Read Charlie All Night for Free Online

the motel?"

"Just a duffel bag. It's in my car." Charlie frowned at her. "I still
think you're up to something."

Allie tried to look innocent and guileless while she cast around for a
selling point. "Joe puts pecans
in the waffles.'"

"I'm probably going to regret this." Charlie looked at Joe. "What do
you think?"

Joe shook his head. "I'm staying out of this. Although we do have a
couch, and I do put pecans in
the waffles." He looked at Allie. "On the
other hand, I do think she's up to something."

"They better be great waffles," Charlie said.

"They'll be unforgettable," Allie promised.
    *  *  *
Charlie wasn't used to struggling with his conscience, but then his
life wasn't usually this complex.
His conscience said, stay away, lie
low, don't get involved with these nice people. But he never
listened
to his conscience, anyway.

He was going to do it, he realized as they got up to go. He was going
to move in with Allie and Joe
and pump them for background on the
station, all the news and rumor that only friends would repeat
to
friends. It would be low and slimy of him, but it was a great
opportunity, and he'd been around
long enough to know that great
opportunities in life were few and far between.

Just keep your hands off Allie ,
he told himself sternly. It was one
thing to use her for information;
it was another thing entirely to use
her for.... He glanced down at her, and she smiled, and he remembered
how warm she'd been in his arms. Just
thinking about her was a bad idea.

Waffles and gossip, yes. Allie, absolutely no.

He excused himself and went to find a phone to cancel his motel
reservation. Remember, he told
himself. Be virtuous.

It would be a nice change for him.
    *  *  *
"What are you up to?" Joe asked Allie when Charlie had gone.

Allie shoved her chair in, squaring her shoulders. "I'm going to seduce
him." It sounded pretty
stupid when she said it out loud.

"What?"

"I have a plan. He'll be like penicillin." Joe looked at her as if she
were nuts, so she elaborated,
warming to her topic as she explained.
"Mark's just a bad habit, like a virus. All I need is an antidote.
I'll
sleep with Charlie, and then I'll be over Mark."

Joe put his head in his hands. "Even for you, this is a dumb idea."

"Why?" Allie blinked down at him. "It's worked great so far. I don't
mind about Mark much at all
when I'm around Charlie."

"And what are you going to do to get over Charlie?"

"I won't need to get over Charlie. From now on, I'm concentrating on my
career. Charlie is just
a fling."

Joe looked at her as if she were demented. "Except you're not the kind
of woman who has flings.
And you're already concentrating too much on
your career. That's how you ended up with Mark,
because he was convenient . And I don't think
Charlie is the kind of guy you forget."

"Well, I'm thirty-six," Allie said, exasperated. "If I don't start
having flings now, I never will. And
I'm tired of getting all wrapped
up in a gay and then trying to cope when he's gone. I want a nice,
simple, short, purely sexual one-night stand, and
then I can forget about Mark. And Charlie's out
of here in six weeks,
he said so. This is perfect.'"

Joe spoke very slowly to her. "This. Is. A. Dumb. Idea."

"Listen." Allie fought back the anger that suddenly threatened her
voice. "I know how dumb I am.
I know Mark is worthless. I knew it when
I was with him, but I kept making excuses. And now I'm
stuck in this
stupid thing where I want to be with him, and I don't even know why.
Haven't you ever wanted somebody you knew wasn't worth it?"

"Yes," Joe said. "I imagine almost everybody has."

"Well, all I'm trying to do is get over it." Allie stuck out her chin.
"Is that so badr

"No." Joe stood up and the sympathy in his eyes almost laid her low.
"No, of course not. But
Charlie is... well... I don't think I'd mess
with Charlie." He looked over her shoulder. "He looks
like the kind of
guy who makes an impression."

"Not on me." Allie turned and saw Charlie walking