Mark the jerk motioned for the bartender.
Max wandered back and put Allie’s amaretto in front of her.
“No, no.” Allie’s mouth went lipless with stress. “I have one. Thanks, Max.”
“Amaretto and cream.” Mark laughed. “Good old Allie.” He sat down beside her at the bar and patted her on the back.
“Grrrrr.” It was a very faint low growl, locked behind her teeth, almost indiscernible in the babble of the bar, but Charlie heard it because she’d turned to him as she made it. “I’m sorry about this,” Allie whispered to him.
Charlie leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Try not to look like a wounded basset hound.”
Allie flashed Mark a brilliant smile over her shoulder.
“I didn’t realize the two of you were together.” Mark paused for an introduction.
Allie kept on smiling like a half-wit, so Charlie took pity on her and extended his hand past her nose. “Charlie Tenniel.”
Allie started, but Mark took his hand with enthusiasm, gripping it in a he-man clasp. Charlie let his hand go limp. Mark smirked.
What an idiot, Charlie thought.
Mark was positively jovial. “Well, this is a coincidence. I’m Mark King. You’ve inherited my producer, you lucky dog. I’ve taught her everything there is to know about radio. You’re in good hands.”
Allie made that low growling sound in her throat again, and Charlie blinked at them both and then let Mark babble on about his own many successes, ignoring him for heavier thoughts. So much for diverting himself with Allie. Allie worked at the station with Mark the jerk. They were probably both in trouble up to their necks.
Allie certainly looked as if she was in trouble. She turned bleak, questioning eyes on him. “Is this true?” she whispered. “You’re my new DJ?” He nodded at her and she closed her eyes. “We were just discussing that,” she lied as she turned back to Mark.
Charlie picked up her glass of cream and handed it to her. “Here you go, boss. Glad to meet you, Mark. This the place everybody at the station hangs out?”
“Pretty much. Convenient. Right across the street, you know.” Mark smiled broadly while he sized Charlie up with obvious confidence. “Have you two known each other long?”
Allie put down her newly empty glass. “Oh, it seems like it.”
Charlie brought his mind back to the problem at hand. “Don’t chug cream like that.” He took the empty glass from her. “This isn’t skim milk, you know. This is the real thing, the hard stuff. Max, another amaretto and cream for the lady. In fact, just bring over the bottle and drive in the cow.”
“A comedian.” Allie nodded her head. “Five guys sitting at a bar, and I pick the comedian.”
“What?” Mark leaned closer to catch what she was saying.
“She thinks I’m funny.” Charlie put his arm around Allie and gave her an affectionate squeeze. She was a lot softer than he was prepared for, so he left his arm where it was for a while. “Funny is the basis for any good relationship.”
“Maybe that’s what was wrong with us, huh, Allie?” Mark looked soulfully at her.
What a goof.
“You two were once…” Charlie wiggled his eyebrows at Allie. “You never told me that.”
“It never came up.” Allie glared at him from the curve of his arm.
“You’re a lucky man, Tenniel.” Mark was still trying to recapture Allie’s attention, but she missed his meaningful looks because she was busy glaring at Charlie.
Charlie beamed at them both, enjoying the situation. “That’s what everybody keeps telling me. Actually, it’s not luck, it’s skill.”
Mark tried again. “So how did you two meet?”
“In a bar,” Charlie said. “She picked me up.”
“Allie did?” Mark looked astounded.
“She begged me to buy her a drink.”
“Allie did?”
Charlie nodded. “Happens to me all the time. Animal magnetism.”
“Oh, a joke.” Mark looked relieved. “How did you two really meet?”
“I picked him up.” Allie took a deep breath. “The truth is…”
Charlie pulled her tighter, momentarily shutting down her lungs. “The truth is, she sat down next to me, and I looked at her and thought, ‘This is a good-looking woman,’ and we started to talk, and we’ve been together ever since.”
Allie jerked her head up and stared at him. Then she smiled, and Charlie smiled back by reflex, caught by the intelligence in her eyes and the warmth in her wide, soft mouth. She leaned toward him, and he bent to hear what she said.
She was almost nose-to-nose with him. “You are a good person. I forgive you for insulting me.” She patted his sleeve and then disengaged herself from his arm.
Charlie missed her warmth. “I didn’t insult you.”
“How long have you two known each other?” Mark asked.
“Eternity,” Charlie said.
“But it seems like only a few short minutes.” Allie glared at him again and then she leaned back, her attention caught by something over Charlie’s shoulder. She signaled someone away, and Charlie turned just in time to get the impression that someone was doing a fade from the doorway into the hall.
So, Allie had a secret. Life just got more interesting all the time. And of course that meant that he was going to have to stick with her until he discovered her secret. He’d been hired to find all the secrets at the station. It was his job. It was his duty. He looked at Allie, her hair shining like old brass in the warm light of the bar.
It was his pleasure.
“So, where’s Lisa tonight?” Allie leaned on the bar in an attempt at languid unconcern. “What a shame she’s not with you. We could all have dinner together.”
Careful, Allie, Charlie thought.
“Lisa’s at the station.” Mark frowned. “You’re right. It is a shame. This would be a great chance to meet Charlie.”
“There’ll be other chances.” Charlie finished his drink. “I’m not going anyplace. Except to the top of the ratings.”
Mark decided that was a joke, too. “Heh, heh, heh.”
Mark had a laugh like an asthmatic horse, and Charlie wondered if that was why Allie had left him. Listening to that laugh would certainly be reason enough for anybody to leave him. Which brought an ugly thought. He’d have to be very careful because if Mark
