Tony paced back and forth in front of Michelle's door. Ok - keep it light tonight. Just a pleasant evening ...show off your sterling wit and charm...and for God's sake, keep your hands off her. He stopped in front of the door, ran his hand through his hair, took a deep breath and rang the bell.

"No, Danny - please don't ask me to do that. I'm not comfortable with it."

"Please, Michelle," her brother pleaded, "she won't listen to me."

"Danny, this isn't something I can do for you," she said, remembering Tony's advice from the previous evening. "If she doesn't want to talk to you, there's nothing I can do to force her into it."

Michelle held the phone away from her ear in frustration as her brother continued to implore her on the other end of the line to speak to his wife on his behalf. While she was avoiding his entreaties, the door bell rang. Danny either didn't hear it or he didn't care and kept up his increasingly hysterical rambling.

Phone to her ear, Michelle opened the door and motioned Tony in.

Tony was instantly grateful that she'd had the phone in her hand, because the second he saw her his immediate desire was to grab her and pin her up against the wall and kiss her the way she'd kissed him in the hallway at CTU. How the hell can she make khaki shorts and a tank top look so damn hot?

Instead, he followed her into the kitchen, where she retrieved a beer from the refrigerator, opened it, and handed it to him. Covering the mouthpiece, she said, "Sorry...it's my brother. I'll wrap it up as quick as I can."

Tony nodded, "No problem. Take your time. I'm just going to put this in the freezer," he said, waving the quart of butter pecan ice cream he'd picked up on the way over.

Michelle's eyes widened, YAY! she silently mouthed to him

Tony laughed and sauntered off to the living room with his beer and began to peruse Michelle's cd collection.

Michelle reached into the refrigerator, grabbed another beer for herself, and turned her attention back to her brother's babbling about how he'd screwed up his life. She'd interject an "uh-huh" or an "I know" whenever he paused to take a breath, just so he'd know she was still paying attention...which she hadn't been since the second the doorbell rang.

Tony sat on the floor in front of the stereo in something of a daze. "Showtunes," he muttered. "Good God...anything but showtunes..." And just when he got past the showtunes section of Michelle's collection and into the Barry Manilow section, he wished he'd been more specific when he'd said "anything but showtunes". At least there's no Celine Dion, he thought, truly frightened that the Celine collection might be gracing the cd player in Michelle's car. He quickly scanned the rest of the discs hoping for something audially palatable. "Ah! James Taylor!" Maybe there is some hope for her after all, he thought as he slid the disc into the player and turned the volume down low.

"Hey," Michelle said as she walked into the room. "I'm really sorry about that."

Tony moved from the stereo and sat down on the couch. "Everything ok?" he asked.

"Yeah - he just gets in these moods and there's no shutting him up. He wants me to talk to his wife for him and I really really don't want to be the go-between."

"Michelle, there's no reason for you to be put in the middle of it like that. It's not fair of him to expect that of you."

She plopped down next to him. "I know - and I told him that. I'm trying to take your advice and see if I can't get him to take more responsibility for the situation. The whole thing is just so emotionally draining and it's wearing me out."

"I'm sorry, Michelle. I'm sure he doesn't realize how all this is affecting you, or he'd back off. Is there anything I can do? Want me to rough him up some?"

"No," she laughed, "I don't think that'll be necessary." Let's change the subject, though.

"What did you have in mind?" he slyly asked.

"The same thing I've had in mind all day," she said, sliding closer to him and blocking out her earlier resolution to slow down and let him set the pace.

Tony grinned at her as she leaned in to kiss him, completely ignoring his self-directive of earlier to keep his hands to himself tonight.

As their lips touched, Tony moved his hands to her face and pulled her to him. Michelle leaned into him, forcing him gently back against the arm of the couch. She raked her hands through his hair and softly probed his mouth with her tongue. Tony reciprocated and circled her waist with his arms.

"You've had that on your mind all day?" he panted when the kiss broke.

"All day," she murmered, brushing her cheek against his.

"Well, If I'd have known you were so preoccupied with such a pressing matter, I'd have called a private meeting."

"Oh...that would have gone over well," she rolled her eyes as she leaned back against the couch and took another swallow of her beer.

"Yeah - no sense pushing things, huh?" Tony asked as he began to remember his promise to himself.

"Right. Wouldn't want Chapelle's head to explode, would we?"

Tony laughed. "Speak for yourself."

"And speaking of Mr. Personality, did you get a chance to go over my report with him?"

"I did," Tony said. "He was impressed. And get this - he told me to send someone over to interview the neighbors and to put someone else to work on the attacks in Europe and Africa."

Michelle laughed, remembering that Tony had already done exactly that. "Damn...I bet you wish you'd have thought of all that, huh?"

"Yeah...well - that's why they pay him the big bucks, I guess. He did also suggest that we send the laptop to the tech lab to see if there's any more data to be found on it. I hadn't thought of that, but it's a good idea."

"Ohhh...it's irritating when Chapelle's right, isn't it?"

"God, I hate it," Tony said, shaking his head and laughing.

The doorbell rang again. This time, Michelle knew it was the pizza. "I took the liberty of ordering for you. I hope you don't mind," she said, grabbing her checkbook and heading for the door.

"No - I'm not picky. I'll pretty much eat any kind of pizza."

"Good - I got my favorite - shrimp and onion pesto."

Tony forced a smile onto his face. "Umm...ok...well, I've never had that before, but it sounds great, he said, a little too enthusiastically.

