Flirting with Danger Chapter 18

Tensions at the table

Luke and Sue flirted their way through the first two courses of the meal, and by desert, they were deep in conversation. Richie had gone somewhere to answer a phone call, leaving Charlie contemplating if Luke was doing all this flirting to get into Sue's bed. He needed those discs, so he did need to get back to her house, but how was he going to not sleep with her if she wanted to do it? It would seem strange if he turned her down, particularly after all the flirting he'd been doing that evening. Then again, being completely realistic, if Sue did offer herself on a plate, like she had to Dennis, to a man with a sex drive like Luke's, it would be highly unlikely that he would want to turn her down.

She didn't care anyway.

He needed to get those discs to clear himself of the murder. She wanted him to do that, of course, so what did it matter if he slept with Sue?

But… what if it turned out to be more than a one night stand?

She noticed their animated faces, the way they were laughing together.

They were quite similar. Sue was carefree and enjoyed the good things in life. She disliked rules and constraints…so did Luke.

Then she'd see them all the time in the club. She could do without that.

One thing was for sure; it was a bloody good job she hadn't given into Luke earlier, because he would still be there, flirting with Sue to get those discs, and she would still be there, wondering how far Luke would go to get them.

Suddenly her spirits fell as she tried to enjoy her chocolate desert, only to find herself swallowing it in uncomfortable lumps.

Why had she been feeling so down over the last couple of days? Ok, so it was in the back of her head that she and Richie were not working out and she would probably have to go through the heart wrenching process of splitting with him. But also, this was making her feel a little lost. Where was she going with her life? All the focus, whilst she had been with Richie, had been on the club and charity events. Was she really satisfied with that anyway though? And if not, where would she go from there?

Okay, so Luke was getting a little bit tired now with all this flirting; besides, this woman was coming on pretty strong. After having seen what she was like upstairs, he'd end up having to fight her off. He needed those discs, yes, but he hadn't planned on having to control a nympho, nutty woman into the bargain.

Finally, Sue had shut up for a moment then to eat her desert. Luke took the opportunity to glance up at Charlie and Richie to see what they were doing, only to realize that Richie had disappeared somewhere and Charlie was sitting alone, apparently lost in thought… her desert left half-finished as she played with the stem of her champagne glass.

With her eyes lowered, her mind elsewhere, Luke watched her for a moment. Some kind of light was reflecting off the glasses on the tables or something, because her face and shoulders were dancing with shimmering lights. It was weird because, watching her sitting there, all glamorous and so damn composed, he would never have thought he'd be attracted to that kind of woman. But then how dumb; she was gorgeous, so why wouldn't he be? It was more to do with the type of women he always went for before. They were the opposite of Charlie… usually loud, completely open with all their passions and wants, and not afraid of asking for them. They always indulged. A bit like Sue actually…

Charlie often frustrated him intensely with the way she held everything back, following the rules verbatim. But despite this being so exasperating, to the same extent, it also attracted him… weird. The fact that she never let him get away with anything, and that she could stand her ground so adamantly, was actually very hot. Plus, on the rare occasion that she did relax, boy was that exciting! It was kind of a challenge to get her to do it more often.

With his mind wandering as much as hers, he had found himself focusing on the champagne glass in her hand. When it suddenly stopped moving, however, he realized that she had come out of her reverie and her eyes were lifting. Her gaze collided with his immediately. She frowned slightly. He smiled though and gave her a wink.

She stared at him for a moment, her face almost void of expression, and he thought for a split second that she was angry with him. Then a small smile crept over her face and his smile grew in response, but the moment was then abruptly lost as quick as it came when she swiftly lifted her glass, emptied it and then stood, turning to head for the bar.

"You want another drink?" Luke asked Sue.

Sue glanced at the bottles on the table which had now been emptied.

"Yes, that would be nice," she replied.

"More champagne?"

"What else?" she answered with a smile.

He nodded and rose to walk to the bar.

When he reached Charlie, he just caught the tail end of something that Eddie had said to her, finishing with,

"I know what will cheer you up…"

Charlie looked a little startled to see Luke there suddenly beside her and she glanced at Eddie with an expression of something like mild panic. Eddie seemed unperturbed however and simply said to Luke,

"You have to like tequila; it makes you happy. You're having one too," he insisted.

Luke nodded a vague approval. "Tequila aint bad. Can you get someone to send some more champagne over to our table also?"

So, what was wrong with Charlie then? Maybe he'd gone a bit over the top with all the flirting with Sue. Considering that he'd been trying to seduce Charlie earlier, he supposed that it made him look a bit fickle.

"Eddie," Charlie called out, "leave the drink for me; I'm going to find Richie."

Eddie turned with a frown. "Come on Charlie, I've poured it now." He approached her again, saying in a whisper, "Please have just one with me…pretty please, just for me," he pouted.

She sighed, and seemed to begrudgingly toy with the idea.

"Please Charlie," Eddie repeated, "if you don't, I'll cry."

She tutted and her hand shot out then decisively to finally take hold of the glass. Eddie raised his to hers and then Luke's; they all chinked and drank.

Luke put his shot glass down with a smile and turned to Charlie, leaning towards her to say,

"Sleep with me Charlie, or I'll cry."

Eddie's eyes widened with surprised delight.

Charlie came back snootily with, "Thought you were going to sleep with Sue tonight."

Luke countered, "Thought you were going to sleep with Richie."

Charlie ignored his comment and went on, "You could use that line on her… although, knowing Sue, you probably won't need to."

"Oooh! Meow. Go tiger!" Eddie commented, crossing his arms and observing Charlie with a grin.

"Anyway," she said, standing from her stool, "I'm going to see what happened to Richie."

