Flirting With Danger Chapter 14

Luke is determined

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 to tempt her only minutes earlier and, as always, she had brushed him off.

He watched her hands, which had been pressed against his chest, abruptly spring away from him as if they had been stung.

His hands, nevertheless, didn't seem to want to relinquish their hold on her waist. He was close enough at that moment to experience a waft of some exotic bodywash she had obviously used in the shower. He recalled watching her pouring it onto that sponge and had a flashback to the sight of her showering behind that frosted glass screen.

"Luke?"

What was he doing?

"Hmm?" he echoed her earlier response.

She lifted her face to him.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be seen in my front garden like this," she said, glancing down again at his chest, still much too close for comfort.

Damn it, she had meant that to come out a hell of a lot more firmly. Instead, her voice had seemed far too soft to be reprimanding.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, gazing down at her.

Eh? What did that mean? Charlie was beginning to lose track of the whole conversation. For goodness sake, she should just forget it and get back upstairs.

"Hadn't you better take that shower?" she said, forcing herself to sound more in control as she returned her attention to his face again.

"Hmm," he replied again vaguely, caught in her gaze.

Man her eyes were blue... real blue!

"Adams? Move then," she said, trying her hardest to focus under his scrutiny.

"You move," he challenged.

She searched his face with confusion. "You'll have to let go."

He'd forgotten that he still had hold of her waist. Finally, he seemed to shake himself out of his trance. "Oh yeah, sure," he replied, dropping his hands.

Charlie made a quick dash for the stairs again, feeling Luke's eyes burning into her back as she climbed each step.

At last, she reached the sanctuary of her bedroom door and, with relief, turned to see Luke enter the bathroom.

Right, she had to force her chaotic mind back to practicalities. She had to get changed, go back to the club with Luke and then get back there to meet Richie later that afternoon.

Her bedroom was decidedly colder than usual that day, as the heating hadn't been used for a few days now, and Charlie's damp robe was becoming uncomfortably chilly. Searching through her drawers for a nightgown to pop on whilst she dried her hair and found appropriate clothes to wear, she was dismayed to realize that all of her practical nightwear had been moved to Richie's house earlier that week; all that remained were the flimsy, lacy lingerie that she rarely had occasion to wear. Oh well, it was better than nothing. Picking out a deep burgundy satin and lace night dress, she discarded her robe and slipped on the dry garment.

Strolling over to her dressing table, she picked up a brush and began untangling her hair. Once having eased the brush smoothly through one side of her hair, she turned her head to tackle the other. It was then that she caught a glimpse of Luke in her bathroom across the hallway, through her half open bedroom door. The sudden image of him in there half naked, about to strip completely, shocked her. Okay, she'd known he was in there, but actually seeing him in her bathroom ...it pressed home that Luke was back in her life, and in a more personal capacity than he had been before. Now they were no longer work colleagues; any time they spent together was because there was a willingness on both of their parts. So why was it again that she had been so willing? She had thought that she wanted him out of her life... hadn't she?

Why the bloody hell couldn't he have shut the door?

Turning from that disturbing sight, she tried, not for the first time that day, to bring her thoughts back to reality. He had been going to ask her to shower with him before by the banister. It wasn't as though he hadn't tried a similar thing again and again before. Of course, she'd always turned him down. Worryingly though, at that moment, she found her mind tiptoeing around the idea, like some trespasser, treading on ground that it shouldn't be going anywhere near. The idea was preposterous. If he could make her burn up by just the way he looked at her, how the hell would she cope with even a passionate kiss, let alone the intimacy of lovemaking! And he'd make the very most of her surrender too; she just knew it. He'd kiss her and tease her and drive her close to insanity with his touches. She'd be lost and utterly at his mercy. It could never happen.

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. Had he seen her watching him moments before? He couldn't have, surely. But then why was he staring at her like that? She had to break eye contact. She had to get up and close the bedroom door, but the nightslip she was wearing was so revealing. Too much for her to cope with Luke's gaze on her in it.

She turned her head then, breaking their gaze and busying herself with brushing the rest of her hair. She would shut the door when he got in the shower and wasn't looking.

