Learning Curves. Joanne Rock

      Maddy frowned. “Not quite. I called you here because I obviously need some help.”

      She might not be able to coerce Cal into helping her cultivate a more worldly reputation, but with a little effort, she felt sure she could attract another man’s notice.

      Although she was finding it difficult to work up much enthusiasm for the project now that her target had to be someone other than Cal. Maybe she should forget about experiencing the mating dance and just observe….

      No. She would not chicken out just because Cal rejected her. She would prove to him, and herself, that she could do this.

      With her dissertation project all but swinging in the gallows, she had to act fast. She couldn’t wait around for Cal to gain guardianship of his sister—if that was even his real reason for not going out with her.

      If she didn’t start changing her reputation in a hurry, the dissertation committee would nix her mating rituals study for good. Then she’d turn into a crusty old academic, researching something boring like literary sociology because she was an uptight prude with the social skills of a robot.

      This dissertation was important to her—a departure from her usual staid research projects. For once, she would have the courage to conduct an investigative study that truly interested her.

      Dr. Rose stepped closer and ran her fingers beneath Madeline’s eye. She peered down at the black goo left on her fingers. “Good Lord, the dark circles are makeup?”

      Madeline shrugged, pointing to the bench with her bagful of cosmetic loot. “The saleswoman suggested one of everything, since I didn’t have anything to start with.”

      Rose Marie raised her finely arched eyebrows. “Oh, did she now?” She stepped over to the bench and peered inside the bag. “Vitamin C serum. Revitalizing concealer cream. Eyebrow gel?” Rose Marie pawed through the contents, shaking her head and sending long hair dancing across her floral blazer. “What exactly did you use?”

      “A little of everything.”

      “Everything?”

      “I wouldn’t have lugged it all around campus, Rose, if I didn’t think I had to use it all.”

      Rose Marie puffed out a martyred sigh and pointed a manicured nail toward the bathroom. “Okay, Maddy. Dig out your oxidizing facial scrub and wash all that stuff off.”

      Madeline scooped up her cotton robe and a towel and did as she was bid. One didn’t question the wisdom of Dr. Rose.

      “And remind me to get you a subscription to Cosmo for your birthday,” Rose Marie shouted. “I can’t believe you’ve never worn makeup before.”

      “My father said serious scholars don’t wear makeup,” Madeline called over the running water. Then, realizing her gaffe as she envisioned Rose Marie’s precisely defined red lips, Madeline added, “Of course, he can be a little closed-minded.”

      By the time Madeline had banished every trace of her failed makeover, Rose Marie had set up a chair in front of the mirror.

      “I’m taking over here, Maddy. Have a seat.” Rose Marie burrowed into the cosmetic bag. “But in exchange I want to know exactly what you’re up to tonight.”

      While Rose Marie patted Madeline’s face with powder, Madeline kept her story as simple as she could. She omitted her encounter with Cal, of course. There was no sense relating that embarrassing tale.

      “So you’re going out on the town tonight in pursuit of a man to flaunt around campus…preferably a guy who can’t keep his hands off you in public and who can effectively tarnish your reputation.”

      Madeline squinted to see what Rose Marie did with her little makeup brush. Unfortunately, Madeline could scarcely see beyond her nose without her glasses. “Pretty much.”

      “Has it occurred to you that maybe you ought to just give the committee time to adjust to the idea of your mating rituals study?” Rose Marie suggested. “Maybe you should wait a few weeks and propose it again.”

      Madeline shook her head. “I can’t risk them turning it down twice. I didn’t get involved in sociology so I could study books. I want to study people.”

      “Personally, I love the concept.” Rose Marie flicked a skinny brush across Madeline’s eyelid with efficient strokes. “I might be able to help find a more supportive faculty member to sit on your committee, but you know I can’t interfere with the committee’s eventual decision.”

      Madeline halted Rose Marie’s hand and looked her in the eye. “I would never ask you to.”

      Nodding, Rose Marie clicked one small compact closed, then opened another. “Okay. But tell me this. Just how are you going to say a graceful good-night to your male prospect tonight when he tries to take you back to his place?”

      A little flutter of fear rolled through her. “I hadn’t really thought of that.” If Cal had accepted her proposal, she wouldn’t have to concern herself with fighting off a man. Instead, Cal would be stuck fending off her advances.

      “The Commonwealth of Kentucky boasts some fine young men, Maddy, but you can’t count on every one of them being a gentleman. You need to be careful.” Rose Marie reached for the topknot on Madeline’s head and unfastened the scrunchy. “Wow! You look like Morticia.”

      Madeline eyed her damp hair. “It’s sort of flat. I usually just leave it up.”

      “When you called me for help, you were admitting I’m the expert. Now sit still while I find the blow-dryer and we’ll give you some serious glam.”

      Thirty minutes later Madeline walked out of the gym in her red dress and heels, her long hair swinging a seductive rhythm against her back. Sure, she still had her glasses on, but Rose Marie had assured her she was a knock-out.

      Besides, she couldn’t watch what was happening around her if she couldn’t see. How sexy would it be if she accidentally drank from a flower arrangement, mistaking it for a fruity umbrella drink? Madeline promised herself she would think about getting contacts next week.

      She felt different with her hair down…more daring, maybe a little decadent. Rose Marie had ended up putting barely any makeup on her, but she’d spent half an hour blow-drying Madeline’s long hair and brushing the ends so they would curl under.

      Madeline was just about ready to go out, except that she wanted to retrieve the can of Mace she kept in the desk drawer at her office. Ever since one of the teachers had been assaulted by a student, Madeline had kept the can tucked away just in case. After Rose Marie’s warning about ardent gentleman, Madeline decided to take it along for her night on the town.

      Certainly her reason for going back to her office didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Cal taught a continuing education business class on Friday nights. Or that Madeline would have to walk right by his building.

      Okay, maybe a little part of her wished Cal would see her the one time in her life she had ever looked marginally sexy. And it wouldn’t hurt to gauge one man’s reaction to her appearance before she subjected herself to the larger test of the popular dance club she was planning to hit tonight. Seeing Cal would be like a trial run. A scientific experiment.

      Rapidly rationalizing her plan, Maddy slowed outside of Honors Hall and waited for Cal’s class to emerge. She paced in front of the stately brick building in the twilight, making sure she remained on the sidewalk so her high heels wouldn’t sink into the damp grass.

      To distract herself, she thought about how different the University of Louisville looked from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the campus where her father worked which was practically her hometown. Where Rensselaer had been sleek and new, Louisville was traditional and dignified. She loved the mishmash of brick buildings, the flowering trees and the rampant cardinals the school had adopted as its mascot.

      The pace was slower here and Madeline appreciated that. Even though she’d