She was still looking up at him thoughtfully.
"Ummm," How was he possibly going to explain; Hi, Michelle, it's me, Danny, your erstwhile beloved. We need to run for our lives.
The clock ticked.
Finally, he pointed at the "officer;" "Look, he was getting out a gun, and everyone knows that bobbies don't carry guns. We should get out of here." He attempted to shepherd her toward the door.
Michelle looked down at the unconscious man, and sure enough, he had been reaching for his holster. "So, you punched him? Just like that?"
"Uh, huh. Let's go." Perhaps he had forgotten how bright Michelle really was. How did he get himself into this one?
"I think we should call the real police, and find out what is going on." She started to move to the parlor, and in the process, started dragging him along.
He planted his feet, halting her progress. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
Her shoulder really starting to ache now, she asked, "And why not? We haven't done anything. All we did is burn a turkey. Her eyes narrowed, "You aren't really an escaped con, are you?"
"No," he replied, inexplicably defensive. "Not exactly," he added silently.
"Good," she started to head toward the parlor again.
He refused to move. "I think we should get out of here." He started to move toward the doorway again. "There may be more of them coming."
Michelle continued tugging in the other direction. "Who is 'them?'"
"And how are we going to get these off?" she held up her right hand, and consequently his left hand.
The situation was too surreal to be true, he thought.
He kept tugging in the other direction, as they continued the bizarre tug-of-war, "I don't know how to get these off, but I do know that ..."
He went silent, and Michelle heard doors slamming.
"Quick! out the back."
"I think..."
Before she could get anything else out, he had covered his mouth with his own.
He told himself that he only wanted to communicate the urgency of the situation in the quickest way that he knew how, but somehow he started to pour out everything he had wanted to say to her in the past ten years into that same moment.
A moan from the unconscious man interrupted the pleasurable haze, and he forced himself to break off the kiss.
They stared at each other.
Michelle found her voice first.
"Well, that took you long enough, Danny"