He couldn’t explain why, but the closeness he had anticipated at seeing her had vanished. He knew if he looked at her, he’d see hurt in her eyes. A part of him wouldn’t hurt her for the world, but he needed a minute to think about this. Cold, he was so cold. He shivered, even though Seth had the car’s heater going full blast. Glancing out the window at the snow closing them in, he felt smothered, trapped, not in control. He felt afraid. Fear—that was it, he was intensely afraid. Not for himself, but for Melanie. Seth maneuvered them out of traffic before he spoke. “It is much too quiet in the back seat, don’t you think, mystery lady? My name’s Seth Rubens. I won’t ask what they’re doing, but if we had more polite friends, they would have introduced us before they got so involved.” “Oh, I’m sorry, Seth,” Melanie apologized, leaning forward between the bucket seats. “This is Hank Brooks. She’s in the ballet troupe I auditioned for. The troupe I got into, Seth.
