Jennifer Crusie Bundle Read online

  “Yes.” He kissed the top of her head. “But I’ve got to check out Tuttle in the daylight. So I’ll just take a rain check, if that’s okay with you.”

  “And miss Joe’s waffles?”

  “Hell, no. I’m eating waffles.” Charlie rolled up on one arm and looked down at her. “I’m taking a rain check on you. Until tonight.” He slid his hand under the sheet and cupped her breast, caressing her. “Same time, same place, same screams?”

  He was gorgeous in the sunlight, and he had golden hands. She felt dizzy under them right now. But he was also her career. Mixing sex and business would be bad. Look what had happened with Mark.

  “I thought we were a one-night stand.” Her hand closed over his to stop his caress, but somehow she ended up pressing his hand against her, instead.

  “We are.” Charlie climbed over her to get out of bed, pulling the sheet down to kiss her breast on his way. “One night at a time.”

  She pulled the sheet back up and squinted myopically to watch him put on his sweatpants, admiring the muscles in his legs and his rear while she told herself she should stop now, that sleeping with Charlie was not a good idea, that he was leaving in November. Her brain told her to tell him she didn’t want another night.

  Her mouth flatly refused to say anything that stupid.

  Something in her face must have tipped him off to her quandary because he stopped tying the string on his pants and grew serious. “You can always say no,” he told her.

  To you? The thought was so ludicrous, she laughed. “I’ll try to remember that,” she told him, and her spirits rose again. Enough of this chitchat. She had a career to resuscitate, and Charlie was a one-man rescue squad. She threw off the top quilt and got out of bed, fighting to keep the sheet wrapped around her, but it slipped as she yanked it free from the mattress.

  Charlie approved. “The hell with the waffles.” He reached for her, but she danced out of the way, blushing and covering herself with her hand and the corner of the sheet.

  “Go eat.” She flapped her free hand at him. “You need fuel for that body. You must be running on empty now.”

  “We get off at 2:00 a.m.” He grinned while she grabbed her robe and tried to put it on without dropping the sheet. “We can be home by two-thirty. You don’t want my side of the bed empty, do you?”

  She tied her robe closed and stuck her chin out, taking control. “You don’t have a side, and I’ll be asleep by two thirty-five.”

  “Then you’ll be awake by two thirty-six.” Charlie grabbed the belt on her robe as she sidled past and caught her to him. He kissed her thoroughly, and then, while she was still reeling, he let her go and walked out of the room, whistling.

  Hurry up, two thirty-six, she thought, and then she sat down on the edge of the bed again to get her thoughts back to her career, where they belonged.

  “PECANS, right?” Charlie said to Joe who was pouring batter onto the griddle.

  “Pecans.” Joe closed the iron and turned to Charlie, his arms folded. “So, how did you sleep?”

  Charlie sat down and tried to look innocent. “Am I going to get a lecture? Because she made the first move, I swear.”

  Joe rolled his eyes. “I know. She had a plan.”

  “Getting over Mark.” Charlie nodded and poured some orange juice. “What a loser that guy is.”

  Joe leaned against the stove. “She has a tendency to pick losers. She has what might be described as a real genius for it.”

  Charlie winced. “Don’t beat around the bush. Say what you mean.”

  “The only thing that’s saved her is that her exes were lousy lovers. When they went, she wasn’t missing much.”

  “I kind of got that impression last night.”

  “That’s not all you got.” Joe opened the iron and pried the waffles out onto a plate. “You don’t exactly make love quietly.” He put the plate in front of Charlie.

  “That’s Allie.” Charlie was lavish with the syrup. “She’s a screamer. Surprised the hell out of me.”

  “Allie’s not the only one. You’ve got a nice deep moan yourself.”

  “Me?” Charlie stopped, surprised.

  “The walls are thin here,” Joe said charitably.

  “I’m sorry we kept you up.” Charlie took a bite of waffle. “You make a mean waffle. Do I get seconds?”

  “Of the waffles, yes. Of Allie…” Joe shrugged. “That’s my question. Was last night just an extremely vocal one-night stand or will you be back?”

  Charlie stopped chewing. “Well, I was planning on coming back. We can go to a motel if we bother you. That’s only fair.”

  “The noise isn’t what bothers me.” Joe sat down and started on his own waffles. “What I’m worried about is Allie. Are you going to hurt her? Because if you are, I’m against it.”

  Charlie stopped chewing, shocked. “I don’t hurt people.”

  “What if Allie’s in love with you?”

  “She’s not.”

  “She will be if you hang around.” Joe pointed at him with a waffle-filled fork. “You’re smart, you’re funny, and you obviously know how to make her happy in bed.”

  Charlie thought about the job he’d come to do, and about how fast he’d be out of town when it was done. He sighed. “You’re right. I have no serious intentions about Allie. I just like sleeping with her. So I’ll do a fade.” The thought was extremely unattractive, so he changed the subject. “You know, it’s a shame you’re gay. You’re probably the perfect guy for her.”

  Joe grinned at him. “It’s a shame you’re not. You could be the perfect guy for me.”

  Charlie shook his head. “Probably not. I’m not the perfect guy for anybody.”

  “Good morning, all.” Allie drifted into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of orange juice, smiling a lovely serene smile at both of them. All her tightness was gone. She looked confident and sexy, and they stared at the transformation.

  Her smile faded as they stared. “Can I have waffles, too?” she asked Joe finally, and he blinked and then got up to make them for her.

  “I’ve got to find my shoes and then we can make plans,” she told Charlie. She smiled at him again, igniting him, and then she drifted back to her bedroom.

  Charlie was halfway out of his chair to follow her before he realized it. “Oh, hell.” He turned and looked at Joe. “You were right. I should have stayed on that damn couch.”

  “Maybe you’d better forget about doing the fade.” Joe turned back to the waffle iron. “This could be a good thing. She looks invincible.”

  “She looks like…” Charlie stopped.

  “She looks like she’s had great sex,” Joe said. “It’s a new look for her. I’d pay money to see Mark’s face when he sees her.”

  “Yeah? Well, what happens to that look when I stop sleeping with her?”

  “Hey, I also saw the look on your face. What makes you think you can stop?”

  Charlie put his fork down. Allie was absolutely not part of his plan. His plan was to do the job and get out.

  And now there was Allie.

  The look he gave Joe was pathetic.

  Joe laughed.

  WHEN SHE CAME BACK, Allie was wearing her day clothes: a plain, long, brown jersey dress and a man’s brown and cream tweed jacket. She looked extremely round and soft, and Charlie reminded himself sternly that from now on, they had a working relationship only.

  Then he watched her lick syrup off her fork and for the first time in his life, he envied silverware.

  “We don’t have to be at the station until four,” she told him around bites of waffle.

  “That’s fine,” Charlie replied. He needed some time alone to get his act together. “I want to wander around Tuttle on my own for a while. Get the feel of the place.”

  “Okay.” Allie nodded at him. “I’ll meet you in front of the station.”

  Joe left for an appointment, and Charlie and Allie talked about Tuttle and waffles and washed the dishes, and Charlie fou