Chapter 14

Wesley responded with a shout of laughter. "Oh, man, I have got to hear this! Where did you meet this guy and how on Earth did you end up kissing him before your first date?"

Lori told Wes the entire story, leaving out Eric's theory about a giant lizard in the steam tunnels. Instead, she attributed to him the idea that identifying the reptile would help lead to the name of a pet owner.

Wes nodded judiciously. "Sounds reasonable," she murmured. "You said you have some tissue?"

Lori nodded her affirmative.

"Want me to run the DNA? I should have some spare time in the lab this week," Wes offered. "In fact, I have a new grad assistant to train for the summer. Your sample will be perfect to start him out on."

Lori agreed happily. Once they had a chromosomal profile, it could be compared to the standards for various species. That would be an even better identification tool than the scale pattern. She fetched the half-frozen sample from the freezer.

Wes took it, then immediately moved back to the topic she considered more pertinent. "So, you kissed this guy in a janitor's closet last night?"

Lori nodded, flushing in embarrassment. "I know. It isn't like me at all, is it?"

Wes smiled enigmatically. "And he's absolutely nothing like that slick weasel Warren?"

Lori winced at the mention of her ex-fiancé. Wes had never, never liked Warren, Lori remembered. She should have trusted her friend's instincts all along. "Nothing at all," she insisted.

"Not a rebound thing, is it?"

Lori's eyebrows drew together and she nibbled thoughtfully on her full lower lip. "I don't think so. That was more than a year ago. Besides, nothing with Warren was ever that - " she hesitated.

"Hot?" Wes offered helpfully.

Lori grimaced. "Yeah," she agreed reluctantly. "It was never that hot, or that fast, or that intense with Warren. I never wanted to rip his clothes off in a filthy closet."

Wesley laughed again. "I can't imagine anyone feeling an urge to rip the ice king's clothes off anywhere. Ever. Not even the perfect Miss Marji." Lori wasn't so certain. As far as she could tell, Marjorie Barnett thought Warren was perfection personified and practically worshipped the ground he walked on. Lori didn't mind that, she wished the two of them joy of each other, but, unfortunately, Marji happened to be the Biology Department secretary. She was also the niece of the Dean of the College of Business, who was Dr. Warren Chamberlain's current boss.

"Speaking of Marji and Warren," Wes punctuated this opening with a gagging motion. "Are you actually planning to attend her bridal shower next month?" The invitations, or perhaps more accurately, summonses, had appeared in their faculty mailboxes earlier that week.

Lori nodded reluctantly. "It has been pointed out to me that as a candidate for tenure, it would be inappropriate to let my personal sensibilities interfere with my departmental obligations." She parroted the sanctimonious words in a clipped, East Coast accent, mimicking their department chairman.

"In other words, Vandecar told you that you'd better show up," Wes interpreted. The sticky situation between the department chair's secretary and one of his junior faculty members was perhaps Lori's biggest hurdle in her quest for tenure.

"You got it!" Lori affirmed, rolling her eyes. "She just wants me to be there so she can lord it over me. Why can't she get it through her head that I don't want the bastard? I wouldn't have him back on a plate. Hell, I can't think of two people who deserve each other more than her and Warren!"

"It's because there's nothing inside her head except excess hair spray," Wes informed her friend matter-of-factly. "If you stuck a needle into her skull, the whole thing would implode." They both laughed and then Wes looked pointedly at her diamond-studded gold watch. "What time is your date tonight?"

Lori finished off the diet Dr. Pepper she'd been drinking and tossed the capped bottle across her office and into the box she kept for empties. "Two points," she noted and then responded to her friend. "Six o'clock. Why?"

Wes snorted. "Because it's almost five now. Were you planning on wearing jeans and a sweatshirt?"

Lori looked down at her outfit in horror. Winnie-the-Pooh gazed innocently back at her from the front of her well-worn, yellow sweatshirt. "Shit!" she cried. "I've got to go." She grabbed her keys and the canvas briefcase she'd left in the office the night before and raced toward the parking lot. Wes slipped the lock on Lori's lab as she followed Lori out into the hallway.

"Hey, Lori," Wesley called after her departing friend.

"What?"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Lori snorted over her shoulder as she fled. "That leaves an awful lot of leeway."

Wes blew her a kiss and winked. "It certainly does."