She Who Dares, Wins (8 page)

T
HE DEAN PLANNED
his parties down to the last detail. The foyer and formal living and dining areas of his huge town house in Notting Hill were dressed to look like an old-fashioned American police precinct. Faculty members stood around trying to look as if they were having a good time. Some were dressed as police officers or criminals in prison jumpsuits and stripes.

At every single function there was at least one idiot in the crowd who drank too much and said impossibly rude things. Usually it was some poor fool up for tenure, who knew he was doomed.

Thankfully, the fool had never been Mac. Though a few of his colleagues were swilling cocktails so fast, the party was sure to be lively in less than an hour.

Tonight Mac was on his best behavior. Katie had lectured him about keeping a professional distance at the party, especially in front of the dean. There would be no sexy moves on his part. She'd made him swear on the Bible in her hotel room. Standing next to her without touching her proved to be the hardest thing he'd done in a very long time.

He'd worn jeans and a T-shirt with a leather jacket, which was about as robber as he was willing to get. Katie, on the other hand, was the hottest cop he'd ever seen. He wondered how criminals had reacted to getting cuffed by her when she'd worked as a cop in the Bronx.

The woman was nothing short of perfect.

Only he could see the tiny line of tension around her eyes. She wasn't comfortable in this environment, but he couldn't figure out why. From the time they walked in the door, she'd been observing. He'd catch her checking out someone with a discerning look as if she were making mental notes of the guests. She spoke only when someone asked her something directly.

The dean approached their spot in the dining room, where they'd been talking about the food. There were piles of doughnuts, hamburgers and hot dogs.

The dean smiled. “I'm so happy you could join us, Katie.”

For the most part Mac liked the man, and he certainly had no complaints about the funding he provided or the incredible facilities the university paid for that had been placed around the world under Mac's direction.

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate you allowing me to tag along with Mac.” She gave him a sweet smile, and for a split second he felt a tinge of silly jealousy toward the older man.

“Yes, yes, well, who better than you to tell me if I've done this correctly.” He waved to the spread on the table.

“The doughnuts are an inspired touch,” she said. Then she placed a hand on his arm. “Remember, we
don't want people to know about—well, you remember, right?”

She smiled at him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Something had happened in her meeting with him, but she hadn't discussed it with Mac. He had to admit he was curious. The dean seemed charmed by her, but she didn't care for him. Mac could tell by her cautious tone.

“So, what is our cover story?” The dean lowered his voice to a whisper.

“I'm simply a friend of Mac's,” Katie said softly, but there was an edge to her words.

“Yes, of course.” The dean put a finger to his lips.

“Katie's my friend visiting from the States,” Mac chimed in. “She's a security specialist, and we met at a conference. Katie says it's best to stay as close to the truth as possible.”

“Bloody good,” the dean said. “Do you have any suspects in the crowd? I don't think anyone here is on the list I gave you.” He glanced around the room. “I can't imagine the faculty would want to harm our dear professor, but as you said earlier, one never knows.”

“I've been observing,” Katie said, “but so far no one seems to stand out. Though I am curious about the woman in the jeans and red T-shirt. She keeps looking over here.”

The dean started to turn around, but Katie touched his arm. “Don't look right now. She's doing it again. I don't want to call attention to the fact I've noticed she's watching.”

The dean rubbed his hands together. “Oh, I feel like one of the detectives on those American television programs. Did I tell you I was fan of—”

“Yes.” Katie cut him off. “Yes, you did tell me your favorites.”

Mac coughed to cover his laugh. He also thought he'd better come clean with Katie.

“That's Caroline,” Mac whispered. “We used to date.”

The dean's eyes widened into giant pools behind his gold-rimmed glasses. “I didn't know you dated Professor Carson. Oh, but you needn't worry about her,” he said. “She's one of our finest faculty members…well, besides Macon here, of course.”

“Why didn't you mention her before?” Katie asked without turning to face him. She kept her eyes on Caroline.

“I'm embarrassed to say I'd forgotten,” Mac said. “We went to dinner a couple of times and for coffee, but she's as anal about her work as I am mine. We never seemed to get past talking about our jobs.”

Katie glanced up at him. Her eyebrow rose, and he knew he was in trouble. “It was a very casual arrangement. A few dates over a couple of weeks. I promise that was it.”

He didn't know why he felt he should explain himself to her, but he didn't want her to misinterpret his relationship with the other woman.

“When was this?” Katie asked.

Mac shrugged. “I don't know. About six months ago?”

The dean rubbed his chin with his forefinger and thumb.

“What is it, Dean?” Katie had noticed the troubled look on the other man's face.

“We had a complaint from a female student during that time concerning Professor Carson.”

“What was the nature of the complaint?” Katie crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Well, it was unfounded. The girl had nothing to back up her claim, and the inquiry panel decided she was upset about her grade and made up the story. In the end after a good dose of questioning, she recanted her tale. As to the nature of the complaint, that is confidential information.”

“Was it sexual?”

The dean's eyes opened in surprise again.

Mac knew Katie had her answer.

“So you think if Caroline was pursuing a relationship with Macon, then the girl was lying.”

“My, you are good at what you do,” the dean said. “It doesn't make sense she would risk her career and tenure to pursue a relationship with a student, especially if she were not of that persuasion.”

The dean meant a lesbian, and Mac had to stifle a smile. To be honest, she could be a lesbian and he wouldn't know. He hadn't even held hands with Caroline. Other than the meals they'd shared, and their work at the university, they had nothing in common.

He had no romantic inclination toward the woman, and when he'd stopped calling she didn't seem to mind. He'd occasionally wave to her in the faculty lounge and she always returned the gesture. As far as he was concerned she was a cold fish. Mac remembered asking about her family and where she grew up, but she would steer the question back to her job.

