Flirting with Danger by Bev Hardy (digital e reader TXT) 📖

She went to stand then decisively to close her bedroom door, but before she could rise from the stool, her legs failed her as the focus of her thoughts was staring directly at her from across the bathroom. Adrenalin shot through her at the expression on his face, and she was rendered motionless. 

Charlie hung up the phone after a tense conversation with Richie. She hated having to lie to him about where she had been the previous night, most of all because she was afraid of being found out and making everything appear that much more circumspect. But she could hardly explain why they had got locked in Doug's office either. Glancing at her watch, she tried to remember when Luke and she had arrived back at her house, and how much longer she had until Luke would be back again. Oh well, she had a life too and she bloody well needed a shower; he'd have to wait.

Running up the stairs, she stripped off her dress on the landing, desperate to free herself from the material which now felt so uncomfortable next to her skin.

The shower had felt unbelievably good when she first stepped under it, and she simply stood beneath the steaming water for a while, letting it wash away her tension. Her mind was happy to empty itself for those moments, while her body enjoyed the luxury that the water afforded her. This didn't last long however, as soon her thoughts strayed back to Luke, and the corpse in his car. This whole Borelli business was a real can of worms and Luke was in it up to his neck. She ran a hand through her damp hair; goodness knows what he'd put himself through over the last seven years. He never had known when to stop. At least he'd had some sleep last night though... even if she had been forced to sell her soul to the devil to help him rest.

She couldn't do that again though. Getting that close to Luke was dangerous. Thank goodness he had been asleep, but then what of her actions... or lack of them? She'd always been in control before... okay, maybe there had been the odd, fleeting moment of weakness, but nothing like what she'd experienced on that sofa... weak wasn't the word for it; she'd been practically wanton!

She sighed and leant against the side of the shower screen, allowing the water to continue tumbling over her weary body, too tired to force her train of thoughts in any other direction than where they instinctively wanted to go.

There had been times in the past when the atmosphere between Luke and herself had somehow spiralled; the result of built up intensity... times when she'd caught him watching her and found it difficult to breathe from the look in his eyes. But she had always somehow managed to keep her cool, if only on the outside.

Then, occasionally, she'd been mortified after waking to realize that he'd even invaded her dreams, …. dreams when he'd broken the unspoken rules they had established between themselves as work colleagues, and thrown caution to the wind by catching her to him and devouring her mouth and body both. She'd woken reluctantly, her heart still racing with excitement, her body aching to be back in the dream, but her brain unwilling to face the reality of what her unconscious mind had forced on her. She had been furious with herself. Only immersing herself in work had forced the dreams from her mind.

A physical relationship between herself and Luke had always been unthinkable to her. She couldn't deal with it. She had become uncomfortably aware of that after, for a few frightening moments, she had thought that a drunken evening with him once had ended in a night of reckless abandon. After that amount of tequila, she rarely remembered a thing the morning after. The relief she had felt when she found out that it hadn't happened was something she constantly reminded herself of. She'd had a very lucky escape. Things were just too intense between them at work with everything they had to face together, and the idea of still having to carry on partnering him after any physical fling between them had run its course was unbearable.

But then there was last night. That time she wasn't dreaming though. That time the hands trailing fiery tingles all over her skin were real, and they were Luke's... and what's more, she hadn't stopped him either. That frightened her. Excitement had taken over, or something... something had definitely taken over. Perhaps it was the fact that he wasn't awake that had allowed her brain to give in to her baser urges... to experience for real what her mind had envisaged in her dreams. Either way, she had to get her brain to behave itself, and her body too!

Tired with trying to figure herself out, she reached for the yellow perfumed shower gel and poured some onto a sponge, working up a lather. She always luxuriated in bathing, however, on that particular day, perhaps teasing her already overly sensitised skin with the foamy softness of that sponge was a mistake. Even more so for the fact that her mind had been hovering on those moments during the early hours of the morning, and the feel of Luke's mischievous hands on her thigh. Once the sponge had reached the soft skin on the inside of her leg, she was suddenly back on that sofa, burning up and aching unbearably. Damn it! What was the matter with her?

Dropping the sponge, she backed towards the ice cold surface of the tiles, hoping to at least shock her body into some semblance of normality. Enough was enough; she was getting out of that shower!

