Elizabeth shook her head and gave Beth a wry smile, and they both burst out laughing.
The tone for the evening was set; amidst much laughter, the three of them ate the meal Beth had prepared of spaghetti al guanciale and crusty garlic bread. The party they were going to didn't start until ten, and as they were taking a taxi, the champagne Mike had brought with him was was soon finished, along with the bottle Beth had originally bought to share with Dex. With the bottle empty, Beth thought whimsically, she had finally closed the lid on the Dex episode.
Mike insisted on opening another bottle of wine, but Beth had had enough and made coffee, then served it in the living room.
Elizabeth and Mike shared her only armchair, and Beth curled up on a large red bean bag.
'So, Beth, you've heard all my news. How's life treating you?' Mike suddenly asked, and, not waiting for her reply, he grinned and added, 'You actually look like a cat curled up on that cushion. But don't you think it's time you bought some more furniture?'
Beth meowed very convincingly. 'My whiskers are in the bathroom.' Her cat costume consisted of a black bodysuit with a long tail, and a hood with two ears attached to cover her hair. 'I'll go and stick them on now,' she said, ignoring his questions and leaping to her feet. Beth knew Mike, and she knew before long he would get back to quizzing her about her private life, and she wasn't sure she could handle it.
Ten minutes later, Beth pranced back into the living room and did a pirouette. 'So, am I a cat? Or what?' she said with a smile. With the hood covering her bright hair, and long whiskers glued to her top lip, she looked every inch the black cat of myth.
'Cat? No.'
'No?' Beth looked at Mike, her smile vanishing. 'I thought the costume was good.'
'Kitten, maybe. You're so tiny,' Mike mocked, knowing just how to rile her.
'Fiend!' Beth cried, and made a leap for him, her hands outstretched like claws.
Elizabeth slid off the arm of the chair as Beth set about tickling Mike. She knew it was his pet hate, as her lack of height was hers, and in the ensuing uproar she didn't hear the intercom.
It was Elizabeth's voice that finally registered.
'I've told him to come up, Beth. Okay?'
Rolling onto the floor, Beth stood up straight. 'Told who? What?' She turned her puzzled gaze on Elizabeth, who was standing by the door.
'Dexter Giordanni. He said he was a friend of yours, and as Mike has mentioned doing business with the man, I guessed it was all right.'
'What?' Beth exclaimed in horror.
'Why, you sly dog, Beth. Or should that be cat?' Mike said, grinning from ear to ear. 'You're dating the great man himself.'
'No, I am not!' she snapped, just as the doorbell rang and Elizabeth went to open the front door.
Beth's green-eyed gaze shot to the man who stood in the living-room doorway. She couldn't move; she was frozen in shock. Dex was looking around in much the same state of shock.
'Dio, what is this? A mad house?' His startled gaze swept over the witch, the skeleton rising from the armchair, and finally settled on the cat.
Mike came to the rescue with his usual light-hearted manner. 'Come in, come in,' he told Dex, and then proudly introduced his fiancée, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth took one look at the tall, dark, handsome man, dressed in a formal black dinner suit and snowy white shirt, and turned on Mike.
'I knew I shouldn't have let you talk me into this costume. I look a sight.'
Beth wasn't surprised at Elizabeth's reaction. It was one thing to appear a freak to the man who loved you. But quite another to meet a very handsome stranger.
But Dex cut in. 'No, really, Elizabeth, you look absolutely stunning. I have never seen a better-looking witch.'
His deep velvet voice, threaded with amusement, grated along Beth's nerves. She watched him smile down into Elizabeth's face, her lips curling in distaste.
'Or a more lively skeleton.' He shared a grin with Mike. 'And as for the cat. . .' He turned his amused gaze on Beth as he walked towards her. 'I don't believe I have ever seen a more perfect feline.' His grey eyes raked her from head to toe, and she bristled, much like the animal she was pretending to be.
The smooth stretch-fur fabric moulded to every inch of her firm young body like a second skin, and Dex's blatant appraisal, the way his eyes lingered a shade too long on her high, full breasts, brought a furious flush to her small face. When he finally looked into her face, her green eyes flared back at him, shooting sparks of furious hostility.
'How dare you come here?' Beth breathed, keeping her voice low, so Mike and Elizabeth would not hear.