Jennifer Crusie Bundle (90 page)

“Grady is the only person I know who could make his arrest a call-in topic,” Allie said when she'd recovered her voice. “What do you suppose he's been doing for the past hour while all that music played?”

Charlie let go of her. “He's been talking to his father. I called Bill and told him.”

Allie sat up. “You
what?
”

Charlie sighed. “I called Bill and told him that Grady was doing something important that had probably saved Beattie's life, and that now it was Bill's turn to stick his neck out. He yelled a lot, but I think he saw the light at the end. I think he's going to fight for Grady. When I hung up, he was making a plan. If nothing else, it should be interesting to see what happens next.” He picked up the chicken carton from the table in front of them and began to eat, and when Allie stole a look at him, he looked almost relaxed.

All right. It wouldn't have been her way of handling it, but at least he was handling it. Getting involved. And he might just be right. “I bet Bill's not the only one making a plan,” she told him, picking up the pot stickers. “I bet Beattie's working on a beaut.”

“You should have gotten more food,” Charlie said. “This chicken is going to be gone in no time.”

They sat close on the couch and finished the chicken and the pot stickers while they listened to Grady and his callers, all of whom seemed ready to march on city hall to spring him if necessary. Of course, they were all Grady's callers, and anyone who would listen to Grady at three in the morning was already fanatically loyal, but it did reassure Allie. Even more reassuring was having Charlie near. She finally fell asleep on Charlie's shoulder while he listened to Grady's show, and she didn't wake up until he shook her at five-thirty.

“Come on,” he told her softly. “Let's go back in and see if Grady needs help after the show.”

T
he station was crowded when they got there at five forty-five. The lobby teemed with two TV crews, print journalists, the sheriff, a grim Bill and Beattie and a bemused Mark.

“What is this?” Mark caught Allie's arm as she came through the door behind Charlie. Charlie looked back and rolled his eyes at Mark, but he kept on going into the station hallway. “What's all the publicity for?” Mark asked. “What did Charlie do now?”

“Nothing.” Allie pulled her arm away. “Grady confessed to giving away marijuana to cancer patients. He's going to be arrested.”

Mark got a faraway look in his eye. Probably planning on confessing to possession of oregano. How anyone could get that caught up in a career—

She stopped. Thank God for Charlie. If it hadn't been for him, she'd still be with Mark. In fact, she'd probably
be
Mark.

“I've got to go,” she told Mark and went into the station to find Charlie and thank him.

S
HE FOUND HIM
in the booth with Grady.

“There's quite a crowd in the lobby,” Charlie was telling him. “Anything I can do? Whatever you want, you got it.”

“Nope.” Grady leaned back in his chair, Sam on his lap happily chewing on the sleeve of Grady's sweatshirt. “I've got ten minutes of Hildegarde of Bingen on now, and then I'll say my goodbyes and go to jail.”

“Oh, Grady,” Allie sat down on the floor of the booth. “I still wish you hadn't said anything. We could have—”

“No, this is going to be great.” Grady's voice sounded so self-satisfied that Allie jerked her head up to see if he could possibly be that happy.

He was.

“This is exactly the forum we need,” Grady told her. “We need to get this stuff legalized for medical treatment. Now we have a cause. They're going to have to arrest me and my mother and probably a half-dozen cancer patients. Think of the publicity when Mrs. Winthrop goes to jail. Your celibate bet made the tri-state news. This will have to go national.”

Allie went back to the part that scared her the most. “Grady, you're going to jail.”

Grady grinned at her. “Not for long. You don't know my dad. Hell,
I
didn't know my dad. He yelled at first, but he had a plan worked out, and then Mom got on the other line, and by the time she was finished, he was ready to run me for governor. He's all gung ho, getting lawyers and filing motions and calling the press. He says there's bail and appeals and no end of lawyer red tape he can throw at them to keep me out. And the whole time, Mom and I will be giving interviews, making statements…” He trailed off as his grin widened. “I bet Dad will even let me keep my show once he gets over the shock.”

“He's over it now,” Charlie told him from where he was leaning on the side of the booth. “He's arguing with the sheriff in front of the TV cameras. This is going to be a circus.”

Grady leaned back in his chair. “This is great.”

