Flirting with Danger by Bev Hardy (best free ebook reader for android txt) 📕

She paused for a moment and dipped her head, taking a steadying breath.

Luke's frown deepened as he watched her and, without him being fully aware of it, his fingers on the hand that was pressed against her back uncurled and began to stroke the bare skin of her back.

"... I went out of my mind. Each hour that passed was like torture, not knowing... Thinking that you were dead." She sighed and glanced away.

"Charlie," he said softly.

She turned her head to him again slowly, her eyes wary.

"I'm sorry." Pain flickered across his face. "It was a mistake. A damn stupid one. If I could change it all..." he faded out, as it suddenly hit him that if had he not made that mistake, he wouldn't have had to go through all the pain and misery of the last seven years.

He ran his left hand through his hair and glanced around, as if trying to find an answer. Charlie watched him. He looked so lost.

"So, what are you doing here now then?" she asked.

"Remember I had heat on me in New York the first time?" he replied.

She nodded.

"Well, it's an inferno now."

"Are you back at MI5?" she asked, surprised.

He shook his head.

Confusion swept across her face. "So?"

"I just had to get away from them, simple."

"I think you need a visa, or work permit or something Luke. You can't just move here like that," she pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, but I can't go back, that's for sure," he stressed.

She thought for a moment and then gave a half-hearted laugh. "I had such a simple, uncomplicated life until you crashed back into it."

"You mean 'boring'," he summed up.

"No Luke, normal," she replied.

"That's what I said. Same thing."

A half smile hovered around his mouth. His fingers resumed stroking small circles on her back.

She was more aware of them this time, and of the silence that was stretching, and his eyes that were searching hers. Her heart skittered and her skin warmed. His eyes were scrutinizing her face and the slow smile that developed across his acknowledged her rising colour.

She broke eye contact with him suddenly. What was she doing?

"Well, this has been scintillating, but I really should get back to Richie now," she said, turning and bending to retrieve her handbag from off the floor. As she crouched down, Luke had a very stimulating view down the curve of her back. She stood again, but instead of turning around, she remained facing the car for some reason. Luke didn't care, he was still mesmerized by the sight of her bare back and the curve of her body underneath. It wouldn't take much to slip that dress off. The thought snuck into his head.

"Adams?"

"Hmm," he responded, leaning closer to her, his face hovering by her hair, her perfume teasing his nostrils. If she didn't move soon, his libido would get the better of him. Fortunately, or possibly unfortunately, he couldn't decide which, her following question broke his spell.

"Why is there a dead body in the back of your car?"

She must be out of her mind.

"Adams," she began.

"What?" he said, accelerating out of the driveway.

"If I end up in prison because of this, I will be extremely upset with you!"

"What?"

Luke stepped around Charlie to peer into his car and she was right, there was indeed a dead body slumped in the back. Not just any dead body either, Luke was flabbergasted to see that the dead man was no other than Roberto Borelli! What the hell was going on?

"Oh this ain't good," Luke said, beginning to pace and run his hands through his hair as he wracked his brains, trying to figure out what to do.

"You don't say," Charlie replied sarcastically.

"I know that man."

"You know him?"

"He's one of the Borelli brothers," Luke informed her, as if that explained everything.

"Adams, dare I ask, who are the Borelli brothers?"

He stopped pacing for a moment and stared at Roberto's body. "Mafia," he replied.

Charlie threw her hands in the air. "Oh great! This day is just getting better and better. So you've brought Mafia back from New York with you," she stated.

"He's one of the guys I've been trying to bring down since I went back," he informed her, still staring at the body.

"Well, it looks like someone beat you to it," she replied.

Luke frowned. "But who, and why?"

Charlie sighed. "I don't know." She opened her bag and pulled out her mobile phone. Luke turned suddenly.

"What you doing?" he asked, looking suspiciously at the phone in her hand.

"I'm phoning the police," she told him, opening her phone.

"Are you kidding me? You can't do that; I'll be the number one suspect," he replied in a panic.

She looked down at her phone and then up at Luke. "What do you intend to do then?"

He moved around the car, as though searching for something. "I need time, time to figure out what's going on," he said, bending to take a look underneath the car.

