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Authors: Jennifer Cruise

BOOK: Charlie All Night
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*  *  *
Charlie didnt say anything, and she stole a glance at him.
He looked stunned.
She should have know it wouldn't work. She wasn't the seductress type.
She flopped back against the couch, defeated. "I know it's dumb, but I
had this plan. I thought maybe if I slept with somebody else,
I'd get
over Mark permanently. Sort of like getting right back on the horse
after you've been thrown."
Charlie made a sound like a strangled laugh.
"What did you say?"
"I whinnied."
Allie fought back a smile. "You laughed. Okay, go ahead. I just..." The
words were too dumb to say
out loud, so she shut up and shrugged
instead.
Charlie leaned back beside her. "Why don't you tell me about it?"
Allie hesitated and then gave in. "Well, it's hard to explain without
sounding stupid. Everybody at the station thinks Mark is God. We were
working together, making the show a hit, and when we started dating, it
just felt right, I guess." She wrinkled her nose as she thought. "And
he was really good to
me." She turned her head to look Charlie in the
eye, trying to make him understand. "I know he
wasn't impressive today,
but he really was good to me. I've never been that anxious to settle
down,
but I thought we'd be together forever, working on the show." She shook
her head in disgust. "I was
stupid. But it was still hard to give up. And I still miss it." She
stopped and frowned. "But you know,
I think I miss the relationship
more than I miss him."
Charlie shook his head. "Everybody at the station thinks he's God? They
must be morons."
"Not all of them. Just me."
Charlie frowned at her. "If you're going to feel sorry for yourself,
get off my couch and go to
your room."
Allie relaxed back into the couch. "You know, I'm a very good producer.
I just can't handle my
personal life."
Charlie snorted. "You and about twenty million other people. It's a
common failing."
She rolled her head sideways to look at him. "How do you do it?"
Charlie grinned at her. "Not very well. I have this commitment problem."
"You and about twenty million other guys." Allie grinned back. "Big
deal. I bet once it's over for you,
it's over. I bet you don't go on
obsessing about it
afterward." 
"No. But then I've never loved anyone enough to obsess about
it."
"Well, that's just my point." She sat up again. "I'm not sure I loved
Mark. I didn't even
like
Mark
much toward the end, which may be one of
the reasons he dumped me. But I was used to being
with him, working on
the show, you know? I'm just...stuck in this stupid rut, and I need
something
to bounce me out of it."
Charlie looked confused but not condemning. "So, your plan was that
we'd sleep together, and then what?"
"Then I'd be over Mark, and we'd go to work."
"A short-term arrangement." He sounded noncommittal, which wasn't
encouraging.
Allie tried to get back to selling the idea. "Absolutely. A one-night
stand. No strings. The last thing in
the world I need right now is
another relationship." The thought of trying to keep another man happy
made her tired all by itself. "I'm just sick of feeling like I'm going
to throw up every time I see Mark."
"You and about twenty million other people."
Allie laughed. "No, really." She tried to be serious. "He's a nice guy.
Lots of people like him. His show
is very popular. And he takes a nice
publicity picture."
"Oh, that's important in radio, taking a good picture."
Allie turned to look at him when she heard the scorn in his voice. "Oh?
And what do you do in radio?"
Charlie tensed for a moment and then relaxed deeper into the couch.
"Well, there used to be a really
late show in Lawrenceville from two
to six. After Two with Ten Tenniel." He grinned down at her
and she
grinned back because it was impossible not to. "Strange people call
from two to six. I'm
hoping the ten-to-two people are at least half as
bizarre."
His voice was low but it kept his grin in it when he talked. That was
one of things she liked best about him, although actually, there was a
lot to like about Charlie. She leaned a little closer to him. "You like
bizarre? Then you're going to love WBBB."
"
I
love bizarre. That's why I
let you pick me up." He looked down at
her, and she could have sworn
she saw heat in his eyes. But then, what
did she know about men?
