Judging by the deepening red of his face, it would be Mary. Tom probably wasn’t used to a roomful of drunk women willing to talk about anything. Too bad for him. He was going to miss all the fun.
CHAPTER NINE
TOM SPOKE BEFORE he got even halfway to Mary’s car. “We have to trade places. You go inside.”
“What?” she bit out. “What are we even doing here? Veronica’s request to come to this party should’ve been turned down flat. Or hell, the most she needs is an escort to the door. Nobody is coming to invade the sorority house, Tom.”
Tom was a bit taken aback by her anger. “It’s not a sorority house. Did you meet the women? Jill’s really nice and—”
“Did you assign me to this bullshit protection because I’m female?”
Tom blinked and shook his head. “What are you talking about? I’m here.”
“Yes, you are.” She crossed her arms and looked him up and down. “And that makes even less sense. Are you fucking her?”
“What?” His face flamed. “Who?”
“That Isabelle. She called you Tom. Well, so did the other one, but I don’t think you’re her type.”
“I’m not fucking anyone,” he snapped.
“Then what the hell are we doing here? The truth!”
Tom took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping to expel some of his frustration and guilt, too. He glanced back toward the house, but no one was listening. In fact, the music leaking from inside was louder than it had been earlier.
“Shit,” he muttered, turning back to find Mary watching him through narrowed eyes. “I need discretion here, Mary. This isn’t official.”
“What isn’t official?”
He spared one more look for the cabin, hearing the snow squeak and crunch under his feet when he shifted. “When I first showed up, Isabelle West seemed...not nervous, exactly. Hostile. Jaded. Enough so that I looked into it.”
Mary’s eyebrows flew up. “A fugitive?”
“No. I’ve checked. It’s not that. There’s nothing there, honestly, but I’ve got a hunch, and I figure they’ll be talking tonight.”
“Are you sure you’re not just confused? She likes you.”
“You’ve always trusted my hunches.”
“Yes, but I also know how you are about playing savior. She doesn’t seem like a person who wants or needs help.”
“Look, I just wanted the chance to follow up.” He shrugged the tension from his shoulders. “And it’s possible I don’t mind that she might like me.”
“Oh,” she said, looking a little more open now. She glanced toward the cabin with curiosity instead of resentment. “Well, then.” She smiled toward the sound of the women laughing. “Tom Duncan has a crush.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
She didn’t look convinced.
“I mean, I was checking her out before I was interested in her. And I can’t move on either way until I’m sure about her.”
Mary nodded solemnly. “Well, you’d better get in there, then.”
He cleared his throat. “I thought, um... It’s girls’ night. I thought maybe you could be the one...”
“Me? Hang out with a bunch of drunk mountain women I’ve never met? No way. This is all you. I’ve got nothing in common with any of them.”
He wanted to say “But I thought you might like Jill,” but he was evolved enough to know that She’s a lesbian, too! wasn’t a reasonable introduction. Still, he really liked Jill. And Mary had spent all of last year caught up in a drama-filled relationship with a thirty-year-old who’d jerked her around. She needed someone nicer. More stable. Someone kind and open enough to see past Mary’s formidable defenses.