She debated with herself about whether to tell Mitch. She was still angry with him, feeling hurt and raw at the fight they'd had that morning. The fact that this whole secret admirer business was over really didn't change anything. Mitch would still want her to quit Night Whispers Night Whispers. He'd still want her to change. And she just couldn't.

He didn't deserve to be afraid for her, though. Squaring her shoulders, she walked downstairs and knocked on his door. When he opened it, she noticed a flash of relief crossed his face when he saw her standing there, but as she remained motionless in the hall, he stiffened.

"I just wanted to let you know, so you won't be worried, that the person who's been writing me and leaving me gifts was caught this morning. It turns out he was a lonely man with an overactive imagination who works at the station and never had the nerve to tell me he admired me to my face. He was never a real threat, and has resigned. I'm sure I'll never see him again."

Mitch nodded steadily, feeling greatly relieved. He hadn't been able to think of a single thing all day except how to keep Kelsey safe. Now, it seemed, she no longer needed him to.

"So what now?" she asked softly.

Mitch didn't answer right away. The stalking scare was over, at least for the time being. As for their relationship, he just didn't know.

"You were lucky this time, Kelsey," he said finally. "What about next time? What if the next guy's not just some poor sap with a big imagination?"

She didn't respond. Mitch didn't try to make it easy on her, either. He sensed she wanted to work things out. He probably could have told her they'd move on, forget about it now that this whole mess was over with. But he couldn't let it go. Because deep inside he knew that there would, inevitably, be a next time.

She turned her back to him and walked back up the stairs.

MITCH HAD ABSOLUTELY no desire to attend the Downtown Charitable Society banquet that evening. He was very proud that his articles had drawn attention to the plight of the Chinese girls. But, somehow, attending the elegant affair with all of the rich Baltimore elite who dabbled in charity just didn't appeal to him. What was important was the plaque he'd be bringing home, not hobn.o.bbing with the likes of Amanda Langley's father and his rich board of trustees friends. And those were the type of men who made up the Downtown Charitable Society. no desire to attend the Downtown Charitable Society banquet that evening. He was very proud that his articles had drawn attention to the plight of the Chinese girls. But, somehow, attending the elegant affair with all of the rich Baltimore elite who dabbled in charity just didn't appeal to him. What was important was the plaque he'd be bringing home, not hobn.o.bbing with the likes of Amanda Langley's father and his rich board of trustees friends. And those were the type of men who made up the Downtown Charitable Society.

He heard Kelsey leave to go to work at around seven. She paused briefly outside his apartment door. Wondering for a heart-stopping second if she was going to burst in and demand he make love to her, he admitted to himself that if she did he had no qualms about missing the banquet.

She didn't.

The ceremony was held at a hotel near Harbor Place. Mitch mingled during the c.o.c.ktail hour, finding himself slipping back into the role of the distinguished, detached writer. As he'd expected, Amanda's father was there, and Amanda was on his arm, looking every bit as lovely and sophisticated as she ever had, in a long beige sheath and a diamond choker.

"Congratulations, Mitch. You look well," she said as she slipped her arm through his and smiled up at him.

"Thank you. I'm surprised to see you here."

"Well," she admitted with a trill of laughter, "I have a confession to make. I made quite certain Daddy and the rest of the board members of the society knew all about the wonders you'd done with your writing. I wanted this for you, Mitch."

She tightened her grip on his arm, pressing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against him, her eyes flashing an unmistakable invitation. Mitch felt more uncomfortable by the minute.

"Let's go take our seats," she said. "I've arranged for you to sit with Daddy and me."

Mitch followed her to the table and spent most of the evening listening to rich men congratulate themselves on their charitable work. Not one of them looked as if he'd ever actually seen a homeless person, though they all claimed to be terribly concerned about them.

Accepting his award with his prepared remarks, Mitch bowed his head at the perfunctory applause and wished he could make a getaway out the back. The people surrounding him seemed to fade into a blur. They were frivolous and selfish, amusingly catty and condescending. And he knew he could end up just like them.

He felt sick to his stomach.

"Mitch, do say you'll come over for Thanksgiving dinner," Amanda invited. "It was so lovely last year when you joined us. And since you don't have any family nearby, we'd hate for you to be alone."

Mitch thought about the upcoming holidays. For the first time in several years, he pictured himself actually enjoying them. Cooking a turkey, watching a football game, eating so much he could barely move from the table. But when he pictured all these things, it wasn't Amanda's father's mansion he saw. It was his own kitchen.

And Kelsey.

The banquet broke up around eleven, and everyone drifted outside to wait for their limousines. Amanda held on to his arm and urged Mitch to come out for a drink. He never even considered it.

He wanted to be home with Kelsey. Tonight, Thanksgiving night, every night before and after. He loved her. Mitch had admitted to himself that he loved her long before now, but finally the truth of it hit him. He didn't love Kelsey for the person he wanted her to be. He loved her for the zany, irrepressible, gutsy person she was.