Charlie stood up and pulled her off the couch. "Go to bed, Allie, so I
can go to bed. You get the
bathroom first." He patted her shoulder.
"I'll help you with Mark tomorrow, not by sleeping with
you, but now
I've got to get some real sleep."
Well, that was that. Allie walked back to her bedroom door. She should
have known it wouldn't
work.
Rats.
Unless...
*  *  *
Charlie etched her walk toward her bedroom and tried to feel virtuous
for turning her down. He did
feel virtuous. He'd made a great
sacrifice. There was nothing he wanted more than to be in Allie's
hands.
In Allie's bed.
Oh, hell.
Feeling virtuous was a lousy trade for what he was giving up.
Allie stopped, and then turned back to him, a much too innocent look on
her face. "How about a
smaller favor?"
"Smaller than sex?"
"Yes." She drifted back to him, and he felt wary again.
"What?"
Allie took off her glasses and lifted her chin. "Kiss me. So I can
concentrate this time. I missed it the
last time. In the bar."
Charlie ran his fingers through his hair. All his instincts told him to
run, but she was standing there
with that great mouth, and he wanted
it. "You really are something. You treat all the guys you meet
like
this?"
Allie shook her head, and he watched the light glint in her hair as it
swung back and forth. "Nope.
You just happened to hit me on a very
unusual day."
"Lucky me." Charlie swallowed and surrendered. "Okay, pucker up, but
this time, pay attention.
I don't want to have to keep on doing this."
She nodded. "Right."
Allie lifted her face to his, and he bent and kissed her. He meant to
make it brief, but the softness of
her mouth moved against his and took
his breath away.
I'm in big trouble
here
, he thought, and then
he
stopped thinking.
He felt her hand on his cheek, and he closed his eyes. She was
intoxicating, and he opened his mouth
and teased her lips with his
tongue until she opened to him and he could taste her.
Her body moved against him, and he held her dose, moving his hands up
to her shoulders and then
back down to the small of her back, pressing
her hips dose to his, soft against him.
When he finally broke the kiss, they were both breathless.
"Thank you," Allie said unsteadily as she stepped bade. "That was very
nice. Good night." She backed away into the bathroom and shut the door.
Charlie sat down on the couch and tried to remember where he was.
He was not going to get involved with Allie. He had a job to worry
about. He was going to lay low.
He was going to not make waves. He was
going to do his job and get out. He was going to forget
Allie and get
some sleep.
He unbuttoned his shirt and went to find his bag. He didn't have
pajamas, but with Allie flitting about making suggestions, he had to
wear something. He found his sweatpants just as Allie came out of the
bathroom in a long blue cotton nightgown. She looked very virginal.
"Here are your sheets and things," she said, putting them on the end of
the couch. "Do you need
anything else?"
Charlie damped down on his wayward thoughts. "No. Thank you."
"Good night." She hesitated, and then she went into her room.
He took his sweatpants and his toothbrush into the bathroom.
Don't
think about her
, he told himself.
He got ready for bed, concentrating
on not thinking about Allie, and then he went out to the couch
and made
his bed, concentrating on not thinking about Allie, and then he got
into his bed, concentrating on not thinking about Allie.
It wasn't working.
*  *  *
Allie lay in bed and thought about Charlie. God, he was beautiful,
standing there in the living
room with his shirt unbuttoned. She'd never been turned on just looking
at a
man before, but he
was so broad and beautiful. And dangerous.
If they were on TV instead of radio, she'd make him leave his shirt
unbuttoned. Women would
be clawing at the set.
And then there was his mouth. Kissing like that should be illegal. Or
at least licensed.
She put her hands over her face and groaned. Sleepingwith Charlie would
not be penicillin. Sleeping
with Charlie would be cocaine. Of all the
stupid ideas she'd had in her life, this was the stupidest.
Why didn't she ever listen to Joe?
She turned over onto her side, concentrating on not thinking about
Charlie.
