Audie sat quietly in the car, tingling from Jamie's kiss and his words. Now she knew where Quinn got his unlikely mixture of gentleness and macho swagger-from his father.

"I'm dying of curiosity, Quinn. What's pogue mahone mean?"

Quinn laughed. "That's Gaelic for 'Kiss my ass.'"

"Figured it was something like that," she said.

"So did you have a good time today?"

"Oh, fair, Stacey," she sighed. "How about you?"

His chuckle was so warm and soft that it gave Audie goosebumps.

"My family is the best part of my life-my family and friends. I've already told you that." Quinn reached over and brushed his knuckles against the side of her face. "Having you with me today made it even better."

Audie shot him a circumspect look.

"That's all. I'm done. I won't say another nice thing to you the whole way back. I swear it." He dropped his hand to her shoulder briefly, then pulled away to concentrate on thedrive.

She sat in silence, staring out at the busy South Side neighborhoods along 103d Street. The cars looked normal. The streets were straight and flat. The traffic lights were red, yellow, or green. It was all quite ordinary.

Then it must be her, she decided, because suddenly she didn't know where she was.

But oh! She sure knew how she'd gotten there!

It started with the anonymous threats. Then Griffin insisted she call the cops. Then the cop sent to protect her ended up seducing her. Then she'd been seduced by the cop's entire family!

And right at that instant, Audie couldn't decide whether to run like hell or jump into this man's arms and beg him to love her forever. How had she let it get this messed up? How could she have put herself in this position?

But there she was-in Quinn's car, in the dark, under some kind of magic spell. Her brain had been addled by an entire day of affection and belonging, and now her mind was wandering light-years beyond basic common sense, and she was thinking about all the wonderful "what ifs" of Detective Stacey Quinn.

What if Quinn was the right man for her? What if he could love her for who she was? What if they got married someday and she suddenly became one of those Quinn people-the laughing, arguing, singing, drinking, loving South Side Quinns?

What an intriguing thought.

If Helen were alive, she'd have a cow, and wouldn't that just be icing on the wedding cake right there?

Audie giggled silently and cast a sly peek at Quinn, then turned away.

Their wedding would be a big, emotional affair. The reception would be loud and wild. All their kids would have Quinn's eyes. She'd quit the column and go back to coaching and teaching. They'd live in Quinn's house and they could fit one of those wooden swing set contraptions in the backyard.

She stole another glance at the poor unsuspecting groom- and father-to-be, his no-nonsense face lit up by the dashboard, all straight angles and handsome planes.

Oh, hell, she might as well admit it-it wasn't just the magic spell of his family. It was the magic of Stacey Quinn himself. He was wonderful. She was fatally curious about him, fatally tempted, fatally interested.

She winced and looked down at her hands. She'd already used the L-word in her mind, hadn't she? It didn't mean she actually loved him. It just meant it might be possible. Or not.

Audie smoothed her hair and pulled her shoulders back. "OK, Quinn. The answer is I'm not exactly sure what I like the best," she said, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Quinn looked her way and cocked his head.

"That day on the boat you asked me what I like in bed and I don't really think I know for sure."

"Jee-ay-sus, Audie. You're supposed to warn me!"

She looked over to see him grinning ear-to-ear.

"I'm sorry. You're absolutely right, Detective." She laughed and took a deep breath. "I'd like to talk about sex now. Would that be all right?"

"I've got a few spare minutes."

Audie folded her hands in her lap and bit her lower lip. "Why don't you ask me questions and I'll try to answer them? Do you think that will work?"

"What kind of questions?"

"Sex questions."

"Like a health class quiz?"

"No! Like a get-to-know-you thing."

Quinn snorted. "Pardon me for bringing this up, but the last time I tried to 'get to know you,' you sent me packing to the guest room."

"I know. But this is different."

"So you're ready for me now, Audie?" His voice sounded strained.

"I think so. I don't know. Just ask me questions before I chicken out."

Quinn took the entrance ramp onto the Dan Ryan Expressway, laughing nervously. "I don't think I'm going to be watching road signs in a minute. Don't let me miss the Lake Shore exit."

"No problem."

He adjusted himself in the driver's seat and pulled the car into the stream of expressway traffic. "OK-let's start with a simple one. Uh, how do you like to be kissed?"

"All the ways you've kissed me so far have been quite nice. I got no complaints there."

"Great. Uh, what gets you… well…"

"Hey! You told me you weren't sexually repressed!"

"I'm not! I just… fine, let me backtrack a bit. How do you like to talk about sex?"

"What do you mean, 'how'?"

"I mean do you like flowery words and vague references to, you know, body parts and things people do with them when they make love? Or do you like to talk about sex directly?"

"I wouldn't know. I've never had this conversation before, exactly."

Audie crossed her arms under her breasts and looked out at the shiny river of cars. "I've talked about sex, of course, but usually afterward, and it was stuff like 'That felt nice,' or, 'I liked this or that,' so I'm not sure how I prefer to talk about it right now, with all my clothes on, riding in an unmarked police car." She turned to face him. "How do you like to talk about it?"

"Directly, I suppose."

"Then let's be direct. Keep asking."

Quinn turned up the air conditioning and shifted in his seat. "Are you sexually attracted to me, Audie?"

"Oooh, yeah." She pursed her lips and nodded.

"So it hasn't been all wishful thinking on my part?"

"Not hardly."

"That's a huge relief."

"I'm glad."

"All right. Let's take care of the paperwork first. I'm healthy. No HIV. No herpes. No nothing. The department tests everysix months and the last one was in June and since then I haven't been at risk, if you know what I mean. I'm good to go. How about you?"

Audie laughed nervously. "There's been no one since Russell, and I got tested again just a month ago. I'm completely healthy. And I know you're Catholic and everything, but I'm on the pill."

"Wow. Then we could do some serious sinning."

"We could."

"So tell me what gets you sexually aroused."

She laughed. "We're moving right along, aren't we?"

"No point in dawdling." He grinned at her. "I've sinned before, you know."

"Fine. Being within a hundred miles of you gets me aroused, Quinn. Hearing your gravelly voice. Feeling you touch my hand or my cheek or my feet and legs-well, you already know what happens with that."

He did know. Yes, Lord, he did. And Quinn looked at her over there, glowing, round and soft and refreshingly honest, and realized that if this was going where he thought it was, tonight was going to be one hell of a good night.

At that instant, Connelly's warning came to mind, and he knew that no matter how much he wanted Audie, how crazy she was making him-this probably was not a smart move.

But then she turned toward him, those dark eyes sparkling, those plump lips turning up at the corners, and Quinn didn't give a damn what Connelly said. He couldn't even remember what the man looked like.

"And talking about sex with you, Quinn-now that gets me plenty aroused."