She ducked to talk to him from the other side. "Right, and in the meantime, what on earth are you going to do about the body?" she asked.

He rose, as did she. "I'll have to hide it," he announced.

She laughed. "Are you mad?"

He swiftly walked around the car and over to her, grabbing her by the arms. "You don't realize Charlie; he's American, I'm American, they will extradite me back to the USA."

"It can't be as bad as having to hide a dead body for goodness sake; how guilty will that make you look?" she pointed out.

"It can be as bad... when they put me on Death Row!" he exclaimed.

Her eyes widened. "Death Row?" She snapped her phone shut.

He sighed deeply, dropping his arms. "Yeah, they don't take so kindly to murder in the US."

"Well they don’t exactly take kindly to it here," she commented, "Still, prison is better than... oh, never mind. Luke, I don’t know what to say to you... other than that, nobody has a life this complicated. Most people who find a dead body phone the police." What was she saying? "Most people don't find dead bodies!" she amended.

"Yeah well, I have, and I've gotta get it outta here quick," he said, reaching around her to open the car door. She stepped aside and watched him slide into the seat. "Get in." he said.

She laughed. "Err no Luke, I'm not coming with you."

"Charlie, you're implicated now too; you were at the crime scene," he pointed out. "Plus, if the Borelli's are here, you could be in big danger."

"Adams, there's no way I'm coming with you. I'm going back to find Richie," she replied adamantly.

"Look," he began in his most appealing voice, "can ya just get in so I can drive outta the way or something, ‘cause if someone sees this," he made a thumb gesture to the back seat, "it ain't gonna look too good. I'll put the stiff in the trunk, think about what I'm gonna do and then you can go back to Richie boy if that's what you want."

"No Adams, this has nothing to do with me. You don't tell me what to do anymore. If I want to go back to find Richie, I'll go back now."

"Fine," he barked out, "Go back now then. I don't need you. I'll figure out what to do without you. I've been through worse. Have a nice life," he said, slamming the car into reverse ready to speed off.

The words 'Death Row' popped back into her head. Damn him! He wasn't capable of sorting this out himself, not without ending up worse off. How was she going to just go back to the club as if nothing had happened, knowing that Luke was harbouring a dead body? She had to at least find out what he planned to do next, if only for her own peace of mind.

"Adams!" she called after him.

He sped forward, and for a moment, she thought that he wasn't going to stop. At the end of the driveway however, he changed his mind and pulled to a halt. She ran over to the car, opened the door and slid into the seat.

"There's an area of woodland about a mile from here. It's quite remote. We will stop there, you will tell me what exactly you intend to do, and then I'm coming back here," she informed him.

"Okay, fine," he replied, trying not to look or sound relieved.

"Okay," she confirmed.

She must be out of her mind.

"Adams," she began.

"What?" he said, accelerating out of the driveway.

"If I end up in prison because of this, I will be extremely upset with you!" she said, pointing a finger at him.

"What, you don't like the black and white stripe look?" he grinned.

She tutted and he sped down the road.

 "Listen to me Adams," she said, moving her face closer to his, "And listen very carefully."

He was listening! She had his attention alright! He wondered if it was wrong to be extremely aroused at that point.

"It's just down here on the right. If you follow the path to the end, you can continue into the woodland for a bit," Charlie informed Luke, wondering why on earth she was being so matter of fact about giving directions when they had a dead body in the back of the car!

Sitting in that car next to Luke after seven years, Charlie had mixed feelings. She had wanted to avoid seeing him again; it was just easier all round on her sanity. However, she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit imagining him turning up one day. Although, after around the first year, she had begun to believe that he'd gone for good out of her life. And even if he did turn up, by then, too much would have changed in both of their lives to make seeing him matter.

She hadn't expected this though. Nothing had changed at all really, not in the way they fell into the same ridiculous banter, the same heated shouting matches, the same...grrrr... he was so annoying and conceited and... She'd had seven years free from all those sexist comments, and outrageous innuendos, and downright shameless looks, and it had been... much better. Yes, her life was now just as she liked it: calm and organized, not boring, what a cheek! And it was proper, as it should be...

"He had it comin' to him ya know," Luke broke her train of thought. She frowned. "The stiff in the back," he explained.

Hmm, she