Charlie leapt to his feet and let out a loud whoop. ‘Negative,’ he shouted, and thumped the table. He strode over to his locker and wrenched the door open. ‘Here, catch,’ he said, lobbing a bottle of pills in her direction.
Carrie laughed as she caught the medication. She joined him at the rubbish bin near the sink. Charlie pushed down on the pedal, the lid opened and he emptied the contents of his containers into the bin. Carrie followed suit, watching the pills flow out like a waterfall. She threw the empty bottle in after them.
‘Negative,’ Charlie repeated. He looked down into her sparkling eyes and felt a swell of desire surge in his chest. She was smiling, her lips glistening with the gloss she wore. Her chest rose and fell, the soft navy blouse she was wearing beneath her jacket straining at the cleavage. He wanted to touch it to see what it was made out of. Hell, he just wanted to touch her.
He picked her up and swung her round and round, ending up in the centre of the room.
‘Put me down, Charlie,’ Carrie protested, laughing hard and hanging on tight to his arms. She could feel the solid muscle beneath her hands and suppressed the urge to run her hand up under his sleeve.
Charlie placed her back on the floor, laughing. ‘Thank you.’ His heart was hammering and he was slightly breathless from his spontaneous act.
‘My pleasure,’ Carrie replied, and then wished she had chosen her words more carefully as she watched his gaze grow hot like molten metal and his pupils dilate.
‘No, the pleasure was all mine.’ Charlie noticed a flare of flame heat her whiskey eyes and her soft lips part. His gaze settled on her lips. They were full and moist and inviting and he wanted to kiss her. Very, very much. He remembered how responsive she’d been that night at her place and needed to feel her against him again.
‘Carrie,’ he whispered.
She felt caught in a bubble. The world faded away and there was just the two of them. Her mouth, her lips suddenly felt as dry as the Sahara and she moistened them, her tongue flicking out to wet them.
Charlie followed the darting movement and groaned. It was all the encouragement he needed. He dropped his head and claimed her mouth. It tasted like honey and he was instantly addicted. He deepened the kiss and a shot of adrenaline buzzed through his system as his tongue stroked across her bottom lip. He wanted more. He wanted to push her back against the table and feel her legs wrap around his waist. His hand trembled as it slid beneath her jacket and smoothed the soft silk of her blouse where her waist curved into her hip.
Carrie was drowning. Suffocating. Dying. This was madness. Pure madness. They had to stop. They were at work. But his mouth felt so good and his hand was hot where it touched her and she wanted him to move it higher. To feel the heat against her breasts. Her nipples hardened instantly.
No! No! No! This was insane. Carrie wrenched her mouth away with difficulty, her chest heaving, her pulse points bounding. The look of naked desire in his gaze, the unsteadiness of his breath called to her and she took a step back out of temptation’s reach.
‘Carrie.’ He took a step towards her.
His voice was husky and she felt a surge of heat between her legs. ‘No.’ She shook her head and held out her hand to ward him off.
The door opened and they both started. ‘So, are the results in yet?’ Joe asked, bustling into the room. ‘Oh, hi, Carrie.’ Joe walked between them, oblivious to the tension. ‘It’s OK, we can talk later,’ he said, flicking on the kettle.
Charlie ran a hand through his hair, his gaze not leaving Carrie’s face. ‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘Carrie knows.’
Joe leant against the sink. ‘Oh, right. So?’
Charlie broke eye contact with Carrie and looked at Joe. ‘Negative.’
‘Aha! That’s great.’ Joe surged forward and wrapped his friend in a big bear hug. He slapped him on the back. ‘Woohoo! After a year of abstinence it’s going to be a hot time in the old town tonight, my friend.’
Charlie looked back towards Carrie, who was now busying herself with her things.
‘We’re still on for The Mill tonight?’
Charlie wasn’t really listening to his friend. He was too busy watching Carrie withdraw into her shell. The woman who had just kissed him into oblivion hiding behind her papers and pinstripes.
‘Charlie!’
‘Hmm, what? Oh…yes,’ he said distractedly.
Carrie ground her teeth as she powered up her laptop and then castigated herself for her reaction. Why wouldn’t he be out there again? A year was a long time for a virile male to go without, wasn’t it? She thought about her own nearly five-year record and felt suddenly depressed. It hadn’t seemed to matter until now.