “Everyone seems to be looking at her.”
“They’d probably be doing that even if it wasn’t her birthday,” Julia replied matter-of-factly. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She is, isn’t she?” chubby, pleasantly plain, thirty-five-year-old Karen agreed without envy. “Love that blouse she’s wearing. I wonder if it comes in my size.”
Because her back was turned to the people in question, Catherine had nothing to add to the conversation. She took a bite of fish, savoring the light seasoning.
“Speaking of birthdays,” Karen went on as if it were a perfectly logical segue, “I’m sorry again I wasn’t here to help you celebrate yours, Catherine.”
“You had an excellent excuse.” Karen had just returned from her two-week trip to Europe, the long-overdue vacation following a science research conference. Catherine had already thanked Karen for the birthday gift and had seen the photos from the European trip.
Karen was obviously eager to talk more about her vacation. Catherine resigned herself to hearing several mildly amusing anecdotes again. She didn’t really mind, since she was pleased that Karen had enjoyed the trip so much. Still, it was yet another reminder that while Catherine had celebrated alone with her cat, other people had been having much more interesting adventures.
As if to underline that thought, another burst of laughter came from behind them.
Julia glanced that way again, then said to Karen, “Has Catherine told you about the maintenance guy she’s been seeing?”
Effectively distracted from her vacation reminiscences—which had probably been Julia’s intention—Karen turned to Catherine with a look that combined equal parts disbelief and intrigue. “No, this is the first I’ve heard of a maintenance guy. What is she talking about, Catherine?”
“She is being ridiculous,” Catherine replied with a chiding look at Julia. “I haven’t been ‘seeing’ anyone.”
“Mmm.” Julia’s expression betrayed her skepticism. “And the flowers he gave you yesterday?”
“Simply a thank-you for helping him study for his test,” Catherine retorted. She hoped her tart tone hid the ripple of pleasure that went through her at the mention of that bouquet. She never should have mentioned the flowers to Julia, of course, but it had been such a nice and completely unexpected gesture that she hadn’t been able to resist sharing it with her friend when Julia had called earlier to set the time for this dinner.
Karen lifted both eyebrows. “None of my students give me flowers for extra tutoring.”
“He isn’t a student,” Julia corrected. “He’s the maintenance man at her apartment complex. And, though I’ve never seen him, I’ve gotten the impression that he is very nice looking.”
“I barely know him,” Catherine said to Karen, who was still eyeing her in question. “He came to fix something in my apartment, and he happened to mention that he was having trouble studying for a college biology test. I offered to help him, and he spent a couple of hours at my apartment Saturday. He brought me a small bouquet yesterday as a way of thanking me because he believed he’d done well on the exam. End of story.”
Karen sighed. “Throw me a crumb here. Is he at least good-looking, as Julia suggested?”
Catherine hesitated, then gave Julia another look before conceding, “Well, yes. He’s very nice looking. Not that it matters, of course.”
Groaning, Karen waved a finger at her. “Have I taught you nothing? Of course it matters.”
Because Wayne Kupperman bore a distinct resemblance to the doughboy character on television commercials, Catherine knew Karen was only teasing about looks being important. She smiled obligingly.
“Still, a college student?” Karen shook her head. “I don’t think you’re quite reduced to cradle robbing.”
“It’s not like that. He’s gone back to school after several years away. He’s twenty-eight. Still a little younger than I am, but…” Realizing what she was saying, Catherine stopped with a sigh. “That doesn’t matter, either. There is absolutely nothing going on, Karen.”
“Let me get this straight. He’s close to your age, good-looking, nice enough to bring you flowers—and you aren’t interested in him?”
Because she couldn’t honestly deny any interest in him, Catherine spoke a bit more tartly than she intended when she said, “Mike and I obviously have absolutely nothing in common. Even if I were interested, nothing’s going to happen.”
“So maybe you aren’t soul mates. You could still enjoy yourself with a harmless flirtation, couldn’t you?”
Julia, who had appeared to be concentrating on her meal, glanced up then. “Catherine doesn’t know how to flirt. She commented about that just the other night.”
“You’re one to talk,” Karen, who had known Julia since college and had been the one to introduce her to Catherine a couple of years earlier, remarked pointedly. “You never even notice when anyone flirts with you.”
“I know,” Julia answered matter-of-factly. “Someone always has to tell me later that I was being hit on.”
“Hopeless,” Karen proclaimed. “The two of you. It isn’t exactly rocket science, girls.”
“Rocket science would be less intimidating to me.” Catherine reached for her water glass. “And, anyway, who are you to give advice on flirting or dating? You’ve hardly ever dated anyone but Wayne. You told me you were college sweethearts from your freshman year and his junior year, for heaven’s sake. You got married while you were both still in graduate school.”
Karen had to concede that point. “If Wayne and I should split up, I wouldn’t have a clue how to get back into the dating scene. I guess I’d better just keep him.”
As if that were even a question. With the exception of her own parents, Catherine had never met any couple more suited than Karen and Wayne.
“They really should offer classes in that sort of thing,” Karen went on thoughtfully. She nodded toward the boisterous group in the back corner of the big dining room. “The birthday redhead there could probably be the professor.”
