Charlie All Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

Allie
thought. Jealousy? Good. He's staying with
us," she said, and Joe
choked on his drink.

"What's wrong with you?" Mark asked him.

"Nothing." Joe smiled blandly. "Nothing."

Mark frowned again at Allie. "You've only got two bedrooms."

"Yes, I know." It wouldn't hurt Mark to think she was sleeping with
Charlie. She looked at Charlie
over the top of her glasses. Actually,
it wouldn't hurt her to think she was sleeping with Charlie. Bulky,
friendly Charlie in shirtsleeves nade a nice contrast to trim, tense
Mark in a suit. In fact, the more she
saw Mark next to Charlie, the
less she missed having him around. Sleeping with Charlie might be the
logical cure for her lingering case of Mark. Sort of like using
penicillin to wipe out a bad bug that
wouldn't go away.

The analogy was certainly apt anyway.

Allie's logic kicked into gear, analyzing the situation, a relief after
the panic of the afternoon. She
wasn't infatuated with Charlie the way
she'd been with Mark. With Charlie, she could have an
intelligent,
well-planned one-night stand. Then her last sexual memory would be
Charlie, not Mark,
and she could get on with her life. The more she
thought about it, the better she liked it. As long as Charlie didn't
get hung up on her, it would be perfect. And even in her short
acquaintance with him,
it was fairly evident that commitment was not
his byword.

Mark looked from Charlie to Allie to Joe, evidently reading Allie's
mind. "So who is he sleeping with?"

"Me." Allie held up her hand like a polite child, her plan now in
place. "Joe gets him tomorrow."

"Very funny," Mark said.

"Not so funny for me," Joe said. "I have to wait twenty-four hours."

"I don't think that's funny," Mark said.

"Neither does Joe," Charlie said, and Allie laughed, delighted he was
part of them.

Lisa had been following the exchange, frowning as her head bobbed back
and forth. "I don't get it."

"It's just a joke, Lisa." Mark put his arm around her. "Not a very
funny one."

Charlie shook his head. "You have no sense of humor, Mark. That's why
your relationship with
Allie didn't work, remember?"

Mark decided to take offense, something, Allie reflected, that any sane
man would have taken much sooner. "I don't know what Allie is doing
with someone like you," Mark told Charlie. "You're not her type. Of
course, I don't know what she's doing with him , either." He jerked his
head at Joe.

Allie did not take insults to any of her friends well, but especially
not to Joe. "Look..."

"I'm great in the kitchen," Joe said. "She loves my cooking." 

"And I'm great in the bedroom," Charlie said. "She loves my body.
Between the two of us,
Allie has it
all."    

Allie glared at them both. "Actually—"

Mark snorted. "Allie doesn't like sex."

Allie swung on Mark. "Well, actually —"

Charlie smiled at Mark and interrupted her. "No, she just didn't like
it with you."

"She didn't like your linguini, either," Joe pointed out. "She said it
was rubbery."

Charlie frowned at Joe. "That's funny. She said the same thing about
his—"

"Oh, great ," Allie said.

"Don't be childish." Mark stood up, almost knocking over the waitress
who'd come with their salads. "Obviously, we've intruded, and you don't
want us. Come on, Lisa."

They watched him stalk across the room, Lisa trailing behind, throwing
them curious looks over
her shoulder.

"Feel free to discuss my sex life at any time in public," Allie told
the two of them when the waitress
had gone. "Don't mind me."

"We won't," Charlie said around a mouthful of salad.

"I almost feel sorry for Lisa," Joe said.

Allie picked up her fork and stabbed at her lettuce, shoving thoughts
of sleeping with Charlie out of
her mind to consider Lisa. She ate for
a couple of minutes, looking at the situation from all sides.
"I guess I
do feel sorry for her," she said finally. "This isn't her fault."

"She ended up with your boyfriend and your job," Joe reminded her.
"She has some responsibility
there."

"Nope." Allie's voice grew