God, he looked good. And he kissed better.
She buried her head under the pillow and tried to think about her
career.
*  *  *
Charlie rolled over on the couch. Sleeping with Allie would be wrong.
She was emotionally
vulnerable right now. By tomorrow, she'd be
relieved he hadn't taken her up on her offer.
Of course, by tomorrow, he'd be insane with frustration.
It was that damn kiss. If she hadn't asked for the kiss, he wouldn't be
thinking about how soft her
mouth was, how soft she was all over...
He rolled over again, trying to think about the anonymous letter and
how he didn't have a clue about
what a disc jockey did and how tomorrow
night he'd have to do it, concentrating on everything and anything but
Allie.
She was probably asleep by now, anyway.
It was thinking about her mouth that was the worst.
*  *  *
Allie sat up in bed and put her arms around her knees. Not thinking
about Charlie wasn't working.
She was breathless with not thinking about him. She wanted him. She
physically
itched for him.
This wasn't the gauzy need she'd always assumed women
felt for the men they lusted after. This
was unpleasant and
uncomfortable and would require full body contact to satiate.
And he'd already said no once.
Suppose she just strolled out there.
And then what? Took off her nightgown? Did the dance of the seven
veils? That would never work.
She was a lousy dancer. Production was
her specialty, not seduction. Maybe if she made up some
cue cards:
"Yes, Allie, I'd love to Sleep with you. Take off your clothes."
Right, that would work.
Besides, he was probably already asleep.
She put her head on her knees and moaned softly. She was never going to
get to sleep.
*  *  *
Charlie sat up and put his head in his hands. He was never going to get
to sleep. He wanted her
so much now, he hrobbed with it. How the hell
had this happened?
What difference did it make?
He threw off the covers and stood up.
He'd just knock on her door. She was probably asleep. Fhen he'd go back
to the couch and go to sleep.
Right.
He picked up his shaving kit and pulled out a strip of con-loms,
shoving them in the pocket of his
sweats before he went :o her door.
He knocked softly. "Allie?"
"Come in," she said.
She was sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped around her cnees and her
glossy brown hair tangled
around her face. "I can't sleep," she said.
"Me, neither." He sat down beside her. "You and your one last kisses."
He cradled her cheek in his
hand. "Do you still want that one-night
stand?"
"Yes," she breathed, and the heat flared in him.
"Thank God." He slid his arm around her. "Move over."
3
Charlie moved pretty fast for a big guy, shoving off his sweatpants and
sliding her nightgown over
her head while she drew a sharp breath at
his touch. The heat flared in her when the shock of his
skin touched
hers, and he touched her everywhere. She clutched him to her, tipping
her head back
for his mouth as if the muscles in her neck had given
way. His hands moved over her, stroking her
back, her sides, sliding
down to pull her close to the hardness of his hips, and all the while
he
tormented her mouth with his tongue. He was everywhere, and wherever
he was, there was heat.
"Tell me what you want," he whispered against her mouth, and she clung
to him and whispered
back, "You,"
He moved down her throat to the hollow between her neck and shoulder,
making her squirm as he
found the nerve there. He trailed more hot
kisses down her shoulder until his mouth found her breast
and she
forgot who she was. He dallied there, sucking hard until she could feel
the pull and tingle deep inside her. She moved against him
convulsively, pressing him to her, and he moved his mouth to her
other
breast and made her moan again.
Allie drowned in the heat; waves of it washed over her as Charlie moved
against her. Then his mouth found hers again and he was kissing her
hard, his tongue thrusting into her mouth as he pulled her on
top of
him and pressed her head to his so that she couldn't escape his kiss.
She stretched against him, drunk with desire, and he rolled over so she
was under him again and moved his hand between them, lower this time.
His whisper tickled her ear and made her squirm. "You have a beautiful
body, Allie. You were made
for love." He slid his hand between her legs
and she gasped and arched up to meet him.