She had been right. In wanting her to give up her show, he'd been asking her to be someone she wasn't. He was basically urging her to do what he had done in his own life: subdue emotion, live logically and by the rules. Doing just that had made Mitch secure financially and socially, but had also left him feeling vaguely unsatisfied, that he was missing out on something. And when Kelsey came waltzing into his ordered home, she'd reminded him of what that was. Pa.s.sion. Exuberance. Excitement. Laughter. All the rich spices that blended to make a person's life complete-all the flavors he'd tried so hard to make bland through work and ambition.

This evening's glimpse of what his world had been like without her was all it took to convince him he wanted Kelsey to stay exactly the way she was. And to stay with him. Mitch grinned and laughed out loud. He felt like shouting to the moon, but settled for whistling instead.

He was about to make his excuses to Amanda when he saw her eyes widen and her mouth drop open in shock. She stood under a covered awning on a sidewalk outside the hotel and stared out at the street. Mitch followed her stare.

A city bus belching diesel made its way sluggishly up the street to the nearby covered stop. The bus was a typical grimy gray, and only one person waited to board it. Mitch didn't realize what had so captured Amanda's attention until he saw his own face gliding to a slow stop right in front of his eyes.

"Son of a..." he muttered softly, not believing what he saw.

A huge picture covered the side of the bus-a picture of Mitch and Kelsey...or, more accurately, of the pirate and his wench. A photo of Mitch bending toward Kelsey's heaving chest had been blown up to about six feet by six feet and attached to the side of the bus. A caption read "Spend the night with Lady Love on WAJO." Though shown only in profile, both of them were easily recognizable in the provocative shot.

"This is unbelievable," Amanda said shrilly, her voice drawing the attention of everyone else standing nearby. Mitch saw them follow her gaze to the bus and heard the whispers of all those who'd just paid him tribute.

"They can't simply put your face up on the side of a bus. You get a lawyer, Mitch," Amanda continued, her voice getting louder by the second. "You need to sue those people. This is an outrage!"

Mitch watched her squawk, her feathers completely ruffled. He saw the disapproving frowns on other faces around him.

"Yes, it certainly is all wrong," Mitch said, nodding thoughtfully as he stared at the bus.

Not looking at anyone, he grabbed a black marker from the valet stand. He walked the dozen steps to the side of the bus, reached up and quickly drew a small black mustache on his own face on the photograph. Stepping back to survey his work, he nodded at a job well done as the bus ground its gears and pulled away from the stop.

Mitch glanced over his shoulder, grinning at Amanda's openmouthed stare. "I knew I would have looked better if I'd had time to grow a mustache!"

Mitch laughed out loud at the shocked expressions on the faces of the crowd he'd just spent the evening with. Amanda looked as though she'd swallowed a quart of sour milk. Her father frowned forbiddingly. Mitch felt better than he had in ages.

Whistling, he tossed the pen to the young valet as he walked down the street toward his car.

"h.e.l.lO, BALTIMORE, and welcome to another evening of Night Whispers Night Whispers."

Kelsey glanced at her notes as she spoke into the microphone.

"Tonight I want to explore relationships. We've all had them, some more successfully than others," she said with a slight laugh.

"Let's not focus on the sweet romance that builds gradually, with emotions leading to physical expression. After all, this is Night Whispers is Night Whispers you're listening to. Think about those you're listening to. Think about those other other types. You know what I mean-when it starts with raw, physical attraction, builds into desire and fantasy, and finally reaches sensuous, body-rocking lovemaking." types. You know what I mean-when it starts with raw, physical attraction, builds into desire and fantasy, and finally reaches sensuous, body-rocking lovemaking."

She paused, closed her eyes to let her listeners imagine what she was talking about, then continued.

"No question, the beginning of that type of relationship can involve ultimate pleasure. The antic.i.p.ation of finally being with someone who makes you hot enough to melt like ice cream on a sizzling summer day is worth the possibility of it going no further than one heated night of pa.s.sion."

Kelsey forced herself to get her mind off a stormy October night when she and Mitch had exploded together and changed everything.

"But what happens if there is a next day? A next month, year or decade? When the hot, steamy s.e.x is done, and you're left looking at this person who's consumed your thoughts for a very long time. How do you segue into a real, meaningful relationship? Do you even want to?

"Call me. Let's talk about it. This is Lady Love and you're listening to Night Whispers Night Whispers on WAJO." on WAJO."

Kelsey scooted back in her chair and sorted through some discs during a set of commercials. Glancing at the clock, she wondered how Mitch's banquet was going, and wished she'd called in sick and shown up. She would have greatly enjoyed seeing the look on his face if he'd looked up from his speech and seen her standing dressed as his wench under a spotlight!

When Brian cued her, she leaned back toward the microphone. "Welcome back to Night Whispers Night Whispers. Tonight we're talking about relationships. Let's skip forward a little, past that initial sensual cloud lovers wrap themselves in. When pa.s.sion leads to love, how do you make it work? Maybe the person you're pa.s.sionately involved with isn't right for you, or thinks you're not right for him. How do you move past the obstacles and work on creating something that might actually last?"

The show sped by quickly. Most callers understood exactly what she was talking about and gave tips to others, or else sought commiseration. They discussed marriage and breakups, pa.s.sion and tenderness. Kelsey wondered why she didn't feel any better, knowing so many other people were in the same boat she was: in love with someone who thought she was wrong for him and wanted her to change.

