Charlie All Night

“Oh, a joke.” Mark looked relieved. “How did you two really meet?”

“I picked him up.” Allie took a deep breath. “The truth is…”

Charlie pulled her tighter, momentarily shutting down her lungs. “The truth is, she sat down next to me, and I looked at her and thought, ‘This is a good-looking woman,’ and we started to talk, and we’ve been together ever since.”

Allie jerked her head up and stared at him. Then she smiled, and Charlie smiled back by reflex, caught by the intelligence in her eyes and the warmth in her wide, soft mouth. She leaned toward him, and he bent to hear what she said.

She was almost nose-to-nose with him. “You are a good person. I forgive you for insulting me.” She patted his sleeve and then disengaged herself from his arm.

Charlie missed her warmth. “I didn’t insult you.”

“How long have you two known each other?” Mark asked.

“Eternity,” Charlie said.

“But it seems like only a few short minutes.” Allie glared at him again and then she leaned back, her attention caught by something over Charlie’s shoulder. She signaled someone away, and Charlie turned just in time to get the impression that someone was doing a fade from the doorway into the hall.

So, Allie had a secret. Life just got more interesting all the time. And of course that meant that he was going to have to stick with her until he discovered her secret. He’d been hired to find all the secrets at the station. It was his job. It was his duty. He looked at Allie, her hair shining like old brass in the warm light of the bar.

It was his pleasure.

“So, where’s Lisa tonight?” Allie leaned on the bar in an attempt at languid unconcern. “What a shame she’s not with you. We could all have dinner together.”

Careful, Allie, Charlie thought.

“Lisa’s at the station.” Mark frowned. “You’re right. It is a shame. This would be a great chance to meet Charlie.”

“There’ll be other chances.” Charlie finished his drink. “I’m not going anyplace. Except to the top of the ratings.”

Mark decided that was a joke, too. “Heh, heh, heh.”

Mark had a laugh like an asthmatic horse, and Charlie wondered if that was why Allie had left him. Listening to that laugh would certainly be reason enough for anybody to leave him. Which brought an ugly thought. He’d have to be very careful because if Mark was any indication of his radio competition, he would go to the top of the ratings. That would be bad. One of the basic tenets of undercover investigation was not becoming a household word.

“Well!” Allie slid off the stool. “We’ve got to be getting in to dinner. Wonderful seeing you again, Mark.”

Mark leaned forward to kiss her goodbye, and she tripped backward to get away from him.

Charlie caught her. “Falling for me all over again, huh?” He tightened his arm around her automatically. Allie was soft and round against his shoulder, and she smelled like flowers. He was in no hurry to let go. “Try to restrain yourself,” he told her. “We’re in public.”

She looked into his eyes and swallowed hard. “It’s your animal magnetism. I’m restrained now. You can let go.”

“I don’t think so,” he said, and kissed her.

He’d only meant to kiss her quickly and let her go, mostly to annoy Mark and, all right, because she had a great mouth. But she clutched at him in surprise and fell into his arms so the kiss was a lot more than he’d planned, a lot more warmth and softness and weight, and her mouth was cool and sweet from the cream. He was a little dizzy by the time he remembered where he was and came up for air.

“What are you doing?” Allie sounded more breathless than annoyed when she pulled away from him.

“Making my move. Come back here.” Charlie reached for her, and she stepped back.

Mark looked disgruntled. “Well, really, Allie, you’re in public.”

“That’s lust.” Charlie smiled at him happily. “She can’t keep her lips off me.” Allie took another step back, and Charlie stood up to follow her. “Well, it looks like we’re moving on,” he told Mark. “Tell Lisa we said hi.”

When they were in the hallway, Allie shook her head. “Who are you really? Satan? I’m being punished, right?”

“I’m Charlie Tenniel.” He held out his hand. “I work with that stuffed shirt you used to date. I assume all you did was date. I’d hate to think that any woman I’d kissed in a bar actually went to bed with somebody like that.”

She looked down at his hand and sighed. Then she took it and shook it once and dropped it. “I’m Alice McGuffey, your producer at WBBB. It was nice meeting you, and thank you very much for helping me with Mark, but I have to go now. We can talk again tomorrow at the station.”

She turned to go into the restaurant, and Charlie stepped around her to block her. The last thing he wanted now was to get dumped. There were too many things Allie could tell him about the station. He could probably get the information from other people, but other people didn’t have Allie’s voice. Or Allie’s mouth. “Where are you going?”

“To dinner.” Allie gestured to the dining room. “With my dinner date. The only perfect man I know.”

“Ah.” Charlie nodded at her encouragingly. “Your father. We should meet so he can see the kind of guy you’re working with.”

“No.”

“No, he shouldn’t see?”

“No, he’s not my father.”

“No?” Charlie thought faster. “Gee, I’ve never met a perfect man.” He tried to look wistful. “I’ve always wanted a role model.”

Allie looked at him with disapproval, but he smiled at her and finally she gave up. “Okay, I owe you. You want to eat dinner with Joe and me? If you can’t, it’s perfectly all right.”

“Thank you.” Charlie held the door to the restaurant open. “I can’t wait to meet Joe, the perfect man.”

“Terrific,” Allie said.

Charlie followed her into the restaurant, a big room with too much mahogany and not enough light. Allie looked around the dimness and then smiled when a man across the room stood up and waved at her.

Charlie narrowed his eyes a little. This guy might actually be the perfect man. He was tall, even taller than Charlie’s six-two, and classically handsome without being obnoxious about it. His jaw was strong, his blond hair gleamed, his blue eyes were warm and the smile he had for Allie was real and loving.

“Your brother?” Charlie asked, and Allie said, “No,” and walked away from him. He followed her, trying to find something about Joe that wasn’t perfect and feeling vaguely annoyed.

Allie introduced them at the table. “Joe, this is Charlie Tenniel, the new ten-to-two DJ. I’m producing his show.”

“I heard. Karen called.”

Joe shot Allie a look that appeared to be sympathy, but Allie had already turned back to Charlie. “Charlie, this is Joe Ericson, my roommate. He’s the station’s accountant.”

She sounded like a well-behaved child, but she didn’t look like one. Charlie began to wonder what Allie was like when she wasn’t behaving well in public. No. That sort of thought would add those complications he’d been avoiding.

“Charlie Tenniel.” Joe’s smile was open and admiring as he held out his hand. “Are you the one they call Ten Tenniel?”

Ouch. He hated lying, but it was better than “No, that’s my brother, the drug-dealing DJ.” He shook his head. “Call me Charlie.”

Joe kept going. “I’ve heard about you. I’ve got a friend down in Lawrenceville who was very upset when you disappeared. I’m looking forward to hearing you myself now.”