Though she tried to be subtle about it, Catherine couldn’t resist craning her neck around to get a glimpse of the woman both Julia and Karen had pointed out. She spotted the redhead immediately, and she could see why her friends had noticed her.
The woman really was lovely. Her hair was a rich strawberry blond, cascading in a silky curtain to her shoulders, which were all but bared by the royal-blue, halter-neck dress she wore. Her face was a perfect oval of creamy porcelain, warmed by big, laughing green eyes and a vivid smile.
Just looking at her made Catherine feel dowdy and plain in her tailored white blouse and gray slacks, her own brown hair styled in its usual neat bob. While Julia might be technically as pretty as the redhead, her clothes were much more sedate, her expression more keep-your-distance than come-hither. And Karen… As fond as she was of her, Catherine had to admit that few men would look twice at matronly Karen if that redhead was in the same room. At herself, either, for that matter.
“She really is beautiful.” Again, there wasn’t a trace of envy in Karen’s voice. “And would you look at that guy with her. Is he a perfect specimen or what?”
“Which guy?” Julia asked without much interest. “There are four of them.”
Not wanting to be caught staring, Catherine had turned back around after glancing at the redhead. She hadn’t really noticed any of the men in the birthday party.
“The blond one,” Karen said, gazing openly in that direction. “Green shirt. Looks like he should be on the cover of a magazine.”
“Oh. Him.” Julia’s voice chilled several degrees. “He looks like a jerk. One of those guys who thinks he’s such hot stuff that he can get away with anything.”
Catherine shook her head in exasperation with her friend’s attitude. Julia had no patience for shallow, frivolous people—although she had good reason. She had encountered too many men who had pretended to be interested in her brains and competence, when what they had really wanted was a beautiful blonde to dangle from their arms. A woman who excelled in a field once dominated by men, Julia hated to be patronized, trivialized or underestimated. And she said she was treated that way most often by slick, handsome men.
“Let’s just forget about that other group,” Catherine suggested. “The three of us don’t get that many opportunities to have a leisurely dinner together. We should make the most of it.”
The conversation had just drifted back to Karen’s vacation when the group behind them began to sing the happy birthday song. Julia looked up from her dessert with a slight frown. “They certainly are loud.”
“They’re just having fun,” Karen said, glancing that way with an indulgent smile.
Catherine turned again to look in that direction, as were most of the other diners in the restaurant. They had been right about it being the redhead’s birthday. She was glowing as her friends sang to her.
Remembering Karen and Julia’s earlier conversation, Catherine scanned the group idly for the man who had caused Karen to sigh and Julia to scowl. A blond man, they had said. Sitting close to the…
Her gaze froze, and she felt her smile slide right off her face.
She wasn’t sure what made him look suddenly her way. Simply coincidence, perhaps. But suddenly he spotted her, and recognition dawned instantly on his face. His smile widened, and he gave her a little wave. Catherine waved a bit stiffly in return, then turned quickly back to her dinner companions.
“Catherine, do you know that guy?” Karen asked curiously. “He’s the one Julia and I were talking about.”
“Yes, I know him.”
“Really? Someone from work? I don’t recognize him.”
“No. Someone from my apartment complex.”
Karen’s eyes widened comically. “Oh, surely not.”
“Surely not what?” Julia asked, as clueless as ever.
“That’s the one who brought you flowers?” Karen demanded.
Catherine nodded. “How did you guess?”
“Let’s face it. How many men do you know who fit that description?”
“You have a point there.”
“That’s the maintenance guy?” Julia asked, catching up. She looked toward Mike’s table again and shook her head. “I see what you mean, now, about nothing happening between you. He would be totally wrong for you.”
Even though Julia was only repeating what Catherine, herself, had been saying, Catherine was aware of a sudden, sinking feeling inside her. “It’s hardly necessary for you to tell me that.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Karen frowned at Julia. “I think it might be good for Catherine to get out of her rut. She wouldn’t have to marry the guy or anything, but why shouldn’t she have fun?”
“Waste of time,” Julia said dismissively. “Catherine’s a woman with a demanding career. Why would she want to complicate her life even more when she knows it won’t lead anywhere? Guy like that, first time she has to blow him off for job demands, he’ll sulk. Next time it happens, as we all know it will, he’ll take off in search of someone who has nothing better to do than to cater to his ego.”
“You aren’t being fair, Julia. You don’t even know this man.”
“Trust me. I know dozens of this man.”
“You’re so cynical. Even for a lawyer.”
“Yeah, well, it’s easy for you to be all starry-eyed. You married the only Mr. Perfect and left the rest of us with the jerks and the losers.”
“Wayne isn’t perfect.” But then Karen smiled, her plain face suddenly almost pretty. “But I’ll admit that he’s darned close.”
“Just because this Mike guy is pretty and gave her flowers doesn’t mean Catherine should get tangled up with him.”
Catherine cleared her throat rather forcefully. “I am still here, you know. I can hear every word of this totally inane conversation.”
Karen giggled. “We haven’t forgotten about you.”
“Then could we change the subject now, please?” Though she knew it was foolish, she had the unsettling feeling that Mike would somehow know they were talking about him.
