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metal belt from her jewel case.
    Wear something sexy, Kay had decreed, and Joan was going to do her best to fulfil the order.
    The coffee pot stopped perking a few minutes after she was through with her bath. Sitting on the blue velvet sofa with her coffee cup on the scarred table, Joan began removing the pins from the coiled knot of her hair. It shimmered like molten gold over her shoulders, the overhead light picking out the sunny highlights. Vigorously she brushed it until it crackled and snapped.
    Her father had once said the length of her hair was the only unpractical thing about Joan. With her hair down and curling about her shoulders, she always felt so feminine. A shorter hairstyle would have been a great deal more practical, but she had never summoned the nerve to have it cut off. Only long did the natural brassy shade of her hair look right.
    When Kay, John, and his brother arrived, Joan was glad she had taken extra time with her appearance. Even John, accustomed to seeing her in denims and sweaters, looked twice. The coffee brown trouser suit accented the gold of her hair and the velvet shade of brown in her eyes. The clinging silk molded her full figure and the slender curves of her legs.
    "Kay, you never told me your room-mate was a blonde." Ed Thomas was holding her hand, his hazel eyes roaming freely over Joan's face.
    In looks, he resembled John, a couple of inches taller perhaps, but the same light brown shade of hair and similar bone structure. Yet John's face always gave the impression of gentle understanding and Ed's expression had a raffish air. Joan wasn't sure she liked that gleam in his eyes either. Then she immediately scolded herself for being so prudish.
    Since meeting Rick Manville the wolf-type made her cautious. Their open admiration and profuse compliments usually were made to breach a girl's defenses. Joan managed a smile and pulled her hand free of his hold.
    "Did you have a good flight … Ed?" she faltered slightly over his name as she took the white fun-fur coat that Kay handed her.
    "It was on time, which in this day and age makes it an excellent flight," he joked, quickly taking the initiative to help her with the coat. Once the fur material was around her shoulders, Ed Thomas squeezed them gently and winked. "I had John make reservations for the best eating place around. We might have more to celebrate than their engagement."
    "We'd better be going before we're late," John spoke, but it was more of a suggestion than a statement. "Pierre's won't hold your reservation if you're not on time."
    Naturally John drove since he was the one familiar with the area and Kay sat in the front seat with him, which left Joan in back alone with Ed. She discovered there wasn't any need for small talk, at least on her part, since he was very willing to carry the conversation. He wasn't a bit boring, she decided as she remembered the uncomfortable silences that descended with most of her dates. He had the same facility to put her at her ease as Rick Manville had, but she had pined sufficient experience from Rick not to be swayed by Ed's undivided attention.
    At the dinner table, Ed was even able to draw out long sentences from his brother John, who was generally less talkative. He had both Kay and Joan laughing with anecdotes of their childhood. From the restaurant, the two couples migrated to the lounge area where the mood was more intimate and the conversation was less boisterous.
    It was nearly midnight when John suggested that they leave. Joan was smiling contentedly, unable to remember when she had enjoyed an evening so much. She still didn't altogether trust the flirtatious escort, but her ego had sublimely enjoyed being the center of his attention.
    Only when they had risen from their table did Joan notice the couple on the small dance floor. The fragile blonde in a cloud of pink caught her eye first, being the epitome of everything dainty and feminine that Joan had wanted to be. Then she noticed the