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

"I really think you ought not empty Doug's fridge Luke," she said, heading back to the sofa, seating herself in front of the 'picnic' he'd arranged on the coffee table and eyeing it with uncertainty.

"What, are you kiddin' me? Old Douggie boy aint gonna miss this. He's probably having his own dirty little weekend," he laughed.

"No actually," she replied primly, "He's away on business."

"Ahh, poor old Douggie," he answered. "So," he said, clapping his hands and gesturing to the table, "We have a total of, some kindda weird lookin' nuts…"

"They are sunflower seeds," she informed him, "Doug is trying to lose weight."

He grinned. "Ahh, Douggie boy's gotta cut down on the old spare tire if he's gonna get the ladies in bed."

She laughed. He was incorrigible.

"Yeah well, you can keep them," he said, passing her the saucer of seeds. "Bird seed ain't my thing. But we do have some kinda cheeses here, some bread, some ham and some of the smallest sausages I ever saw," he finished, assessing the food wryly.

"Cocktail sausages," she informed him. "It's the remains of the Club picnic."

He pulled a face. "Who had sausages in cocktails? Aint it supposed to be olives?"

She chuckled. "Yes Luke."

"And," he went on, performing a fake drum roll, "the crème de la crème, a bottle of most excellent Cotes de Beaune wine," he said in a ridiculous French accent.

She laughed. "Very nice Adams, but I have had enough to drink today."

He face fell. "Ah, c'mon Charlie, we gotta get through a whole night in here. What else we got to do? There aint no TV, not much food, we can sit here twiddling our thumbs if you like, or…" He smiled as a thought hit him. "…Or, we could have…"

"What?" she asked.

"Sex," he grinned, "Whatd'ya say Charlie?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

She paused for a second. "Pass me that wine," she said suddenly.

He laughed, pouring her a glass and passing her it.

She laughed also, taking a sip.

He poured a glass for himself too, but before he sat down to enjoy it, along with the nibbles he had found, he headed for the CD player he had spotted on a shelf to the side of the desk.

Charlie began to pick at the cheese and bread while Luke spent some time searching for music to put on. He chose an easy listening CD and turned the music down to a soft background noise. The gentle tunes seemed to warm the room with their dreamy notes. If she didn't know better, she would think that Luke was trying to romance her.

They enjoyed the snacks more than either of them had thought they would. Charlie hadn't realized that she was peckish, and Luke hadn't realized what good quality the cheeses and hams were. The conversation remained light, with Luke entertaining her with ridiculous jokes and innuendos. At some point during the conversation, they both became aware of rain falling outside, and they commented on how strange it was, considering the sunshine earlier that day.

Finally, somehow, the bottle of red wine had disappeared, but Luke wasted no time rising off the sofa to go search for another one. She watched him with some reservations. She really shouldn't drink much more.

Whilst hunting down another bottle, something on one of the shelves caught Luke's eye and he smiled with pleasure, placing the bottle on the desk while he bent to take a closer look. He turned to Charlie. She was watching him.

"Do you play?" he asked hopefully, gesturing to the board on the shelf.

"Chess?" she said with surprise. "Of course. Do you?"

"You bet I do," he replied, taking hold of the edges of the board and pulling it out. "You wanna play?" he asked. "Could be an interesting game."

"Okay, why not," she smiled, taking up his challenge and standing to move a small table under the board that he was carrying.

"Alright!" he responded with excitement, arranging two chairs for them and pouring two more glasses of wine, which he transferred next to the board. "I warn you though Charlie, I always win," he grinned, taking his seat.

"We'll see," she smiled back.

As she took her eat opposite him, it occurred to her then how important it was that she beat him. They had been competitive before, but they had always basically been on the same side. In a game of chess, it was each for their own. She was facing a huge competition, but she couldn't lose to him; he would be unbearable. The thought of the game was unnerving, but it was challenging too, and when was the last time shed been challenged like this? She’d forgotten. What was she feeling right now? Anxiety yes, but something much more interesting than that, something that went hand in hand with that type of anxiety: excitement.

"Let the battle commence," Luke announced, rubbing his hands together smugly.

Glancing down at the board, he paused for a moment, and then looked up at her. "Hey, you wanna go first?" he asked, gesturing to the board.

What made him think she needed an advantage? "No, no, you go ahead," she insisted.

He smiled but shook his head, swivelling the board around so that the white pieces were on her side. "Ladies first," he grinned. "Ladies always first," he stressed suggestively.

She smiled and gave a small nod of acknowledgement, her eyes falling to the pieces. Reaching out, her hand hovered above the middle pawns for a moment while she summed up her options. Then she swiftly seized one and moved it forward decisively. The game had begun.

