On the other hand, Michael was.

She studied herself in the mirror, not sure she wanted red-cashmered cleavage with Michael. Michael looked as though he hadn't had a sexual thought in his life, but maybe he came alive at night. Maybe incredible breasts were not a good move in Michael's case. Maybe nondescript was better for a first date. No sense promising what she had no intention of delivering.

She stripped off the sweater and the Incredibra, dropping them both on the bed, and started for her dresser to get a regular underwire. Fred put his paws on the bed, grabbed the bra and trotted to the door, and Nina ran after him and grabbed it back.

"Just like a guy," Nina said to him and tossed the bra farther up on the bed as she went to change.

The regular underwire was much better, and the blue sweater she put over it was pretty without being a come-on, and her black skirt was knee-length, no slit. The outfit made her look attractive and responsible. It in no way said, "Yo, come jump my bones," which was the message Charity said a good date outfit should send.

The last thing Nina needed was a good date outfit that sent messages. The Incredibra was definitely going back…

Nina looked at the bed. The Incredibra was gone.

"Fred!" She took a quick lap through the apartment- kitchen, bathroom, living room-and stopped in front of the open window. Fred had found his own way of paying her back for putting off his walk. "You're in big trouble, Fred," she said and climbed out the window.

She spotted him down beside the Dumpster, the bright red bra in his mouth. "Fred!" she yelled again, and he ducked behind the Dumpster. "You're dead meat, Fred," Nina told him as she ran down the fire escape. "You're yesterday's news, boy."

She trapped him behind the Dumpster, so he crawled farther behind it, into the cavern made by the open lid against the brick wall. She got down on her hands and knees and peered into the cave and saw Fred sitting there, morose as ever, her Incredibra at his feet.

"Give me that," she said to him. "Right now." She crawled a little way under the lid, and Fred lowered his head and growled at her.

Nina stopped. "You're growling at me? You're growling at me?"

"Let me guess-De Niro," Alex said from behind her, and she straightened in surprise and banged her head on the Dumpster lid.

"You're going back to the pound," she told Fred as she backed out, rubbing her head.

"Is your head all right?" Alex said when she was standing. "Let me see." His hand was firm against her cheek, tilting her head down so that all she could see was the clean white T-shirt stretched across his broad chest. It was an extremely good chest, but she'd already been staring at it with lust for five weeks, so she closed her eyes to keep her concentration and to keep from grabbing him. He explored the incipient bump on the back of her head, and she drew a deep breath as his fingers moved through her hair and sent inappropriate chills down her spine. If she leaned forward another inch, she could lick his neck.

That would be bad.

Alex tilted her head back up to him. "The bump's not too bad. We can still go jogging." He let go of her chin and rested his hand on her shoulder. "I saw you streak past my window. Why are you down here braining yourself on a Dumpster?"

"Fred," Nina said, trying hard not to visibly enjoy his hand on her. "He's going through a Stage. It's the Terrible Twos. Or in his case, the Terrible Fourteens."

Alex let go of her and stooped down on his haunches to peer behind the Dumpster. "Fred? What's wrong with you? Get out here."

Fred came trotting out and dropped the bra at Alex's feet.

"The hell with the pound," Nina told Fred as she snatched for the bra. "I'm going to kill you right here."

Alex was too quick for her. He stood, holding the bra by one end, and squinted to read the tag. "The Incredibra." He raised an eyebrow at Nina. "I've heard of these, but I've never seen one."

"Well, now you have." Nina made another grab for it, but he moved it out of her reach again.

"I mean, I've never seen one on an actual woman," he explained. "In the flesh. It's probably something I should experience. For my professional advancement." He smiled at her encouragingly, and it took all of Nina's self-control not to smile back and leap on him.

He was a rat. He was waving her bra around in public. He was gorgeous and she wanted him.

"You want me to model my underwear for you for your professional advancement," Nina said, trying not to think about it.

"It's all right." Alex stopped smiling and made a pathetic effort to look serious and adult. "I'm a doctor."

"I'm going to take you back to the pound with Fred," she told him. "You're both completely untrainable." Then she snatched the bra out of his hand and went back up the fire escape before he could talk her into taking off her clothes right there in the courtyard.