"Well, friends," she said as she glanced at the clock, "we're coming to the end of another Night Whispers Night Whispers. It's been an interesting night. Do you feel better? I'll be honest. I don't. Sometimes, relationships just stink."

On the other side of the booth, Brian began gesturing. Kelsey noticed there was another phone call. She frowned. She'd already pa.s.sed the point when she accepted calls, but he looked insistent.

"Well, it seems we have one more late-night caller," she murmured. Punching the connect b.u.t.ton on her console, she said, "Good evening, caller, you're on Night Whispers Night Whispers."

"Lady Love? I'm in desperate need of help."

A sudden rush of warmth flooded Kelsey's entire body as she recognized Mitch's voice. "How can I help you tonight?"

"I'm afraid I've gotten myself in a bit of mess with a woman I'm absolutely crazy about."

She smiled, deciding to make him sweat. "Oh? Done something terribly stupid, have you?"

"Uh-huh. Terribly. I made her think I don't want her exactly the way she is. She believes I want her to lose the very qualities that attracted me...until I thought I'd go out of my mind wanting her."

His voice rolled over her entire body and Kelsey nearly curled up in her seat. "And you don't?"

"Absolutely not," he said vehemently. "She drives me crazy, she takes risks, she's outrageous and flamboyant. But, oh, Lady Love, she brings out something in me I thought I'd lost a long time ago."

"What's that?"

A short silence ensued before he replied. "Pa.s.sion. Pa.s.sion for life, for pleasure, for everything around us. Sorry to tell you this, Lady Love, but this woman knows more about it than you ever will."

Kelsey laughed softly into the microphone, saying, "Does she know how you feel?"

"Sure, she knows I'm in love with her."

Kelsey sat upright in her chair, b.u.mping her knees on a shelf under the console. He loved her? He was telling her he loved her? Now? On live radio? He loved her? He was telling her he loved her? Now? On live radio?

"Are you sure she knows that? I mean, have you told her that?"

"I've told her in every way possible. I mean, she's very intelligent-she doesn't need things spelled out."

"Yes...she...does," Kelsey muttered tightly.

She heard Mitch's soft chuckle, then he fell silent.

"Sometimes even a woman as sublimely intelligent as yours needs to hear these things said out loud once in a while," she prodded.

"I love you?" he said with a scoffing laugh. "But that just doesn't begin to express it. Besides, like I said, she knows."

Kelsey gritted her teeth. "How?"

"How could she not? She knows me so well. She antic.i.p.ates my moods, lifts my spirits with one smile, makes me laugh with a word. She can cause me physical pain if she cries. Every minute we spend together is more precious than the previous one. She has awakened me. She has helped me become a man with a future, instead of a man with promise. She's shown me I can have everything I ever wanted, plus all the happiness I ever dreamed of."

Tears gathered in the corners of Kelsey's eyes as Mitch spoke.

"She is my first thought every morning, and my last wish every night. She is my past, and she is my future, and she's everything in between."

A long moment of silence hung heavily on the air, and Kelsey could not make her voice work. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Finally she breathed deeply and said, "I love you, too."

KELSEY COULDN'T REMEMBER the words she used to wrap up her show. By five after two, she was in her car, driving through the dark streets of Baltimore. the words she used to wrap up her show. By five after two, she was in her car, driving through the dark streets of Baltimore.

When she arrived at the brownstone, she hurried to the front door and let herself in. The foyer was dark, and she felt a moment of misgiving. Then she sensed him. Her body reacted with the same instinctive longing she always felt when Mitch was near.

"Mitch?"

"I'm here, Kelsey."

And suddenly he was with her, wrapping his arms around her body. Welcoming her home. He lifted her in his arms and carried her into his apartment, kissing her face again and again. Kelsey ran her hands along his shoulders and arms, to be certain he wasn't a dream.

"I love you," he said as he sat her gently on the sofa.

"Well, it took you long enough to say it!"

He laughed aloud and caught her mouth in a deep kiss as he pulled her jacket off and warmed her with his body.

"Did you really mean it?" she asked after they ended their kiss. "You want to make this work between us? Because I want that more than anything, but I'm not willing to let fear drive me away from Night Whispers Night Whispers."

He nodded. "I know. I'm always going to worry about you, Kelsey. But I recognize that Night Whispers Night Whispers is a part of you." is a part of you."

Leaning down to press a kiss in the hollow of her throat, he whispered, "A very naughty, delicious part."

She savored the rough feel of his cheek on her skin. "I'll be extra careful at work. I won't take any chances."

"We'll deal with whatever happens."

They kissed again, long, deep and wet. Kelsey shifted on the couch, wanting to have nothing between them, particularly her clothing. He slowly began unb.u.t.toning her blouse and she loved how his eyes darkened while he looked at her.

"You're sure you won't mind not having a safe, respectable, responsible, pearls-wearing literary wife?" she whispered.

"Wife?" he asked, looking at her in wide-eyed innocence. "Was that a proposal?"