Allie stood up, suddenly reassured. “No, it's not, but I'll help, anyway.” She started out of the booth, and Charlie caught her arm.

“What are you doing?”

Allie smiled at him, buoyed by Grady's optimism and the fact that Charlie was touching her again. “You know all those people I was going to call to try to stop your drug story? They work both ways. I'll have Grady on the national news by tomorrow.”

“Oh, right,” Charlie snorted. “Even you—”

Allie stopped him in midsentence. “Want to bet?”

“No.” Charlie shook his head. “Absolutely not. I'm not betting anything with you ever again.”

“That's what I thought,” Allie said and left the booth to make some phone calls.

T
HREE HOURS LATER
, Grady had been arrested and bailed out, and Charlie was alone with Bill in his office.

“Things didn't turn out quite the way I'd planned,” Charlie told him.

Bill sighed and sat heavily in his chair. “The two of them. Running a charity drug ring. And now they're in hog heaven, and the poor old sheriff has to go through the motions. If they'd kept their damn mouths shut…”

“At least now you know,” Charlie said. “The anonymous-letter mystery's over.”

“Oh, yeah, I'm real glad about that.” Bill leaned back in his chair and glared at him. “So I guess this means you're leaving.”

“Nope,” Charlie said. “I'm staying. You can tell my dad he won.”

Bill started and then tried to look innocent. “What's your dad got to do with this?”

Charlie shook his head. “Forget it. I figured it out a while back. You called Dad and told him you had an anonymous letter, and he told you he wanted me settled down and you cooked this up together. Favor for an old friend, right? You didn't give a damn about that letter.”

“I told him I couldn't make you stay if you didn't want to.” Bill scowled at him. “Then you went and made yourself a hit. And me some money. It's your fault.”

“No, it's Allie's.” Charlie sighed. “She wanted to make me a star.”

“Well, I got to tell you, son, I'm real glad she did.”

Charlie looked up in surprise at the emotion in the older man's voice. “I am, too.” He blinked at the thought. He really was glad.

That's what hanging around with Allie had done for him. Made him career crazy.

“You're sure gonna make the nights interesting around here,” Bill went on, and Charlie shook his head.

“No, that'll be the mornings. I want the drive-time spot.”

Bill frowned at him. “Can't do it. That's Mark King's show.”

Charlie shrugged. “Then I'm out of here. And so is Allie.”

Bill's eyebrows shot up. “Alice? She's not leaving.”

“We're getting married, Bill. Whither I goest, she goest. And if we don't get the drive-time show, we're going.” Charlie mentally crossed his fingers, hoping Bill wouldn't call his bluff. Allie was too independent to follow anybody anywhere, but Bill didn't have to know that.

Bill glared at him. “What the hell am I going to do with Mark?”

“I am not the person to ask that,” Charlie said as he stood up. “You wouldn't like my suggestions.”

“All right.” Bill ground his teeth a little. “All right. You got it.”

“Thank you very much.” Charlie turned back as he got to the door. “And good luck with Grady and Beattie. Let me know if there's anything I can do.”

Bill sat back in his chair. “We can handle it. It's a family problem.”

Charlie leaned in the doorway. “Well, to tell you the truth, Bill, I kind of think of you and Grady and Beattie as family now. So if you need anything…”

Bill's face softened and he nodded. “I'll call you.”

“Thanks. I'd like that.”

Charlie looked in Allie's office, but she was long gone, her phone calls made while he was helping Grady.

He knew where she'd be, and he tried not to think about it on his way out to the car.

Now was no time to have a heart attack from lust.

A
LLIE OPENED
the door of her apartment when he knocked, and just the sight of him made her weak-kneed. Coming home to bed had been a mistake. It was November first, and Grady was where he wanted to be, and the bet was over, and she wanted him. She didn't want to lose the closeness they'd had, but she wanted him with a craving that went beyond lust.

So when she opened the door, and he was standing there, broad and safe and male and Charlie, her knees went, and she tried to pretend it didn't matter. “Come on in,” she said and then went back into her bedroom and crawled under her quilt. “I can't believe this,” she told him when he followed her. “I can't believe this last twenty-four hours happened. I can't believe this last
month
happened.”

