She tapped him on the shoulder.
Startled, he turned around.
His eyes widened as he looked up at Cassandra. At six feet one, she was used to being a freak of nature. To his credit, the guy didn't appear offended by the fact that she was a good two inches taller than him.
He looked down at Michelle, who was a normal five feet four.
"Hi," Cassandra said, drawing his gaze back to her. "I'm taking a quick survey. Are you married?"
He frowned. "No."
"Seeing someone?"
He passed a puzzled look to his friend. "No."
"Gay?"
His jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"
"Cassandra!" Michelle snapped.
She ignored both of them and held tight to Michelle's hand as her friend tried to run away. "You like women, yes?"
"Yes," he said, sounding offended.
"Good, because my friend Michelle here thinks you're exceptionally cute and she'd like to meet you." She pulled Michelle between them. "Michelle, this is..."
He smiled as he met Michelle's stunned gaze. "Tom Cody."
"Tom Cody," Cassandra repeated. "Tom, this is Michelle."
"Hi," he said, extending his hand to her.
From Michelle's expression, Cassandra could tell her friend wasn't sure if she should strangle her or thank her.
"Hi," Michelle said, shaking his hand.
Assured that they were semicompatible and that he didn't bite on the first date, Cassandra left them and headed back to Brenda and Kat, both of whom had their mouths hanging wide open as they stared at her in disbelief.
"I can't believe you just did that to her," Kat said as soon as Cassandra rejoined them. "She's going to kill you later."
Brenda cringed. "If you ever do that to me, I will kill you."
Kat draped an arm over Brenda's shoulders and gave her an affectionate hug. "You can yell at her all you want to, hon, but I can't let you kill her."
Brenda laughed at Kat's comment, not knowing that Kat spoke from her heart. She was Cassandra's covert bodyguard and had been with her for five years now. A record. Most of Cassandra's bodyguards had a job expectancy of about eight months.
They either ended up dead or quitting the minute they caught a look at exactly who and what was after her. To their way of thinking, not even the exorbitant amount of money her father paid them to keep her alive was worth the risk.
But not Kat. She had more tenacity and chutzpah than anyone Cassandra had ever met. Not to mention the fact that Kat was the only woman Cassandra had ever known who was actually taller than her. At six feet four, and stunningly beautiful, Kat made quite an entrance everywhere she went. Her blond hair hung just past her shoulders and she had eyes so green they didn't look real.
"You know," Brenda said to Cassandra as she watched Tom and Michelle talking and laughing. "I would give anything to have your confidence. Do you ever doubt yourself?"
Cassandra answered truthfully. "All the time."
"You never show it."
That's because, unlike her companions, there was more than just a slim chance Cassandra might only have another eight months left to live. She couldn't afford to be scared or timid of life. Her motto was to grab everything by both hands, and run with it.