Dana was looking at Charlie as if he was the best thing since sliced bread. She already talked about him non-stop as it was. It was easy to see that she could become very attached to Charlie. God knew, she was having enough trouble forgetting him.
But in another week or so she’d be finished at the centre and she’d never see Charlie again. And as much fun as this moment was, as wonderful as it was to see Dana so happy, she had to make sure Charlie didn’t come around again. For both their sakes. They’d already overstepped the line a couple of times and it was imperative she keep it professional. Charlie was a flash in the pan as far as her life goals went, and it would be foolish to allow him to distract her from what was important.
The song began for the fourth time and Carrie rose off the lounge to turn it off. It was already seven-thirty—way past Dana’s bedtime.
‘I think that’s more than enough, young lady.’
‘No, Mummy,’ Dana pleaded. ‘You haven’t danced with me yet. Can we dance like we always do before I go to bed?’
Dana’s blue-eyed stare and earnest face could have won her an Oscar. ‘OK…but just once.’
Dana jumped up and down and Carrie put on ‘Endless Love.’ She picked up a waiting Dana, who snuggled into her side and stuck her thumb in her mouth. ‘Blanky,’ she murmured, looking around for the tatty piece of polar fleece she’d had since a baby.
‘Here.’ Charlie pulled it out from under where he was sitting on the lounge.
Carrie tried to tune Charlie out as she slowly swayed around the lounge room with Dana. Their girls’ night in always ended with ‘Endless Love’. It was one of her favourite rituals of the week with Dana snuggled close and the soaring romantic music swirling all around them. It seemed strange to have a third party sharing this mother-daughter moment. Unfortunately it didn’t feel bad strange. It felt…nice strange. Cosy.
Dana roused. ‘Charlie.’ She held out her hand to him.
Charlie looked at Carrie and their gazes held. He desperately wanted to go. To take Dana’s hand and envelop them both in his arms and pull them close. But he knew there was a line he’d be crossing. One he wasn’t entirely sure Carrie wanted him to cross. Wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to cross himself.
Carrie saw the yearning in his eyes and knew she didn’t have the heart to deny him entry into their circle. Neither did she want to. She had actually felt tonight what it would be like to have a man in her life, someone for her and Dana, and she didn’t have the power as the song swirled around her to end it all. She would have to, she knew. But surely they could just have the song?
Charlie saw the barely perceptible nod of her head and he rose from the chair. The lure of mother and daughter was too powerful to resist. His heart thudded as he took Dana’s hand and let her pull him closer. He swayed in unison with them, trying to keep a little distance. His gaze locked with Carrie’s and he saw desire heat her eyes and dilate her pupils.
‘Closer, Charlie,’ a drowsy Dana demanded, pulling him in more.
Charlie swallowed as his body moved closer to Carrie’s, their gazes still locked. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to put his arm around Dana’s waist. And Carrie’s. Draw them in close. Tuck Carrie’s head in beneath his chin. She didn’t resist. His heart beat loudly. Was hers?
Carrie resisted the urge to rub her cheek against his shirt for about ten seconds. But his scent, his warmth, the sheer bulk of him pressed against her cheek made it impossible to ignore. She turned her face into his chest and rubbed her nose against the fabric of his shirt. It smelt like soap, sweet and sour pork and man.
There was nothing but the three of them and the music. Even Dana, who was practically asleep, was forgotten in the cloud of lust and longing that enveloped her. Charlie was making her think of parts of her body that she hadn’t thought about in a long time. Heating places, igniting places, stroking places that she’d forgotten she had.
The song came to an end, they stopped swaying and for a brief moment they didn’t move. She could hear his heart thudding loudly against her ear and wondered if he could also hear hers.
‘Mummy?’ Dana stirred.
Carrie blinked. It took a second to remember where the hell she was. She pulled her head off Charlie’s chest and took a step away from him. ‘Hush, sweetie, you fell asleep. Off to bed with you.’ She dropped a kiss on her daughter’s head.
‘’Night, Charlie,’ Dana murmured, fluttering her eyelashes half-open.
‘’Night, Sleeping Beauty,’ Charlie crooned, leaning forward slightly to also drop a kiss on her head. He looked at Carrie as he withdrew, her lips so very, very close. So full and soft. So inviting. The heat in her eyes flared again and it took all his willpower to pull away.