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

to keep them away for long enough for me to take a look at the discs, that is if they have been put back of course."

"C'mon Charlie, let's just go get the discs and watch them. I gotta see. Who cares where we watch them?" he replied impatiently.

"I care," she came back. "And I hardly think it's going to help you if someone finds us and starts asking questions." She sighed and rethought. "Okay, if they are there, I'll come back for you. We'll just have to come up with something to keep them away for a while," she said, finally turning to head for the building.

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Charlie and Luke entered the kitchen to find that Eddie was already there with two other female staff. Charlie was relieved to see that the others had not yet joined them and so it would probably be a while until they moved to Eddie's flat in the staff block.

The three of them turned with excitement to see who had entered the kitchen.

"Yay, you made it for drinks," one of the girls enthused, filling glasses from a bottle of white wine she was holding.

"Of course she has; never lets us down when there are secret drinking parties, eh Charlie," Eddie said, taking two glasses and handing them over to Charlie and Luke. "Welcome to the madness," he said, smiling at Luke as he took the glass on offer.

"Well, I'm afraid it will only be one or two drinks tonight; Richie seems to have gone missing, and if I don't get back out there fairly soon, Doug will wonder where I am and probably come looking for me in here. Then your secret drinks will be a secret no more," she warned.

"You can have a few drinks though," the girl smiled, "besides, I seem to remember that you still have a dare outstanding from our last 'Truth or Dare' session."

Charlie laughed. "I'll have to save that for another night Debbie."

"Don't think we'll let you off that one," Eddie grinned.

"Hmm, I'm sure you won't," she replied.

They all turned then as the door opened and another girl stuck her head around it to whisper, "Hey you lot, you can't start yet; the other staff are making a fuss that we need to clear more tables before we clock off."

The three of them groaned, placing their drinks back on the counter top.

"We'll be back in a bit. Bottles are over there," Eddie said, gesturing to a plastic bag on the counter top as he passed Charlie.

"Thanks," she smiled.

Before Debbie exited the door, she turned to say, "Don't leave; we'll be back soon. It's so much fun when you stop for drinks Charlie," she said excitedly.

Charlie laughed to herself after they had left and looked up to see Luke grinning at her.

"What?" she asked.

The amused smile continued to play across his face but his eyes began to darken as he observed her. She had seen that look before and backed towards the counter top in response. He moved at the same time, closing the gap between them that she had created. She suddenly realised that she had little space to move.

"Yeah, I remember us havin' a hell of a lot of fun after a few drinks before," he said, placing one hand on the countertop at her side.

Her stomach filled with butterflies once again at his nearness and the way that his eyes made a slow assessment of her.

"So," he said softly, his voice smoky, that slight smile on his face, "How darin' you feelin' tonight Charlie?"

She took a breath to answer but stopped, letting him wait and wonder.

The next thing she knew however, someone was bursting in through the door. Charlie's head swung around and she sprung away from Luke when she realised that it was Richie standing in the doorway. He watched both of them, his eyes cold, hard and angry, before he moved into the room.

"I need to talk to Charlie," he said to Luke.

Luke crossed his arms over his chest and watched Richie suspiciously. He didn't like the tone of this guy's voice all of a sudden, or the vibes he was giving out.

"Sure," he gestured to her, "go ahead."

"Alone," Richie grated out.

"I aint…" Luke began, only to be interrupted by Charlie.

"Luke, I'll see you back out there."

He turned to her with an expression bordering on anger. Then he turned back to Richie, his face a mass of resentment and distrust. Finally he moved to leave.

"I'll be outside," he stressed to Charlie, giving Richie one last warning look before he left.

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Luke headed straight back to the bar in search of Doug. He found him chatting with a group of people that Luke didn't know, but one look at the expression on Luke's face and Doug excused himself and approached him.

"Is everything okay? Where is Charlie?" he asked.

"She's inside, taking to Richie," he replied, glancing back towards the building.

A pulse throbbed in Luke's temple.

"Is something wrong?" Doug asked, observing him.

Luke turned back to Doug. "How well d'ya know this Richie guy?"

Doug looked taken aback for a moment. "I've known him for a few years. He donates quite large sums of money to charities and uses the clubs facilities for meetings," he summed up. "Why?"

Luke shrugged, not wanting to say too much. "Just kinda strange, him turnin' up here, proposin' to Charlie so quickly. Kinda makes me wonder where he got all that money from too."

Doug smiled. "Well, I don't think Charlie is any rush to accept his proposal. As for the money, I've had him checked out; he's genuine," he assured Luke.

