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be married to."

    "Shh, shh, shh," Tuck shushed, gently placing a finger against her lip, trying to sound comforting and maybe a little European. "Now is not the time to talk of this, my sweet."

    She grabbed his finger and bent it back. "I don't know what to do."

    Tuck was twisted in his seat, leaning back to relieve the unnatural angle in which his finger was pointing. "Appetizer?" he suggested. "Salad?"

    Lena let go of his finger and covered her face with her hands. "I can't do this."

    "What? It's just dinner," said Tuck. "No pressure." He had never really dated much – gone on dates, that is. He'd met and seduced a lot of women, but it was never over a series of evenings with dinner and conversation – usually just some drinks and vulgarity at an airport hotel lounge had done the trick. He felt it was time he behaved like a grown-up – get to know a woman before he slept with her. His therapist had suggested it right before she'd stopped treating him, right after he'd hit on her. It wasn't going to be easy. In his experience things went a lot better with women before they got to know him, when they could still project hope and potential on him.

    "We just buried my ex-husband," Lena said.

    "Sure, sure, but then we delivered Christmas trees to the poor. A little perspective, huh? A lot of people have buried their spouses."

    "Not personally. With the shovel they killed him with."

    "You may want to keep it down a little." Tuck checked the diners at the nearby tables to see if they were listening, but they all seemed to be discussing the pine tree that had just driven by. "Let's talk about something else. Interests? Hobbies? Movies?"

    Lena tossed her head as if she didn't hear him right, then stared as if to say, Are you nuts?

    "Well, for instance," he pressed on, "I rented the strangest movie last night. Did you know that Babes in Toyland was a Christmas movie?"

    "Of course, what did you think it was?"

    "Well, I thought, well – now it's your turn. What's your favorite movie?"

    Lena leaned close to Tuck and searched his eyes to see if he might be joking. Tuck batted his eyelashes, trying to look innocent.

    "Who are you?" Lena finally asked.

    "I told you."

    "But, what's wrong with you? You shouldn't be so – so calm, while I'm a nervous wreck. Have you done this kind of thing before?"

    "Sure. Are you kidding? I'm a pilot, I've eaten in restaurants all over the world."

    "Not dinner, you idiot! I know you've had dinner before! What, are you retarded?"

    "Okay, now everybody is looking. You can't just say 'retarded' in public like that – people take offense because, you know, many of them are. You're supposed to say 'developmentally disabled.'"

    Lena stood up and threw her napkin on the table. "Tucker, thank you for helping me, but I can't do this. I'm going to go talk to the police."

    She turned and stormed through the restaurant toward the door.

    "We'll be back," Tuck called to the waitress. He nodded to the nearby tables. "Sorry. She's a little high-strung. She didn't mean to say 'retarded.'" Then he went after Lena, snatching his leather jacket off the back of his chair as he went.

    He caught up with her as she was rounding the corner of the building into the parking lot. He caught her by the shoulder and spun her around, making sure that she saw that he was smiling when she completed the turn. Blinking Christmas lights played red and green highlights across her dark hair, making the scowl she was aiming at him seem festive.

    "Leave me alone, Tucker. I'm going to the police. I'll just explain that it was just an accident."

    "No. I won't let you. You can't."

    "Why can't I?"

    "Because I'm your alibi."

    "If I turn myself in, I won't need an alibi."

    "I know."

    "Well?"

    "I want to spend Christmas with you."

    Lena softened, her eyes going wide, the swell of a tear watering up in one eye. "Really?"

    "Really." Tuck was more than a little uncomfortable with his own honesty – he was standing like