eigh slid into the backseat of the Bentley and sat next to Michael in the same place she'd occupied on the way there, but this time, he draped his arm across the back of her seat, a possessive gesture only if he touched her, but he wasn't touching her. For that she was as profoundly relieved as she was confused about his intentions later.

"How was dinner?'' O'Hara asked. "Very good," Michael replied after a pause that told Leigh he'd expected her to say something.

Leigh barely noticed. She couldn't seem to grasp all the implications of the last ten minutes in that restaurant. She hadn't been able to fully adjust to the things his aunt had told her, and she hadn't known how to cope with the way he acted after that. At first, he had looked at her in silence, steadily, neither apologizing nor making light of what he'd done. But when she tried to pretend she didn't understand the meaning of it, he'd made it clear he wouldn't tolerate evasions. On the one hand, he was perfectly willing to put up a wall in the middle of a restaurant to protect her and he was willing to show her the most amazing kindnesses, but he drew the line at a minor little deception.

She did not understand him at all. She honestly couldn't believe he intended to try to seduce her tonight; she couldn't even imagine why he would want to try. And yet… there was something about the decisive way he said, "The night isn't over," and "I'd like you to see where I live," that still alarmed her. He was such a magnificent man in so many ways, and she didn't want anything to spoil the amazing fledgling relationship she'd formed with him. She didn't know if it was strong enough yet to withstand a conflict over sex, and she didn't want to put it to the test.

Leigh gave an unsteady sigh and looked out the window. As if he sensed the tumult in her mind, his arm settled around her shoulders, drawing her close for a quick, reassuring hug. He released her almost instantly, but his hand stayed on her upper arm, drifting up and down, soothing.

O'Hara pulled to a stop in front of Michael's building on Central Park West. "Should I wait here?" he asked Michael as he helped Leigh out of the car. "Or should I come back in a while?"

"Don't you ever get a night off?" Michael joked.

Leigh's entire body seemed to lean in the direction of that conversation.

"Nope, never. I'm on duty twenty-four hours a day. It goes with the job."

"Then tonight's your lucky night," he said, closing the car door and the discussion. "I'll bring her home in a taxi and pick up my car then."