No one understood that kind of intensity about the work more than he did, but he did occasionally like to leave the lab behind.

“I'm not sure she even knows I still exist,” Mac said.
“Our labs are on different floors and she's always pleasant. But definitely uninterested.”

“Hmm. She doesn't seem so uninterested tonight. I wonder,” Katie said, her finger tapping her chin.

Those wheels were turning again, Mac could see.

Caroline moved into the other room, and Katie excused herself. “Gentlemen, I'll be back soon.” She walked past the dean into the other room, following the same path as Caroline.

“Do you think she'll question her here, at the party?” The dean's face wore a horrified expression.

“No, sir. She's a professional, and as you said, she's undercover tonight. She probably just had to go to the loo.” Mac knew Katie was up to something, but he didn't want the dean interfering.

“I've been eyeing those hot dogs for a half hour, and I want to try one.” Mac put an arm around the dean's shoulders and led him to the table. “Won't you join me?”

“Hmm. I haven't tried the food yet. My wife had it catered. Yes, let's.”

They picked up their food, and Mac made a good show of enjoying every bite.

More than anything he wanted to be in the other room finding out what Katie was up to, but that would have to wait. She might be the detective, but he would be the one asking the questions later tonight.

“Mac, who is that beautiful woman you're with tonight?” asked David, who worked in the biology department.

“Yes, everyone is talking about her. Quite striking,” interjected Phillip, whose lab was down the hall from Mac's.

“She's a friend of mine from the States.” He remembered Katie telling him to be as brief as possible when someone asked about her.

“Well, if she's just a friend, then—”

“She's not available, David.” Mac cut the other man off, irritated by David's interest in Katie. She was the perfect combination of femininity and strength, and she was his.

He'd never in his life felt so possessive of a woman.

It scared the hell out of him.

Phillip threw up his hands in surrender. “We were only curious, my friend. Did you get the other set of files I left in your box this afternoon?”

Always the peacekeeper. Mac appreciated the man's attempt to move to a new subject.

“Yes, thanks, Phillip. I didn't have a chance to review them yet, but I will. The numbers you sent over this morning were quite interesting. I'd like to talk to you about them tomorrow if you have some time?”

“Yes, I have a free lunch tomorrow.”

“Excellent.” Mac watched as both men glanced behind them.

He turned to see Katie making her way into a hallway.

Katie had bumped into his friend Peter, who was most likely telling her made-up horror stories about him. Mac needed to make his way over there before Peter scared her off. It was the way the man's sense of humor worked and if she didn't understand…

Katie laughed and touched Peter's shoulder. Mac felt the tension leave his neck. Katie wasn't big on touching, so evidently Peter had genuinely made her laugh. He
should have known they'd be fast friends. They both had that dark sense of duty about them.

“She really is quite remarkable,” David said.

Mac noticed Phillip putting a hand on David's arm.

“I'll see you tomorrow,” Phillip said as he ushered the man to the other side of the room.

“He gets everything,” David whispered to Phillip as they walked off.

Did he? When it came to Katie he prayed that was the truth.

 

K
ATIE WAS JEALOUS
. There was no other explanation for the way she felt, which only made her more of an idiot. Mac had said he and Caroline had a few casual dates. The woman was tall, slim, blonde and beautiful. Katie hated her on sight. Neither Caroline nor Mac fit Katie's stereotype of what a scientist should look like.

What is this? Do they search for supermodel scientist types at the university?

Katie had a difficult time believing their relationship had never made it past dinner. Her first meeting with him had ended up in the best sex of her life.

She leaned against the wall of the long hallway leading to the ladies' room, and took a deep breath.

Had the same thing happened with Caroline?

It made Katie sick to even contemplate the idea of Mac with another woman.

Oh, Katie, you really care about this guy.

Damn.

Katie couldn't fall for Mac. Not only was he geographically undesirable, but they came from different worlds. He was a brilliant eggheaded scientist, and she
was a cop through and through. They had nothing in common.

That wasn't true. They'd had a blast the past two days, talking about everything from their favorite movies to food. For the first time in a long time, she'd let her guard down with a man. She'd stopped pretending and allowed herself to want more than a first date. There was no denying Mac had wormed his way into her heart. Being with him was easy, but it shouldn't be.

Forcing her thoughts away from the jealousy, she thought about Caroline.

The case. Was that why she was curious about Caroline? Her gut told her there might be something there, because of the timing. Mac's troubles had begun around six months ago. He'd received the first letter around the time he would have been dating the other woman.

Katie worried she was trying to create something out of thin air, because of how she felt. No, the timing of the problem with the student—her instincts told her that was key. There were too many questions surrounding Caroline. Had the woman dated Mac to throw attention away from her natural sexual tendencies?

She heard the door to the ladies' room open, and pushed away from the wall. Turning so that it looked as if she were staring at one of the paintings, she did her best to block the hallway.

“Pardon me,” a woman said behind her.

Katie turned as if surprised. “Sorry, I was mesmerized by this painting. I don't know that I've seen anything like it.”

“It is an original Koenig,” Caroline said in her posh English accent, “and is one of the dean's favorites. He
has quite the collection.” She waved a hand down the hallway.

Katie had picked the painting randomly—the bits of black and white were mashed into odd figures.

“Interesting,” Katie said, which was true. She didn't understand the painting, but she still found it enjoyable to look at.

“I saw you were with Mac. Are you dating?” Caroline cocked her head as she asked the question.

Well, that was direct.

Katie laughed. “No, just friends. I'm here visiting for a little while. Do you know him?”

The professor nodded. “We dated a few times, but he's not my type.”