She was going to have to do something about the effect he was having on her. She was going to have to think of something later, when she was calmer. Like when she was with Michael. She'd definitely be calmer then.

"You're never going to see an Oreo again," she told Fred when he followed her back through the window. "Never."

Chapter 4

Six hours later, at what Nina prayed was the end of her date with Michael, she was abysmally grateful she'd passed on the Incredibra for the evening.

Now if she could only pass on Michael.

It wasn't that he was awful. He was just intense and boring, his black eyes so sharp and his gray suit so well pressed that he looked like an eager beaver while he talked like a drone. It was a bad combination, and she wanted away from it, but somehow he'd managed to get himself into her apartment, and although she'd had the good sense not to offer him a drink, she was at a loss as to how to get rid of him. Even Fred was annoyed with him.

Michael had started the evening by staring at Fred and saying, "What is that?" and when she'd told him Fred's name, he'd said, "Good doggy." Fred had given him a look that up till now she'd only seen him use on generic dog food. Things went from bad to worse when they went to dinner and Michael talked about his book. Then they went back to her apartment, and Michael continued to talk about the book while Nina bustled around trying to look busy, opening the window for Fred, straightening the paperwork on her table, yawning, and finally looking at her watch. Nothing seemed to sink into Michael's thick head. Even Fred gave up staring at Michael and strolled off someplace else to amuse himself.

The knock at the door half an hour later came as a welcome reprieve. "Just a minute," Nina told Michael while he was in midsentence.

When she opened the door, Alex was standing there in a ripped T-shirt and cutoff jeans, looking incredibly young and incredibly good and holding her Incredibra.

"Fred dropped this off." He held the bra up like a fishing trophy. "I've only seen this once, but I'm assuming it's yours?"

"Yes." Nina shoved lustful thoughts from her mind and made a grab for it.

"Hold it." Alex moved it away from her. "How do I know it's yours? Put it on and let's see if it fits. I'll check. It's okay because I'm a doc-"

"Give me that or you'll need a doctor," Nina told him under her breath.

"Nina?" Michael said from the living room.

"A date?" Alex raised his eyebrows.

"Unfortunately, yes." Nina held out her hand. "Give me my bra."

"Unfortunately?" Alex grinned at her. "Can't get rid of him,huh?"

"I've tried everything but he won't take the hint." Nina glanced back over her shoulder to make sure Michael hadn't come to join them. "If you'll just give me my bra, I'll go-"

"Let me handle this." Alex walked past her into the living room. "Hi, I'm Alex." He held out his right hand, but Michael's eyes were on the bra in his left. "This?" Alex waved it at him. "Nina left it in my apartment last night. Here you go, honey."

Nina grabbed the bra and rolled it up so it didn't look quite so bright and lacy. "Thank you, Alex. You can g-"

"Nina and I are big film buffs." Alec strolled toward the TV. "Great classic on tonight. I'm sure she told you we needed to see this, but you're welcome to stay and watch, too." He punched the button on the remote and flipped through the channels while Michael looked accusingly at Nina and Nina glared at Alex.

"He's a film student," Nina told Michael. "I'm helping him with his coursework so he can graduate and get a real job instead of being a deadbeat like he is now."

"That's my girl," Alex said over his shoulder. "Ah, here we go." He sat down on the floor with his back to the couch and watched the screen where two small children with springs on their heads were talking to Santa.

"What classic is that?" Michael asked suspiciously.

"Santa Claus Goes To Mars," Alex said. "My professor says it's a perfect example of existential angst."

"Really." Michael was still suspicious, but now he was also confused.

"Of course, it's an adaptation of that great Russian novel by Turgid." Alex smiled up at Michael. "You know Turgid?"

"I think I read him in college," Michael said. "Depressing, right?"

"Hell, yes." Alex nodded at the screen where adults with springs on their heads had joined the children. "This is the commercial version. Americans." He shook his head in disgust.

"Right," Michael said, and Nina took pity on him.

"Well, Alex needs to study now, so why don't we call it a night?" She slipped her arm through his.