Luke's first move was instant. She knew that he would move quickly; it befitted his arrogance. She played chess more cautiously however, assessing every option. His over arrogance could quite easily trip him up, but she wasn't foolish enough to underestimate him either.

It was an odd counter move; he had advanced his King's pawn, leaving it open to be taken by the Queen's pawn she had just moved. What was his thinking behind that? It was too early to tell, but now she had to make the decision of whether to take his pawn, or not to waste valuable moves, and free her more powerful pieces as soon as she could. If she didn't take it though, would he take her pawn afterwards? Tradition told her not to waste time on pawns this early in the game, however, it went against the grain to leave the two pawns there, challenging each other.

He watched her with amusement as her eyes lingered on the two pawns. There wasn't that much he could do with the move; he'd just done it more to throw her off, knowing that it would niggle at her sense of neatness. He wondered how she would finally react.

She had to make a decision. This was ridiculous, it was only the third move of the game! She took a hesitant glance at Luke. His eyes moved from the board to her, sensing that her attention had shifted. He smiled. She smiled back and returned her eyes to the board. Damn it, she couldn't resist. Having made a decision, she quickly grasped her pawn with one hand, and took his with the other. There, she'd done it.

"Hmm, interesting," he commented, with a knowing grin. "Different," he added.

She narrowed her eyes at him. She knew full well what he was trying to do. Smiling sweetly, she picked up her wine glass and took a slow sip, holding his gaze, until he was forced to refocus on the board to continue play.

She predicted that he would rely heavily on his knights and would want to free them quickly. The knights were powerful pieces when played well, being unpredictable in the way they could move in multiple directions and the fact that they could jump other pieces, which might otherwise act as barriers. She could also use knights effectively, but more often used the power of bishops, aligning them with each other, and then strengthening their potential with the use of the Queen.

He moved, and she'd been right. He jumped his knight into the board.

She smiled in response; her prediction had been spot on. He also smiled smugly, raising his glass to her.

She felt confidence flooding into her at that point however, and it lifted her spirits considerably. At that moment, she was certain that she could use the fact that she knew him so well to her advantage. Holding her glass up, about to drink, she considered her next move.

The moments ticked by as Charlie examined the board. Luke wasn't the most patient of people, but he wasn't going to let the fact that she was stalling put him off. In the absence of anything else to do, he found himself transfixed on the glass at Charlie's lips. She sipped, once, twice, three times, her lips slightly reddened by the time she had finished. Was it the colour of the wine that shimmered there still, or something else that had reddened them?

Her next instinct was to get one of her bishops out fast. She'd keep an eye on his knight however, knowing how quickly it could cause her trouble, but this time her move was swift: bishop into the middle of the board, to rest behind the first pawn she'd moved. At least the bishop was now protecting her pawn. Okay, so she was now limited in what she could do with the bishop, since it was being blocked by her own piece, but there were ways around that dilemma, and she had her bishop in quite a powerful position now.

Her eyes rose to his confidently. He dipped his gaze momentarily, before raising it again and lifting a questioning eyebrow.

"Are you sure about that Charlie?" he asked.

She smiled sweetly. "Yes, perfectly sure."

His next move was bold, and she could see from the satisfaction on his face after he'd moved it that he thought she'd overlooked that possibility.

Like hell she had! She never overlooked anything in chess, least of all this early in the game, and even less so when it involved her King. She had just dismissed the idea of him making that move for how simply she could use it to her advantage.

His bishop into the board, putting her into check.

She already knew what she would do, move her pawn forward to block the check and threaten his bishop at the same time. Reaching out, she took hold of the head of the pawn but clung onto it for a few seconds while she did a final check of the board to see that she hadn't missed anything. Still holding onto the pawn, her gaze flicked upwards to him. His eyes moved from her face to her hand and back to her face again. She studied the pawn one last time before finally moving it forward, leaning her chin on her hands and smiling with satisfaction at him.

His eyes darted downwards and then moved with lightning speed all over the board. He reached out blindly, picking up his wine glass and taking a sip, while still considering the pieces. Then, putting down his glass decisively, he moved his bishop back one square in defence.

With Luke though, no move was purely defensive; she knew it instinctively. There was an attack in there somewhere at the same time. She scrutinised the board for it. Okay, so he had the potential to threaten her king now from another angle, if he managed to back up the bishop with a knight, to prevent her king from taking it. But she really didn't like relying on her king to take pieces, it made her nervous. So, she needed to get more pieces out to pose more of a threat. She'd move her knight out to the edge of the board, not only freeing one of her pieces, but defending the square that his bishop would have to next move to if it were to threaten her King. Perfect. She was still anxious about that