Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice (10 page)

   She forced herself to breathe deeply. "No, of course not; I'm fine. But very busy."

   He rose and pushed the stool back under the bench. "I won't bother you then. Good luck with your paper."

   "Thank you."

   Despite her tone of dismissal, he didn't move, and finally she looked up at him and met his eyes. It wasn't his fault she had made a mistake, or that he was from a different world. The least she could do was to be pleasant. "Good-bye, Calder."

   His dark eyes remained fixed on hers unreadably for a moment. Then he nodded and was gone.

Jim stopped by her lab that night. "Working late again? I'm about to leave and thought I'd see if you wanted a ride."

   "Thanks, Jim, but I'm going to be here for a while yet." Cassie turned back to the journal article she was reading. She didn't want to sit at home alone with her thoughts any longer than she had to.

   Instead of leaving, he leaned back against the lab bench and crossed his arms. She looked up at him questioningly.

   "All right, Cassie, what's up?"

   "What do you mean?" she asked irritably.

   "Something's bothering you. What is it?"

   "I'm fine, Jim. Now stop being a mother hen and go home."

   "I've known you a long time, and I know when something is wrong. You haven't been yourself for a few days. You've been quiet, you don't smile, and you're working even harder than usual."

   She closed the journal with a snap and dropped it on her desk. "Have you decided to give up biology for psychology?"

   "How did you guess? It's my mid-life crisis. And you're trying to change the subject."

   "Jim, really," she said, exasperated.

   "Have you talked to Erin about whatever it is?"

   Cassie sighed and rubbed her forehead with her hand. It was hard to resist his gentle insistence. "No, not really."

   "So tell Uncle Jim all about it, or Rose will have my head. Take pity on an old man."

   She couldn't help smiling. "When did you get old? You were having a mid-life crisis a minute ago."

   "You're changing the subject again."

   She closed her eyes. "All right, all right. I made a stupid mistake."

   "We've all been known to do that. What was yours?"

   "I slept with a man."

   "And the mistake was…?"

   "He was the wrong man."

   He looked at her sympathetically. "Who was it? It's a small world here at the MBL."

   She shook her head silently.

   "You know I won't tell anyone, Cassie."

   She was quiet for a moment. Maybe if she talked about it, she could get it out of her head. It certainly couldn't make it worse. "It was Calder. The one who played Trivial Pursuit with us one night."

   "Calder? I thought his name was Stephen."

   She realized her slip. "Right, that's the one—Stephen."

   "He seemed nice enough, if kind of quiet."

   "He's the wrong sort of man. He'd never be seriously interested in someone like me. It was an impulsive thing on both our parts. I don't even like him most of the time. My problem is I can't let it go."

   "And what about him?"

   "Calder? He won't have any problem letting go of it."

   "Wait a minute. I'm getting confused. Is it Calder or Stephen?"

   "Calder," she said, feeling defeated. "I introduced him as Stephen as a joke, because I didn't want you to know who he was."

   "And who is he?" Jim sounded mildly scandalized.

   "Stephen Calder Westing. As in the senator's son. As in high society, old money, and never had to work a day in his life. As in his only concern is that I might get pregnant and try to take him for everything he's got."

   Jim whistled silently. "You're right. He's not your type."

   "To say the least." A hint of her usual humor came back to her. "I don't think he even has a graduate degree."

   "Your standards are slipping. I thought you liked your men educated. He
is
pretty good at Trivial Pursuit, though."

   "True on both counts."

   "I'm not too surprised. He certainly seemed interested in you."

   "That night? No, I don't think so. He was just bored and had nothing better to do."

   "Beg to differ. He was watching you every minute. I was surprised not to see him around again. Though I guess you must have seen him again after all."

   She shrugged, not wanting to go into details.

   "So he said he didn't want to see you again?"

   "No, not exactly. But it couldn't have gone anywhere, and a quick fling isn't my style, so I told him I didn't think it was a good idea for us to see each other again."

   Jim eyed her suspiciously. "Cassie, did you ever give the poor man a chance to say what
he
wanted from you?"

   The very last thing she needed was to start worrying about whether Calder might have wanted something more. "Jim, believe me, I have nothing Calder Westing wants beyond a warm body. I know you want to see me happily married off, but he isn't the one."

   "I'm not asking you to marry him, just to think about whether you're sure what he wants from you, because I have my doubts."

   "You're an old romantic, Jim, and you should go home to your wife."

   "Always trying to get rid of me. All right, I can take a hint."

   "Since when?"

   He laughed. "I know better than to try to get the last word in. Good night, Cassie."

   "Good night," she said affectionately. She hoped his words wouldn't haunt her.

