his hand close over her arm and jerk her back onto the sidewalk just as a low red sports car careened around the corner.
Breathless and frightened by her near miss, Lainey collapsed against Micah, finding comfort in his strength, in the nearness of another human being.
For a moment, Micah stood looking down at her, wondering what he could do to comfort her and then, moving cautiously, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
She was shivering now, her body trembling convulsively as the full realization of what had almost happened sank in. If Micah's reflexes had been a fraction of a minute slower, she'd be dead.
"You saved my life," she murmured, and burst into tears.
Micah's arms tightened around her as she cried. Emotions he had never known he possessed stirred within him at the sight of her tears; feelings he had suppressed long ago struggled to make themselves known.
He held her until her body stopped trembling, until her tears subsided, and even then he was reluctant to let her go. She felt so good in his arms. Her body was soft and round and it molded itself to his form in a most pleasant way. Holding her close, he was conscious of her warmth. He bent toward her and a faint, vaguely familiar scent rose from her hair.
Lainey sniffed one last time, then drew away a little so she could see Micah's face.
"I seem to have drenched you with my tears," she said, dabbing ineffectually at his shirt front.
"It doesn't matter."
Lainey glanced around, suddenly embarrassed to be standing on a street corner, bawling in a stranger's arms. "Maybe we should go."
He agreed reluctantly, wishing he could hold her in his arms forever. Just holding her made him feel good all over, made him wish for things he didn't fully understand.
He felt as if he'd lost a vital part of himself when he let her go.
It was a feeling he pondered long after she'd dropped him off at the house and driven away.
Part One Chapter Four
"He's so different, Mom. I don't know how to explain it. I mean, I know he's from a foreign country, but sometimes it seems like he's from another planet."
"I think that imagination of yours must be working overtime again," Dolores St. John said indulgently.
"That's not it," Lainey insisted, shifting the receiver to her other ear. "Mom, he said he'd never been in a Volkswagen before."
"Well, I'm sure there must be some countries that aren't as motorized as we are."
"Maybe..."
"Are you going to see him again?"
"Yes. Tonight."
"Do you think that's wise? I mean, you really don't know anything about him. And he lives all alone in that old house that isn't even his."
"I know, I know. But there's something about him, Mom. Sometimes he seems so lost. I don't know. I just know I have to see him again."
"You will be careful, won't you?" Dolores asked, even though she knew she was wasting her time. Lainey was Lainey. "How's your book coming?"
"Slow."
Dolores made a low sound of sympathy. "By the way, have you heard any more about that meteor?''
"No."
"Funny, they can't find any trace of it."
"Probably burned up in the atmosphere," Lainey replied. "It was scary, though. I saw it flash across the sky, and it was just like one, of those old science fiction movies." Lainey shivered. "It was bound to happen, the way the government keeps sending rockets into space. Sooner or later, one of them was bound to come back down."
"I guess so. Well, have a good time with your young man. And be careful."
"I'll be careful," Lainey replied. "I love you, Mom. Talk to you tomorrow."
Lainey stared at the phone after she had hung up. Her mother was right. She should be careful.
She told herself that as she took a long, hot bubble bath.
As she carefully applied her lipstick and mascara.
As she pulled on a pair of slinky black pants and a turquoise sweater.
As she spritzed herself with perfume.
Feeling like a teenager going out on her first date, she grabbed her purse and her keys and practically ran out of the house.
She was going to see him again.
He was waiting for her at the front door. All day, he'd been counting the minutes until he would see her again. He had tried to repair the intergalactic transmitter from his spacecraft so he could communicate with his sister ship, but he hadn't been able to concentrate on the task at hand.
He had tried to remember everything he had ever learned about theUnited