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She slipped her arms over Charlie’s broad shoulder, pulling her in closer. The encouragement caused Charlie’s lips to part and Eve allowed the kiss to deepen. There was something about the softness of Charlie’s lips and the roughness of her coveralls that was overloading her senses in a wonderful way.
The creak of the stairs made them jump apart and Eve fought the panic threatening to well up in her.
“Evie?” Her dad’s voice carried up, a reminder of where they were.
Eve cleared her throat and called back in a slightly shaky voice. “Yes?”
“If you find a blue binder with receipts, can you bring them to me? I just remembered that an old friend owes me but I don’t remember how much.”
“O-Okay, I’ll keep an eye out,” Eve returned, her stomach twisting into knots.
“Do you need me to come look with you?”
“NO!” Eve shouted, her chest tightening from the panic. It was awkward enough that her dad interrupted them making out like teenagers, she really didn’t need him coming up there and making things a hundred times worse.
This was exactly why she shouldn’t get involved with someone at work and yet, she regretted nothing. The memory of Charlie’s lips still tingled on her lips and it made her want more, so much more.
She breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that her dad wasn’t coming up.
Charlie let out a sigh. “That was close.”
“I know. I can’t believe we almost got caught by my dad. What are we, sixteen?” Eve mumbled, her ears burning like someone set fire to them.
“You’re ten years off the mark, but yeah, that was silly. Sorry, I shouldn’t have put us in a position like that,” Charlie said, her eyes filled with concern.
“Hey, no complaints from me.” Eve held up her hands, her lips still tingling. “But we probably shouldn’t have done that here.”
“No, definitely not.”
Eve brushed her finger up Charlie’s strong arm. “Perhaps we should have a proper talk. Do you want to go for a drink, perhaps?”
“Umm, in public?” Charlie’s gaze flitted to the stairs again. “I think maybe it’s better if we could talk in private.”
The suggestion made Eve slightly breathless. “Yeah, that works for me. Dinner at my place? I’m not the best cook but I make a decent pasta.”
“Yeah, okay. Dinner,” Charlie agreed, almost too quickly. “And, umm… We should keep this between us, right? I don’t think this is any of your dad or brother’s business.”
Eve nodded, unable to stop smiling. She definitely hadn’t expected this when she started tidying up but she was excited all the same, and the butterflies in her stomach were too.
Eleven
Charlie
* * *
Charlie checked over her shoulder as she stood in front of Eve's building, her guilt and conscience stirring so much, it felt like indigestion. She was well aware that a private dinner was the opposite of staying away from her best friend's sister. Like a fool in denial, she told herself she'd only agreed so she could finally and properly turn Eve down.
And yet, she was wearing her nicest shirt with a bottle of wine in hand. She was going through a whole lot of effort for 'rejection'.
She pressed the doorbell with Eve’s name next to it and looked around again. It was a rather fancy area and luckily, far away from where Jack lived. The chances of someone seeing her were ridiculously slim but she couldn't stop worrying that Jack was going to find out somehow. It would be hard to explain why she was at Eve's flat without revealing the truth.
The intercom crackled. "Hello?"
"It's Charlie," she said, jittering with nerves.
“Come in. I’m on the third floor.”
With a low buzz, the front door unlocked and Charlie pushed into the building, relieved to be off the street. She was sure she was being paranoid for no reason but the knowledge didn't do anything to make the feeling disappear. Every step up the stairs gave her the opportunity to turn around but she took none of them. She wanted to be here more than she wanted to be a good friend.
