Surprise Partners. GINA WILKINS

blonde with a gamine haircut and a warm, friendly expression, looked pleased by the compliment. “Thank you. We didn’t really have a chance to talk at that crowded, noisy thing last weekend. We can get to know each other better this evening.”

      Kelly’s husband, a tanned, blue-eyed cowboy with a smile that had probably broken hearts all over Texas, studied Lydia with open curiosity. “I understand you’re a science professor?”

      “An associate professor.”

      “She teaches microbiology classes,” Scott added.

      “And are you involved in research?” Shane asked.

      “Not as much as I hope to be after I obtain my doctorate this spring.”

      “That explains it, then,” Shane drawled, looping an arm around his wife’s shoulders.

      Scott eyed his friend suspiciously. “Explains what?”

      Shane’s grin was definitely wicked. “I was just wondering how you persuaded such an attractive and intelligent woman to spend a second evening with you. Obviously, she’s conducting some sort of scientific research on strange and unusual subjects.”

      As Scott muttered something that might have been a mild obscenity, Lydia smiled and shook her head. “I confine my research to bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms. I leave studies of subjects like Scott to my colleagues in the psychology department.”

      Shane and Kelly laughed. Scott turned to Lydia with a look of amused surprise. “Hey!” he said. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

      “Our side, obviously,” a man Lydia remembered from the charity event said as he joined them. “I can tell she’s going to fit right in.”

      Trying to remember his name, Lydia smiled, pleased that her impulsive jest had proven entertaining.

      “Don’t you start, Cameron,” Scott warned. “If I want insults, I’ll depend on my sister. Or my date, apparently,” he added darkly, giving Lydia an exaggerated glower that made her laugh.

      Maybe the evening wouldn’t be so bad after all, she thought.

      And then Scott’s sister approached and Lydia’s smile faded a bit. Even as Heather greeted her quite courteously, Lydia once again had the impression that Heather wasn’t enthusiastic about seeing her with Scott. She wished she knew what she’d done to cause Heather to disapprove of her—if it was true.

      “Are you people insulting my dear brother?” Heather demanded.

      “Of course we are,” Cameron replied.

      “Great. How can I get in on the fun?” she asked with a grin.

      “Why don’t you guys come up with some original material while Lydia and I speak to the others?” Scott suggested, taking her arm.

      “I’ll bring out the snacks,” Kelly said, giving her husband a look.

      He responded promptly. “I’ll help you.”

      True to his word, Scott guided Lydia around the roomy, wood-paneled den where the other guests were grouped on comfortable furniture. She greeted Heather’s fiancé, Dr. Steve Carter, and was relieved that he didn’t seem to share Heather’s doubts about her. Scott introduced her to Michael and Judy Chang, who seemed like a nice couple. They hadn’t attended the charity affair as far as she remembered.

      Scott turned then to the golden-haired, blue-eyed man who had approached them earlier—Cameron North, she remembered now. “Cam, you want to introduce your friend?” Scott asked.

      Cameron nodded toward the curvaceous, rather bored-looking brunette who hadn’t bothered to rise from her chair. “This is Alexis Thorne. Alexis, meet my buddy, Scott Pearson, and his friend, Lydia McKinley.”

      Something about the way Alexis glanced at Cameron made Lydia suspect that the couple had recently quarreled and she still hadn’t gotten over her irritation with him. Alexis murmured a cool acknowledgment of the introduction, then subsided into silence again.

      Lydia watched as, from behind Alexis’s back, Cameron rolled his eyes at Scott. Cameron, she thought, was not pleased with his date. Having endured a few awkward evenings with incompatible escorts herself, she was even more determined at this point to resist Larissa’s fix-up efforts. Her arrangement with Scott suited her very well for now, no matter how temporary it would turn out to be.

      The evening proceeded with a great deal of teasing and conversation. The guests consumed an impressive amount of snacks and soft drinks. Scott, Lydia discovered, had a real passion for chocolate and was not averse to battling for the last piece. And she couldn’t help noticing that he rarely lost.

      They split into teams for games, and Alexis’s visible lack of enthusiasm couldn’t dampen the good-naturedly fierce competition among the others. Lydia proved to be a knowledgeable contestant in the trivia game they’d selected. Especially when it came to science and medicine categories, she had almost all the answers.

      “Man,” Michael groaned, having lost yet another round to Lydia and Scott, “you guys are stomping us. Lydia’s a handy person to have on your team.”

      Scott grinned and draped an arm around Lydia’s shoulders. “I’ve noticed that. We make pretty good partners.”

      Vividly aware of that arm around her, Lydia noticed that Heather’s smile suddenly looked forced. She wondered if she was only being paranoid, if she was only imagining that Heather disapproved of her. Maybe she should suggest to Scott that he should reassure his sister that there was nothing to worry about. That she and Scott were just friends and nothing else was likely to develop.

      Because she didn’t want to foster a wrong impression, she reached for her soft drink, subtly dislodging Scott’s arm. To her relief, he immediately became involved in a spirited conversation with Shane, giving her enough time to recover her equilibrium. She didn’t know why she’d gotten so rattled just because Scott had touched her so easily. Friends touched, she reminded herself, glancing across the room to where Cameron was standing with an arm around Michael’s wife, Judy. No one seemed to think a thing about that, she told herself. They’d probably hardly noticed anything between her and Scott.

      “So, Lydia,” Kelly said, sliding into a seat next to her, “you study germs and bacteria and stuff?”

      Smiling, Lydia nodded. “That’s all part of the microbiology field.”

      “So can you tell me about all those antibacterial products on the market now? They sound great, but some doctors seem to think they’re terrible.”

      Okay, Lydia, keep it brief, she warned herself. Don’t overexplain.

      Fifteen minutes later, she was still discussing the growing concern in the scientific community about the indiscriminate use of antibacterial agents and the potential increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria as a result. “People think coating their hands with antibacterial lotions and gels will keep them from contracting colds or flu, when those illnesses are actually caused by viruses, which are unaffected by antibacterial products,” she concluded.

      “But what about kitchen counters?” Judy asked, making Lydia suddenly aware that most of the others had gathered around to listen. “Isn’t it a good idea to use antibacterial cleaners there?”

      “The best household cleaner is ordinary bleach,” she answered. “It kills most germs without building resistance in remaining bacteria.”

      “So plain soap and water works best for hands, and bleach effectively cleans counters and bathroom fixtures,” Kelly summarized.

      “Exactly. Antibiotics and antibacterial agents are best reserved for a needs-only basis to maintain their effectiveness.”

      Judy still looked a bit confused. “Then why are more antibacterial products being produced all the time?”

      “Because they sell merchandise,” Dr. Steve Carter answered simply, approaching the