Cassie's fingers tapped the steering wheel impatiently as she slowly drove up the Penzance Point road. The last thing she wanted was to risk seeing Calder again, but here she was. Another one of Erin's messes.

   Why did Erin want to leave Scott's house at this hour of the night, anyway? And why all the secrecy? When she'd called, she hadn't explained why she wanted Cassie to say she was needed for a problem at the lab. If Scott had turned nasty, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

   The house looked even more imposing at night. Cassie took a deep breath before ringing the bell. She hoped Scott or Erin would answer the door. Anyone but Calder. She stepped back into the shadows, away from the front light.

   Luck wasn't with her. The door opened to reveal Calder's height, Calder's shoulders, Calder's dark hair, and all the things about Calder she hadn't been able to put out of her mind. Including the same look of surprise he wore that night in the water when he touched her.

   He couldn't think she was there to see him, could he? The possibility was mortifying, that he might think she'd come crawling to him for more. "I'm here to pick up Erin," she announced crisply. "Is she ready?"

   His lips tightened. "I don't know. I'll go see." He disappeared down the hallway and into the living room.

   He hadn't even invited her in. She stepped inside anyway, refusing to be left on the doorstep like a beggar. Men's voices drifted toward her. Apparently they had company. Maybe that was why Erin wanted to leave.

   Scott appeared by the living room. "Hi, Cassie. I'll tell Erin you're here. Come on in and have some wine or something."

   So Scott didn't know Calder wanted nothing to do with her. Well, Scott had invited her and it would be rude to refuse. Besides, she was curious to see how Calder behaved around other people.

   She realized her mistake as soon as she stepped into the living room. Two older men sat in the overstuffed armchairs. She recognized one of them from the evening news. So that was why Calder hadn't wanted her to come in. He hadn't wanted his father to meet her. He wouldn't want his family to know the kind of riff-raff he associated with.

   Senator Westing set his brandy snifter on an end table. Rising to his feet with an old-fashioned courtesy, he looked questioningly at his son.

   Calder had his stone face on. "One of Erin's friends." He turned and looked out the window.

   So she didn't even have a name anymore. Cassie wouldn't let Calder see her mortification. She stepped forward with all the confidence she could muster and held out her hand to Calder's father. "Cassie Boulton," she said.

   "I'm Joe Westing," he said in an elegant southern accent. As if she wouldn't know who he was.

   "A pleasure, Senator." Polite lies. Under normal circumstances, she'd want nothing to do with him, not after he'd had a hand in cutting federal support for scientific research.

   "Hiram Stettson," the other man said. He shook her hand as well.

   Senator Westing said, "I take it you know Calder."

   "We've met," she said. She wished she had never laid eyes on him. He was ignoring her so pointedly it must be obvious to the others.

   "Aren't you going to offer the lady a drink, Calder?" The senator sounded disapproving, almost disparaging.

   Calder turned to face them again. "Would you like a drink, Dr. Boulton?"

   Oh, yes, he was denying they were anything but the most casual acquaintances. She was half-tempted to tell his father what his son did behind his back. "No, thanks. I need to get back to the lab. We've got a problem there. That's why I need Erin."

   "Working at ten o'clock on a Friday night?" Senator Westing sounded dubious.

   Cassie smiled tightly. And this was one of the men responsible for setting the budget for the National Science Foundation. "You don't know many researchers, I take it. Science doesn't keep nine-tofive hours."

   "What sort of research do you do?"

   "I'm a marine biologist."

   "I see." The senator's tone suggested he didn't like what he saw. Hardly a surprise. Some of his beliefs put him distinctly at odds with the biology community.

   Calder came forward into the light. "Do you need some help? I know your time is tight."

   Was he really offering to help with her non-existent problem? He looked serious, but a few minutes earlier, he hadn't known her name.

   Before she could say anything, his father cut in. "Calder, you've caused enough trouble without spending time in a
biology lab. I don't need the media getting hol
d of that." This time the scorn was out in the open.

   It was more than Cassie's barely contained temper could manage. "Oh, we couldn't have that," she said, her voice dripping sweetness. "People might start thinking he was smart enough to understand science. Or even that he has a mind of his own. Fortunately, Erin and I can manage on our own. But thank you for the offer, Calder." She might not like how his father talked to him, but it still stuck in her throat to thank him for anything.

   The senator's scornful look was directed at her now. She didn't care. All she wanted was to get out of there as soon as possible.

   Erin, with exquisite timing, chose that moment to appear in the hallway. "Are you ready, Cassie?"

   Erin couldn't possibly imagine how ready she was to leave. "Sure." Cassie looked back at the men. "Sorry I couldn't stay for more of this lovely chat. I hope you enjoy your visit to the Cape."