Had Charlie really been watching him just then?

Luke's head had too many thoughts racing around it. It didn't help that, the moment he stepped under the steamy water of the shower, the scent of Charlie hit him like a tonne of bricks. It was as if she were all around him, there in the shower, the steam intensifying the scent of her. She had after all, only just left not so many minutes before, and he had, after all, got a fairly good picture of what she might look like if she was there with him. Not a perfectly clear picture, but his imagination was doing pretty well at that moment filling in the missing details!

Hoping to clear his head, he ducked it under the stream of water, smoothing his hair back afterwards and turning around to douse the rest of his body. That was the second shower he had taken that day, and the second time that he'd spent most of it with Charlie dominating his thoughts. He was confused though.

When he'd flown back, he had known he would try to find Charlie immediately. There were too many things left in the air in the way that he'd been forced to leave, and besides which, he just wanted to see her again. But he hadn't been under any illusions that she would want anything more than just a casual friendship with him, if that. She had been given the opportunity to contact him when he had left a phone number with the boss, but she had chosen not to. It had hurt, but he had grown to accept it in the years that had followed.

In the time before he realized that she wasn't going to contact him however, he had thought many times about that conversation between himself and the boss the first time she had left MI5. Those couple of months before he left for New York had been pretty damn good. He'd somehow been more aware of every little touch, every time their gazes had crossed, the smiles between them. The thought that the boss could have been right, and that she might actually really care for him deeply, had been beyond exciting. This was why he was so shocked that she hadn't tried to phone him. Obviously the boss had been wrong all along. That was the reason he hadn't returned to the UK sooner, but, with the Borelli situation worsening, it made sense to return and at least try to patch things up with her.

During those seven years apart though, and with the thought that she hadn't wanted contact with him, he must have forgotten what it felt like to be in her company. He had been totally unprepared for the effect seeing her again would have on him...and what's more, he was sure it wasn't one-sided either. That was what confused him so much. But to him, all the chemistry between them was still there, the same as before, as if no time had passed at all. He hadn't expected that. Was he just going nuts and imagining all of this, or what?

Right, he had to look at the evidence. The chess game. She had been seriously flirting with him then. Okay, so maybe she was just trying to put him off but... alright, alright, not concrete evidence. So, what else? The dance. She'd let him touch her quite boldly before she'd suddenly freaked, but she hadn't moved away immediately; he'd got his hand down her dress for goodness sake. Damn it, he was beginning to ache again at the thought of it. The invitation to share the sofa with her too; that had been pretty hot. Not to mention the way they had woken up in the morning, and he was sure that she had been awake sooner than she had let on. He sensed her alertness; it was only because the cleaners had interrupted that he didn't get the chance to find out if she really had been awake or not. Then there was when they had bumped into each other just before and she hadn't moved away; she sort of froze and everything went kind of fuzzy, the way it sometimes did for a moment or two when they were close.

Weighing up all that evidence, together with the fact that she was, at that moment, in her bedroom dressed in that sexy lingerie, grrrr, hesitant eyes taking sneaky little glances at him, the little minx...wait a minute, with all that evidence, any cop, agent, PI...guy...whatever, anyone would be nuts not to conclude that she wasn't hot for him. Knowing Charlie though, she was probably trying her best not to let it get the better of her. She always followed the rules, and was most likely thinking of Richie. Clearly she didn't want him though, or she wouldn't have turned him down and be flirting with Luke.

What should he do? Then other instances from the day before kept popping up in his head, strengthening his conviction that Charlie really was hot for him. The time when she'd glanced at his lips and he was sure she'd wanted him to kiss her. Adrenalin began to pump the more excited he got at these thoughts... hell, how could he have forgotten the way she'd looked at him when Sue and whatever his name was, were having sex in the other room? She'd been burning up, real turned on. Damn it, he knew how she felt! This was nuts…

Turning off the shower suddenly, Luke grabbed a towel from off the rail and climbed out of the bath, briefly drying himself before wrapping the towel around his waist.

He was going to face Charlie once and for all and make her admit the heat between them! Then they'd share that bath she'd been so keen on having!