Charlie slumped at the foot of the bed, and Allie fought back her disappointment. He was supposed to be under the quilt with her.

“It happened,” he told her. “The last thing I heard as I went through the lobby was Mark, on the air, telling the world he'd inhaled in the seventies.”

Allie was so surprised, she forgot to lust for a minute. “Inhaled what?”

“I don't know.” Charlie rubbed his neck. “I don't care. I'm just glad it's over. I just want some sleep.”

Sleep. Well, it was a start. She moved over a couple of inches to make room for him. “You can get some sleep here if you want.”

He was still for a moment. “Here?”

She nodded.

“Allie, if I climb into bed with you, I'm going to want more than sleep.”

Her heart did a little heated lurch in her chest.
Thank God.
Now, if only things didn't change. “I've been thinking,” she said to him. “All last night, and this morning while I was on the phone. And I don't know what I think about this Grady mess. I don't even know which one of us is right. But I do know that you did what you thought was right even though I tried hard to change your mind.” She smiled tentatively at him. “And I'm pretty impressed with that, that you'd give up everything to do what you thought was right. And I know that you've been right on some other things this month, too. Not everything, but some things. And I know I love you, and you love me, and after that…well, I think we can work this out.” She swallowed. “What do you think?”

Charlie's eyes met hers. “Will you marry me?”

Allie almost fell out of bed.

“I already told Bill we were getting married, so I'm going to look like a real fool if you say no.” He leaned forward. “Make an honest man out of me. Marry me.”

Allie stopped breathing. Marriage. That was permanent enough. And since it was Charlie asking, it was forever. She'd have to follow him all over the country, and they'd probably have all their kids in different states, and she'd never have a career again.

But she'd have good times. And laughter.

And Charlie.

She drew a deep breath. “Can we get a Winnebago?”

He blinked at her. “Well, yeah. Sure. I guess.” He frowned at her. “Why would you want a Winnebago?”

“So it'll be like home while we're traveling,” Allie said. “Like a house.”

Charlie's frown deepened. “Traveling where?”

“Wherever it is that we're going. It's November.”

He started to laugh, and she wanted to kill him. “Forget the Winnebago. We're not going anywhere. I told Bill I wanted a full-time job. Medical insurance. Pension plan. Paternity leave. We're adopting Sam. I'm settling down.”

Some days, you get everything you ask for. Unbelievable. Allie sank back against the pillows. “Oh. Oh, good.” She closed her eyes in relieved wonder. “Oh, Charlie, I do love you, and I'd follow you anywhere, but I'd really rather—”

“Stay here and make me a star.” Charlie grinned at her. “I know, babe. You've got it.”

Allie loved him so much she thought she'd die of it. And he was still a whole bed-length away from her. She tried to glare at him. “Will you please come here and kiss me? You just proposed. You're supposed to kiss me.”

His grin disappeared. “I'm not going to stop with a kiss. I want a lot more than that.”

Allie took a deep breath. “You've got it.”

His eyes met hers and he didn't move. “This is unbelievable,” he told her. “I feel like a kid on a first date.”

“It's not like we haven't done this before.” Allie tried to smile at him. “It's not like it's our first time.”

“Yes, it is.” Charlie moved up until he was sitting on the side of the bed, his hands on each side of her, and she put her hand on his arm, grateful to finally be touching him. “It's our first time for this,” he said, his eyes looking deep into hers. “What we had before was fun, but it wasn't this. This is our first time.”

She couldn't move her eyes from his. “I know.” She moved her hand to his cheek, barely touching him. “I know. I want you so much. I couldn't bear to lose you now.”

She hadn't meant to sound so vulnerable, but she couldn't call back the words. He closed his eyes, and then he shook his head. “You won't lose me. Things have changed, but they'll be better. They're already better. If you don't want to move this fast, we can wait to make love. Until you're sure.”

“I'm sure,” Allie said. “I'm just…nervous.”

“I know. I am, too. But I want you so much…”

He leaned forward then and kissed her softly, lingering, and the heat from his mouth went straight into her bones and called back all the cravings she'd ignored for too long.

“Oh, come to bed,” she whispered. “I can't wait any longer.”