"Relax, Almeida. I'm kidding," she giggled. "I can spot a pepperoni man a mile away."

"Thank God," he muttered. "I'm sorry, but shrimp just does not belong on pizza."

As Michelle paid the delivery man, she noted that Tony definitely did not seem to be sending any mixed signals tonight. He's definitely interested. Still, she thought it best not to be to aggressive. There really were all kinds of complications and neither one of them should be too hasty about jumping into anything.

They got through half of the pizza. Michelle had ordered one large enough to feed a family of six. Since she didn't cook, she wanted to have some leftover for lunch the next day. While she was off putting clothes in the dryer, Tony rummaged through the kitchen cabinets and drawers looking for bowls and spoons for dessert. He then proceeded to serve them each two perfectly formed scoops of the butter pecan.

"Ice cream!" she exclaimed as she came back into the room. "Good call, Almeida." She took the bowl from him and led him back into the living room.

"Hey, Michelle, Tony figited. "Do you mind if I ask you something kind of serious?"

Uh-oh...here it comes, she thought. "Umm...I guess not..." she replied.

"Well...I was just wondering...and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, I can understand that it's something that you might be embarrassed to talk about..."

Oh God...her stomach was starting to knot...

"What's with all the showtunes?" he asked. "You've got the soundtrack for every musical written in the last 40 years over there..."

Michelle gaped in mock offense. "Hey!" she practically yelled, "Do NOT be ridiculing my taste in music. I happen to enjoy the musical theater a great deal. Andrew Lloyd Webber is a god, in my book. The man is a genius."

"OK, well, I'd just like to go on the record saying that from now on, whenever we go anywhere together, we'll be taking my car, because I don't think I can take "Evita" in such close quarters."

"Oh don't worry - I always listen to Celine Dion in the car...I'm too loud for the neighbors when I sing along with her, so I have to confine it to the car."

Tony groaned inwardly, making a mental note to go cd shopping for her.

Michelle sat on the couch with another beer while Tony, at his insistence, put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher. She thought he was just being overly polite, but he actually wanted to take just a few minutes to remind himself of his earlier resolution. He should finish up here and then make his exit.

"All done?" she asked when he came back.

"Yeah - there were only a few," he said, as he lifted her legs and slid in underneath them. STOP! He screamed to himself. Almeida...you're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble here if you're not careful...

Michelle stared at him with wide eyes. Ok..that's a positive sign, she thought. He wouldn't be draping my legs across his lap if he wasn't at least a little interested, would he? She felt a little flutter in her stomach as she took another drink. And he wouldn't be stroking them like that if he was trying to discourage my attention, would he? Her breath began to quicken as she set the beer on the coffee table. And he wouldnt be running his fingers under the hem of my shorts if he didn't want tme to get the wrong idea, would he?

As his eyes met hers, she moved away from the arm of the couch and in his direction. Tony followed her lead and leaned toward her until their lips met.The kiss started softly and quickly gained intensity. Tony's fingers were still lightly brushing Michelle's thighs, and she could not surpress a soft moan at the sensation. Encouraged by her response, Tony deepend the kiss, and leaned his upper body into hers. He moved one handbehind her head and pulled her closer to himAs thekiss began to become frantic, Tony heard the faint voice in his head again. Hands off! He groaned and pulled away from her slightly.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked breathing erratically.

"Nothing's wrong, I just ...I think we need to stop..."he said.

"Oh, I thought you...I mean we..I thought we..."

"Michelle, it's not you. It's me. I just can't do this right now...I mean...not yet."

"Ok...well - do you want to tell me why?"

"I can't. Not now." How could he tell her that every time he started to get close to her Nina got in the way? Well, not Nina exactly, but the after-effects of Nina. He couldn't insult her like that.

"I should go," he said abruptly.

Michelle tried to hide her hurt feelings. "All right, then," she said, determined not to let him see her bewilderment.

"Michelle, I'm sorry, I just...the evening has kinda gotten away from me and I need to go in to work early tomorrow. Thanks so much for dinner - I had a great time."

"Yeah - I can tell," she said, unable to hide her irritation.

"Really...I mean it," he said taking her hand as he walked toward the door. "Thanks for inviting me over. Next time, we'll do it at my place and I'll cook, ok?"

She smiled slightly and nodded, still too confused to decide if she should be hurt or pissed.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he told her, and pressed a kiss into her forehead.

What the hell? she thought as she closed the door behind him. She shook her head in utter confusion. She had definitely not expected the evening to end like that.

Very smooth, Almeida, Tony thought to himself as he idled at the stoplight at the end of Michelle's street. You're going to be lucky if she gives you the time of day from here on out. Tony felt dazed. What the hell is your problem? He should call her right now. And say what? "Sorry, Michelle, but I can barely control myself around you, so I had to run out on you like some scared teenager." "Dammit," he said aloud as he pulled into his driveway. I've got to find a way to resolve this.

Michelle lay in her bed wide awake, unable to sleep. She replayed the evening over and over in her mind, analyzing every word...and every kiss. He definitely initiated that last one...I'm not imagining that. So why would he do that if he wasn't interested in pursuing anything with her? He practically bolted out of here. She was nearly certain that Tony was as attracted to her as she was to him. But if he's really bothered by the work situation or the Nina thing, why would he even be here?

Exasperated, and still slightly irritated, Michelle roughly fluffed her pillow up and went back to trying to force herself to sleep.