Her emotional turmoil wasn't at all eased, however, by watching the subject of her torment ascending the staircase as she came out of the bathroom. She halted on her way to her bedroom, feeling exceedingly vulnerable in just her robe and nothing else. Focusing on his dirty shirt as a means of distracting her wayward mind, she wasn't entirely surprised when he revealed that he had broken into her house again; nothing had changed.

"I'm assuming that the state you're in has something to do with the reason you have been loitering around in my shed," Charlie said. He still hadn't explained why he was covered with dirt.

"Yeah. Mind if I take another shower?" he asked, eyeing the door to the bathroom from which she had just emerged. He climbed the final few stairs and joined her on the landing. "Was gonna go back to the guest house to get one but I got to kinda runnin' late," he explained.

Hmm, did she really want him to also undress in her house? If anything, clothes should be put on, not taken off!

She reverted to the more comfortable state of mild annoyance to mask her unease. Leaning against the banister, and crossing her arms over the tie of her towelling robe, she answered, "So, I probably could have taken a bath then after all."

Luke observed her for a moment, his gaze flitting over her robe while he contemplated something. She tolerated the path of his eyes, willing herself not to be affected by it.

"Charlie..." he said finally, a slight smile on his face as he moved slowly towards her. "We could always..."

Oh God, she'd seen that look before. Control Charlie, keep control!

"Ewww," she halted him with a two fingers on his chest, pushing him back. "Don't come near me like that. Your shirt is filthy, and I've just had a shower remember; I'm all clean."

Luke's smile quickly grew and he reacted by yanking his shirt out of his trousers and reaching to the top button.

Charlie stared at him, taken aback, and watching disconcertingly as, one by one, the buttons on his shirt became swiftly unfastened. Oh Lord! This was the last thing she needed.

"Adams, what are you doing?" she asked, her anxiety rising.

"What does it look like?" he replied, finally shrugging the shirt off down over his shoulders and catching it in one hand. "There, problem fixed. Now, about this bath..." he said, moving towards her again.

She attempted to calm herself with the thought that he surely wouldn't try anything serious on with her there, not after all that time apart, and certainly not considering that she was with Richie now... But who was she kidding? This was Luke she was dealing with. Arms and shoulders and an imposing chest were advancing. She wasn't thinking about that chest, she wasn't looking at it. She would keep her eyes on his face! What on earth was he planning on doing anyway?

Her pulse raced uncontrollably however, as he moved heartstoppingly close to her whilst reaching to hang his shirt over the bannister she was leaning against. Hmm, a cunning ploy to move closer to her. Did he think she didn't know what he was up to?

Finally she found her voice. "Go and get in that shower, before I change my mind," she said, ducking away from him and heading for her bedroom door.

"Change your mind?" he questioned, his face lighting up with surprised hope, despite her imminent departure.

"About you having a shower here," she stressed, disappearing behind her bedroom door.

Ah, damn it!

She was just chastising herself only moments later when she heard heavy footsteps rushing down the stairs. What was he doing now? Diving out of her bedroom, she leant over the banister to see him open her front door, bare chest and all!

Oh good Lord, the neighbours!

Rushing back into her bedroom, she headed straight for the window. Unbelievable! He was parading around her front garden half naked! She watched as he opened one of the back doors of his car and pulled out a bag, presumably containing a change of clothes. He could have thought of that before he'd undressed!

Growing ever more annoyed by his cavalier attitude, she stormed back down the stairs, ready to give him a much needed lesson on the do's and don'ts of neighbourhood behaviour. She had just rounded the bannister on the last step however, when she flew slap bang into Luke, who was on his way back up.

"Hey, what's the rush?" he chuckled, catching her around the waist to steady her.

Mmm, actually that was quite nice, having a freshly washed, robed, but probably naked under that robe, Charlie in his arms… all be it accidentally.

He glanced down at the top of her head, not far from his nose. Something wasn't right; he could feel her tension. What had he done now?

Charlie found herself suddenly and quite unexpectedly thrown against the man she'd been trying to keep her distance from, and she felt instantly overwhelmed by his close proximity. She could feel the warm skin of his chest beneath her palms, which she had put up in front of her when they had collided… his breath above her… his hands on her waist… Somehow it felt closer physically than they had ever been before, particularly considering both of their states of undress.

"Charlie?" he questioned.

He had said something; what had he said? More to the point, what had she been going to say?

"Hmm?"

Luke wondered about Charlie's sudden stillness. Had she been tempted for one miniscule second maybe? Nah. He'd tried