Charlie All Night by Jennifer Cruise

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