She'd barely started checking the names and addresses against the phone book to see who was still around.
Not everything had gone wrong today, she reminded herself. Neither her mother nor her grandmother had answered when, smitten by conscience, she'd called to let them know the name of her escort tonight. There was no point in hoping her family wouldn't realize who Rule was. Shoot, her grandmother read People regularly, and the magazine had done a spread on the Nokolai prince only last March.
Her mother was not going to appreciate the joke.
So why was she humming? Lily froze with the dress draped over her arm. This was nuts. Anyone would think she was looking forward to the evening.
Her dress. That was what had her humming, of course. She slid it from the hanger. Worf stood up, wagging his tail. "Sit,"
she told him again.
Her dress was ankle-length silk in a color that made her think of sapphires drenched in darkness, the color of the sky when dawn is barely a promise in the east. Lily had found it on sale a month ago and fallen in love. Even the sight of the price tag hadn't deterred her.
It was magnificent, she thought with sudden uncertainty as she surveyed herself in the mirror. A dream of a dress—sexy, feminine, sophisticated. Too sophisticated, maybe. She sure didn't look like a cop. Rule was going to think she'd dressed for him. He would think tonight was ... personal.
Only Human
281
He'd be right. Nerves snapped in her middle like a string of firecrackers.
Maybe if she took her hair down she'd look more like herself.Lily had her hands in her hair, the first pin unpinned, when the phone rang. She stepped into her shoes on the way to the living room, the bobby pin still in her hand. She spared a glance at the clock as she picked up the phone.
Six twenty-two. Rule would be here any minute. "Hello?"
"You left a message on that infernal machine," a light, high voice said in Chinese.
"I am sorry, Grandmother, but when I couldn't reach you I felt it better to use the machine than to say nothing." Her grandmother did not approve of answering machines. She wasn't too fond of telephones, television, or microwaves, either."Your message said that you have invited Rule Turner to accompany you to my birthday celebration."
"Yes, Grandmother," Lily replied, careful of both her courtesy and her accent. Her command of the tongue seldom pleased her grandmother.
"He is lupus. A prince of one of their clans."
"Yes. I didn't want you to be taken by surprise."
"I have not been surprised since the Mets won the pennant.
Did you tell your mother about this man?"
"I left her a message, the same as yours. I don't know if—"
"Good. Say nothing more to her." She hung up.
Lily shook her head. Phone conversations with her grandmother tended to end abruptly. Not that conversations in person were much different. She glanced at the clock. There might still be time to finish taking her hair down if she—
The doorbell rang. Worf let out a deep woof and surged to his feet. Lily took a steadying breath, jabbed the bobby pin back in her hair, and turned to face the door.
Battle stations.
HE DROVE AN Explorer. That surprised her. It seemed so—
well, so middle-class normal. Half the people in California drove some kind of SUV.
"I ought to sell tickets,” Lily muttered as he slid into the driver's seat beside her. Rule Turner was eye candy no matter 282
EILEEN WILKS
what he wore, but in a tux the impact could wreck a woman's breathing.
"Pardon?" The knowing glint in his eyes suggested he'd heard her very well.
"Never mind." She found herself watching his hands as he started the engine and took them out into traffic. His fingers were long and slim. No scars, of course, nor any little nicks or scabs. Lupi healed such things. What was more surprising was how little hair there was on the backs of his hands. She'd always thought lupi were hairy. "Listen, I'm sorry about the way Worf acted. He's usually friendly."
"He didn't
Not everything had gone wrong today, she reminded herself. Neither her mother nor her grandmother had answered when, smitten by conscience, she'd called to let them know the name of her escort tonight. There was no point in hoping her family wouldn't realize who Rule was. Shoot, her grandmother read People regularly, and the magazine had done a spread on the Nokolai prince only last March.
Her mother was not going to appreciate the joke.
So why was she humming? Lily froze with the dress draped over her arm. This was nuts. Anyone would think she was looking forward to the evening.
Her dress. That was what had her humming, of course. She slid it from the hanger. Worf stood up, wagging his tail. "Sit,"
she told him again.
Her dress was ankle-length silk in a color that made her think of sapphires drenched in darkness, the color of the sky when dawn is barely a promise in the east. Lily had found it on sale a month ago and fallen in love. Even the sight of the price tag hadn't deterred her.
It was magnificent, she thought with sudden uncertainty as she surveyed herself in the mirror. A dream of a dress—sexy, feminine, sophisticated. Too sophisticated, maybe. She sure didn't look like a cop. Rule was going to think she'd dressed for him. He would think tonight was ... personal.
Only Human
281
He'd be right. Nerves snapped in her middle like a string of firecrackers.
Maybe if she took her hair down she'd look more like herself.Lily had her hands in her hair, the first pin unpinned, when the phone rang. She stepped into her shoes on the way to the living room, the bobby pin still in her hand. She spared a glance at the clock as she picked up the phone.
Six twenty-two. Rule would be here any minute. "Hello?"
"You left a message on that infernal machine," a light, high voice said in Chinese.
"I am sorry, Grandmother, but when I couldn't reach you I felt it better to use the machine than to say nothing." Her grandmother did not approve of answering machines. She wasn't too fond of telephones, television, or microwaves, either."Your message said that you have invited Rule Turner to accompany you to my birthday celebration."
"Yes, Grandmother," Lily replied, careful of both her courtesy and her accent. Her command of the tongue seldom pleased her grandmother.
"He is lupus. A prince of one of their clans."
"Yes. I didn't want you to be taken by surprise."
"I have not been surprised since the Mets won the pennant.
Did you tell your mother about this man?"
"I left her a message, the same as yours. I don't know if—"
"Good. Say nothing more to her." She hung up.
Lily shook her head. Phone conversations with her grandmother tended to end abruptly. Not that conversations in person were much different. She glanced at the clock. There might still be time to finish taking her hair down if she—
The doorbell rang. Worf let out a deep woof and surged to his feet. Lily took a steadying breath, jabbed the bobby pin back in her hair, and turned to face the door.
Battle stations.
HE DROVE AN Explorer. That surprised her. It seemed so—
well, so middle-class normal. Half the people in California drove some kind of SUV.
"I ought to sell tickets,” Lily muttered as he slid into the driver's seat beside her. Rule Turner was eye candy no matter 282
EILEEN WILKS
what he wore, but in a tux the impact could wreck a woman's breathing.
"Pardon?" The knowing glint in his eyes suggested he'd heard her very well.
"Never mind." She found herself watching his hands as he started the engine and took them out into traffic. His fingers were long and slim. No scars, of course, nor any little nicks or scabs. Lupi healed such things. What was more surprising was how little hair there was on the backs of his hands. She'd always thought lupi were hairy. "Listen, I'm sorry about the way Worf acted. He's usually friendly."
"He didn't
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