asked, most people described her from the hair outward. Delicate makeup hid the freckles and drew attention to her pale, grey green eyes. Her dress was the color of new leaves. I'd never seen her look better.
"Marriage seems to agree with you," I said, smiling.
She smiled back. "You should try it sometime."
I shook my head. "Thanks a lot."
"I have to steal Anita away for just a moment." At least she didn't say she needed help in the kitchen. Richard would have known that was a lie. He was a much better cook than I was.
Catherine led me back to the spare bedroom where the coats were piled in a heap. There was one real fur coat draped over the pile. I was betting I knew who owned it. Monica liked being close to dead things.
As soon as the door was shut, Catherine grabbed my hands and giggled, I swear. "Richard is wonderful. My junior high science teachers never looked like that."
I smiled, and it was one of those big, dopey smiles. The silly kind that say you're in horrible lust if not love, maybe both, and it feels good even if it is stupid.
We sat down on the bed, pushing the coats to one side. "He is handsome," I said, my voice as neutral as I could make it.
"Anita, don't give me that. I've never seen you glow around anyone."
"I don't glow."
She grinned at me and nodded. "Yes, you do."
"Do not," I said, but it was hard to be sullen when I wanted to smile. "All right, I like him, a lot. Happy?"
"You've been dating him for nearly seven months. Where's the engagement ring?"
I did frown at her then. "Catherine, just because you're deliriously happily married doesn't mean everyone else has to be married, too."
She shrugged and laughed.
I stared into her shining face and shook my head. There had to be more to Bob than met the eye. He was about thirty pounds heavier than he should have been, balding, with small round glasses on a rather nondescript face. He did not have a sparkling personality, either. I'd been ready to give her the thumbs down until I saw the way he looked at Catherine. He looked at her like she was the whole world, and it was a nice, safe, wonderful world. A lot of people are pretty, and clever repartee is on every television set, but dependability, that's rare.
"I didn't bring Richard here to get your stamp of approval; I knew you'd like him."
"Then why did you keep him such a secret? I've tried to meet him a dozen times."
I shrugged. The truth was because I knew she'd get that light in her eyes. That maniacal gleam that your married friends get when you're not married and you're dating anyone. Or worse yet, not dating, and they're trying to fix you up. Catherine had the look now.
"Don't tell me you planned this entire party just so you could meet Richard?"
"Partly. How else was I ever going to?"
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Catherine said.
Bob opened the door. He still looked ordinary to me, but from the light in Catherine's face, she saw something else. He smiled at her. The smile made his whole face glow and I could see something shining and fine. Love makes us all beautiful. "Sorry to interrupt the girl talk, but there's a phone call for Anita."
"Did they say who it is?"
"Ted Forrester; says it's business."
My eyes widened. Ted Forrester was an alias for a man I knew as Edward. He was a hit man who specialized in vampires, lycanthropes, or anything else that wasn't quite human. I was a licensed vampire hunter. Occasionally, our paths crossed. We might even on some level be friends, maybe.
"Who's Ted Forrester?" Catherine asked.
"Bounty hunter," I said. Ted, Edward's alias, was a bounty hunter with papers to prove it, all nice and legal. I stood and went for the door.
"Is something wrong?" Catherine asked. Not much got past her, which was one of the reasons I avoided her when I was ass deep in alligators. She was smart enough to figure out when things were off-center but she didn't carry a gun. If you can't defend yourself, you are cannon fodder. The only thing that kept Richard from being cannon fodder was that he was a werewolf. Although refusing to kill people made him almost cannon fodder, shapeshifter or not.
"I was just hoping not to have to do any work tonight," I said.
"I thought you had