Luke turned to watch her stroll away. She didn't have to go far to find Richie though, as he was returning to the table, so they simply exchanged a few words before taking their seats once more.

"You want another one of these?" Eddie asked Luke, holding up his shot glass.

"Nah," he replied, rising to join his table again until a thought hit him and he changed his mind. "Okay then, I will have another. You want one also?" he asked, pointing to Eddie.

"I'd love to, but…" he glanced around him "… the boss won't approve if he catches me."

Luke glanced around too. "Well, I don't see no sign of the boss. I won't tell no one if ya have another."

Eddie's eyes lit up. "Go on then. Ooh, you're such a bad influence; I love it."

As Eddie poured the drinks on the bar for them, Luke asked, "So this Doug guy, your boss, what's he like?"

Eddie looked up with surprise. "Oh he's alright; he's just hot on rules and order, that sort of thing. I can't say anything bad about him though; he's helped me out a lot in my time here."

Hmm, that wasn't the answer Luke had wanted to hear.

"How long you been here?" Luke asked.

"Five years now."

"And how long has Doug been here?" Luke went on.

"A lot longer than I have. I think Charlie was only a teenager when she first came here with her father, and Doug was here then," Eddie informed him.

So, Charlie has known him since she was a teenager. Luke wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

Eddie finally handed Luke the tequila shot, they clicked and drank again.

Damn it; he had to ask.

"Eddie, you know Charlie and Doug… are they… did they… have they ever, you know…"

Eddie did know what Luke was asking, but he wasn't going to help him out. He was rather hoping that Luke wouldn't get around to asking that question.

Luke ran a hand through his hair and then leant closer to Eddie to finish,

"Did they ever get it together?"

Eddie groaned, and replied under his breath, "That's the sixty four thousand dollar question. Rumours began circling a few years ago. I don't know; she insists they are just friends, but she's so evasive when someone asks anything about it. Here's some advice for you though: don't broach the subject with Charlie. I did once and I thought she was never going to speak to me again! It's a bloody sensitive subject."

Luke stared at Eddie for a moment.

Right… okay… So there was something between them then. No one reacts like that if there was nothing going on. The whole thing was unsettling.

Luke glanced at his empty shot glass. "Might as well have one more," he said, handing it over to Eddie.

Eddie glanced around for signs of Doug, but seeing none, he refilled their glasses. They clinked and drank again.

"You two," Eddie began, pointing at Luke with his empty shot glass still in his hand, "you're great together though. You make me laugh."

Luke cringed slightly as the third tequila hit the back of his throat. "Laugh?" he questioned, "Why?"

"You're…" Eddie thought for a moment, "Spirited together."

Luke contemplated that. "Yeah, spirited," he repeated, seeming to like Eddie's assessment. He turned to look at Charlie then, but quickly turned back to warn Eddie,

"Playtime's over, the boss is on his way back."

Eddie whipped the shot glasses off the bar and hid them from sight.

"I'll see ya later," Luke said, standing.

"Yeah, and thanks for the drinks," Eddie whispered back before Luke left him.

Damn it, if only Luke wasn't perfect for Charlie… oh and if only he just happened to be gay too. Too much to ask for, but one could dream.

"You've been chatting to Eddie for a while," Sue observed when Luke returned to the table.

Was she keeping tabs on him already?

"Yeah," he laughed. "You get the champagne?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks," she smiled, picking up one of the bottles and filling a glass for him. "Cheers," she said, handing him the glass and holding hers up to clink.

He smiled. "Cheers."

"So, we should do the sitting next week," she said.

"Sitting?"

"Yes, so that I can paint you," she clarified.

What? He was kidding when he'd said that.

"Err," he laughed, his awkwardness trebling when he felt her hand slip down his leg.

He moved suddenly and his chair scraped on the floor, causing everyone on the table to look up.

Charlie was watching him with amusement. She'd seen; there was no doubt about it.

"I have a busy schedule," he replied to Sue. "I'll get back to you on that."

Unfortunately, this didn't put Sue off, and she went on, planning the painting and describing in detail what paints and utensils she was going to use. Luke nodded every now and then, whist contemplating how difficult it was going to be to get into her home without having to stay that night. Then boredom set in and Luke was considering reverting back to his first instinct: to break into her house and steal the discs.

Richie was discussing the charity conference with another club member who had joined their table, while Charlie was watching Luke with amusement. Maybe Sue was too much for him after all. Served him right. Then Doug appeared, seating himself opposite Charlie and next to Luke. He smiled at her, his eyes intensifying, the way they always did when he looked at her. She smiled back, but was then mortified moments later to feel a foot touch her ankle, and slide up and down her shin. She pulled her leg away and mouthed,

"Doug?" disapprovingly, her face beginning to heat up.

"What?" he mouthed back.

What on earth was he thinking, doing something like that there? Then she felt the foot again and it suddenly hit her; he wouldn't do something like that there, but she knew someone who would.

Her eyes flicked in Luke's direction. His face was still diverted as he appeared to be still listening to Sue, however, now his face had a grin on it. Of all the cheeky…

"Are you okay?" Doug asked.

"Yes," she replied, feeling decidedly not okay when the foot returned to her leg and slid further up. It tickled the back of her knee. She shifted away from it and crossed her legs, hoping to God that Doug wouldn't pick up on what was happening. The foot was persistent though and determined to push its mischievous luck as it found the sensitive inside of her thigh, stroking the soft skin.

"Charlie?" Doug questioned, noticing her lack of composure.

A small laugh escaped her mouth as she pushed her chair backwards, standing. "I…er, I think I'll just go and powder my nose," she said, turning to head for the Club building. On her way, she snuck a look back at the table. Luke was grinning at her. He winked.