"Don't ever stop touching me," she said thickly. Her skin prickled, and
the pounding came stronger,
in rhythm with his hand. "Don't ever, ever
stop."
But he did, rolling away from her to reach for something on the floor.
She heard foil tearing.
"Charlie."
She struggled to sit up and then his mouth was on hers again, his hands
on her hips, his body against
hers. He pulled her under him and then he
was inside her, sliding into her, and she felt her entire body clench
and throb as he rocked into her, felt herself drawn into the pounding
in her blood, in his blood,
the pounding everywhere.
"Wait." She felt herself lurch out of control. "Wait. I can't..."
"Let go," he whispered in her ear. "Let go, Allie."
She clutched at him, and he stared down at her hotly, half in shadow,
his eyes glittering as he thrust
into her over and over again.
Who is
he?
she thought.
I don't
even know him. And he's inside me.
Then he moaned and his head dropped to her shoulder, and she felt his
grasp tighten on her as he slumped over her. She held him to her,
rocking him a little, feeling warm and tingly and shaken and relieved
and vaguely disappointed.
Charlie rolled off and pulled her close to him.
"I lost you along the way," he said, still breathless. "What did I do
wrong?"
"Nothing." Allie settled against him, trying not to be annoyed. "That
was incredible. You were wonderful." For a moment, it was like being
with Mark again, and she sighed in
resignation. Men
were obviously not her strong suit.
Charlie held her until his breathing slowed, and then he propped
himself up on one elbow and looked down at her, moving his hand up to
cup her breast again. "You were with me there," he whispered.
"I could
feel it in you."
"I don't know." She tried to smile her usual supportive-lover smile at
him, but she was distracted by
his stroking thumb. "It doesn't matter."
He bent and kissed her cheek softly. "What part threw you off?" He
moved his mouth to her breast. "Was it this?" He ran his tongue over
her, and her body tightened at his touch.
"No." She moved against his mouth, her annoyance fading considerably.
"No. It wasn't anything
you did."
His hand moved down and stroked her gently. "This?"
"No," she breathed, and closed her eyes to concentrate on his touch.
"Allie?" He kissed her until she clung to him, dizzy again.
"I love it when you touch me." She moved under his hand as he stroked
her.
"Good. I'll do it often." His fingers were stroking faster, and she
found it hard to concentrate on his words. The pressure was everywhere,
growing stronger, and she moved against the hard barrier of his body
when she felt the itch start under her skin again.
"I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered, one arm tight
around her. "Let go. I'm holding you."
Allie dung to him, drunk with the pressure, aching for release. The
whole world was his hand against
her, and the prickle in her blood, and
she buried her face against his chest as she felt the pressure wind
tighter, andshe knew she was was going to explode if he didn't stop.
Out of control.
"Oh, God." Allie tried to move away, but Charlie rolled and pinned her
under him, thrusting his tongue
in her ear, and she twisted at the shocking pleasure of it, crying out
once as the
pressure flared in her
and her skin screamed, and then everything did
explode, the heat arcing through her body as she
gasped in his arms.
Charlie held her so tightly she had trouble breathing, but she clutched
him to her anyway.
"Allie? Allie, love?"
She buried her face against his chest and tried to stop gasping, but
the waves still lapped gently inside
her, like little aftershocks.
"Allie?"
She clung to him, trying to find her voice, any coherent thought. "Oh,
God, Charlie."
He held her tighter. "I thought you'd gone mute on me. You didn't say
anything for so long."
Allie took a long shuddering breath and then another until sanity
returned. The heat and the release
settled into her bones like a
narcotic. She stretched against him, all her muscles aching, her skin
sliding warm against his. "Oh." She drew another deep breath. "I may
never talk again."
Charlie brushed her hair back from her face. "Can you sleep now?"
"Only if you don't touch me," she said, and he laughed and pulled her
close, and she curled into him,
and then they both fell asleep.

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