A frown flicked across Luke's face and he turned to cast a glance around the garden area at the other guests.

"You know all these people here well?" he asked.

"All of them," Doug replied confidently. "I make it my business to know everyone."

Doug wasn't giving Luke the answers that he wanted.

"You seem a little uneasy," Doug observed. "Anything I should know about?"

Luke laughed and shrugged casually, the seriousness of his expression masked.

"Guess it must be bein' an agent; don't trust no one," he answered.

Doug wasn't fooled; something wasn't right. "If you'll excuse me, I still have arrangements to make for tomorrow," he said, leaving the bar.

Luke had little time to think over Doug's words before Sue reappeared.

"Hey stranger, I wondered where you were," she said, slipping an arm through his.

"Just been gettin' to know people," he replied vaguely.

"I've been waiting for a dance," she said, smiling sweetly up at him.

He didn't need this right now.

"You know what, I don't dance that good," he said by way of an excuse.

"Yes you do," she contradicted. "I saw you and Charlie dancing together. Come on," she urged, tugging at his arm.

He looked up then, contemplating the dance floor, and then his whole world seemed to slow to a stop. He could hear his own heart beating, the blood rushing to his head.

It was her, there in the Club. That woman the Borelli's had sent to him in New York. If she was there, there were Borelli's nearby!

He broke free from Sue's hold immediately with a rough twist of his arm. He was vaguely aware of her protest as he lunged forward into the crowd towards Bella Jackson.

To his intense frustration though, by the time he had managed to push through the people, he had lost sight of her. Standing on the edge of the dance floor, he scanned the garden helplessly.

 

chapter 21

 In defence she resorted to anger. "When Luke asked me to dance, I told him that I was going to dance with you. And then I looked around and... where the bloody hell were you?" she shouted.
He growled and turned on her. "I was doing anything to avoid having to watch other men make a play for you!" he shouted back.
"You're out of your mind! Who exactly was supposedly making a play for me then Richie, who?"
He pointed again towards the window. "Him! The Yankee, for a start."

 

"Was that really necessary?" Charlie asked Richie crossly as soon as Luke had left the kitchen.
"So sorry to interrupt your little tete a tete," he replied with bitter sarcasm, pacing around the table. "You obviously care more about your ex 'partner' than you do your present one!"
"What are you talking about?" she snapped back. "He was not my partner, not in that sense, and my 'present one' hasn't exactly been around much this evening. Where on earth have you been?"
Richie stopped pacing suddenly and turned to her, his impatience clear in his face.
"You know what? I can't stand it anymore, seeing you with them. It was bad enough with Doug, but now there's a new guy on the scene as well!"
She growled with frustration and ran her hands through her hair. "Not this again. How many times do I have to tell you that there is nothing between me and Doug?"
"Ah, but there is; everyone knows it. You might be in a relationship with me, but there will always be something between you two," he said, pointing an accusing finger at her.
"For goodness sake Rich, I am allowed to have other people in my life! I've known Doug for years; he's a family friend. And I used to work with Luke. What do you expect me to do; ignore them because we are in a relationship?"
"It's not about that," he replied with a dismissive hand gesture as he turned from her again to resume pacing, "it's the way you react to them, look at them, everything. You don't act like that with me."
She shook her head with a frown. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He stopped to face her once more. "I saw you dancing with him." He pointed in the general direction of the garden outside. "Okay, even if I buy the fact you only see Doug as a family friend, don't tell me there is nothing between you and that Agent guy. At least be honest enough to admit that."
She faltered, unsure of what to say next. "But... but... we were never in a relationship!"
"That's not the point though, is it?" he came back.
In defence she resorted to anger. "When he asked me to dance, I told him that I was going to dance with you. And then I looked around and... where the bloody hell were you?" she shouted.
He growled and turned on her. "I was doing anything to avoid having to watch other men make a play for you!" he shouted back.
"You're out of your mind! Who exactly was supposedly making a play for me then Rich, who?"
He pointed again towards the window. "Him! The Yankee, for a start."
She laughed sarcastically. "He was with Sue! Surely to God you're not that blind to have missed the flirting between those two tonight."
He stilled suddenly, watching her closely for a moment before observing, "That bothers you, doesn't it?"
"Oh good Lord!" she exclaimed, turning from him and beginning her own pacing, her hands in her hair. "I can't go on like this!"
"Me neither," he said, too softly for her liking as the atmosphere took an abrupt turn for the worse.
She stopped, her back still turned to him, her heart rapidly accelerating with anxiety. Suddenly she could see a huge, overwhelming void in her life ahead of her which, depending on what she said next, she might