Part 13 (1/2)

She was dressed in tie-dyed clothes again, T-s.h.i.+rt and shorts. Her hair was down. He liked it. He liked it a lot. 'I hope you haven't already eaten. I bought Dana's favourite-Chinese.'

'Oh,' she said again, her brain freezing. What did this mean? What did he want? Memories of what had happened last time they'd stood at this door swamped her.

Stop it!

'Isn't this a little early for you to be leaving the centre?'

He smiled. 'I'm getting a life.'

Carrie's breath caught at the hint of a promise lurking behind the teasing glint in his grey gaze.

'Mummy?'

'Here, darling.' Carrie turned, grateful for the interruption.

Charlie smiled at Dana as she approached. She had on a T-s.h.i.+rt and shorts with paint stains all over them. She even had a smudge of paint on her face. 'Hi, Sleeping Beauty.'

Dana's eyes lit up. 'Charlie!' She threw out her arms and hugged his legs.

Charlie looked down at her blonde head and felt a swell of tenderness deep inside. He felt honoured to be so easily accepted into Dana's world. And a little scared. He crouched down. 'You look like you fell into a paint can,' he teased.

'Mummy said the same thing.' Dana giggled.

Charlie looked up at Carrie. There was confusion in her eyes. He looked back at Dana. 'Hah! Great minds think alike.'

'Did you bringed your dukebox?' Dana asked, looking over Charlie's shoulder.

He laughed. 'No, but I bought something just as good.' He held up the plastic bag. 'Ding rolls.'

'Oh, look, Mummy,' Dana said. 'Charlie bought us Chinese.'

Carrie smiled and stroked her daughter's fringe. 'Yes, darling. We'd better invite him in, then.'

Carrie stood aside and motioned for Charlie to precede her. He brushed past her and she could smell his aftershave, mingled with the aroma of Chinese cooking, and it was a temptingly spicy combination.

'So you haven't eaten?' he asked as he plonked the bag and wine on the marble-topped bench.

Carrie shook her head, lifting Dana up to sit on the bench. 'Friday and Sat.u.r.day nights are Susie's nights off.'

'She's my nanny,' Dana interjected proudly.

'Friday night is usually too-tired-to-cook night and we have another of Dana's favourites-two-minute noodles.' She held up the packet. She'd been just about to add hot water to it when he'd knocked.

'Yummy, two-minute noodles,' Charlie said.

'You like them, too?' Dana asked.

He nodded. He'd practically lived on them and frozen TV dinners since his separation from Veronica. He was rarely home early enough to be bothered to actually cook anything from scratch. That was what Sunday dinners with his parents were for. For him anyway. They usually had an entirely different agenda.

'It's girls' night in,' Dana told him, swinging her legs.

'Oh?' He quirked an eyebrow at Carrie.

'It's nothing,' she said dismissively. 'We eat noodles, she gets to drink watered-down orange juice out of a plastic winegla.s.s, I let her stay up a bit later and we put on a CD and dance.'

He shut his eyes and groaned. 'And I've just gatecrashed?' Good one, Charlie.

'It's OK. There'll be plenty more.'

'Will you dance with us, Charlie?' Dana asked.

He looked into her eyes and was unable to resist. 'Of course.'

'OK, let's get this food organised,' Carrie said briskly, her heart contracting at the look that pa.s.sed between her daughter and the man who not even two weeks ago had ravaged her in her bedroom.

Charlie uncorked the wine while Carrie retrieved three plates. She removed the containers from the plastic bag and took their lids off, steam sending a delicious aroma circulating around the kitchen. Dana was allowed to pour her own orange juice.

'Come on, Sleeping Beauty,' Charlie said, lifting Dana off the bench and setting her down. He picked up two plates and followed Carrie through to the dining room.

Charlie had never laughed so much in his life than he did over dinner. Dana kept them distracted from each other. She was a truly delightful child. Her smile was angelic, her voice melodic and her laughter wicked. She was captivating. Why the h.e.l.l were Sunday lunches never this much fun with his family?

They were so stiff and formal. Everyone dressed up, definitely no paint stains or tie-dye. His siblings and their a.s.sorted partners tried to outdo each other with their latest published paper or research grant. The menu was cordon bleu-no two-minute anything allowed. And his father pontificated and preached and tried to convert him to one specialty or another. He dreaded them. In fact, he only really attended them out of a mixture of duty and guilt.

But this? This evening with Carrie and her daughter showed him the way a real family conducted itself. With warmth and laughter and sharing. He'd never had such a sense of family as he'd had tonight. He doubted he ever had. From as early as he could remember, things had been stiff and formal and the pressure to perform had been there. This relaxed, laughter-filled meal was like a breath of fresh air. He desperately wanted in on this scene of domestic bliss, but a part of him held back. Upbringing was a hard act to beat, and his childhood had been the complete opposite of Dana's. What if he got involved and then messed it up?

He felt a pang in his chest as he watched Carrie wipe Dana's mouth, and couldn't decide if it was envy or l.u.s.t. He suspected from the tightness in his loins it was the latter, but there was no denying he coveted what Carrie and Dana had.

'Come on, you, bathtime,' Carrie said. She could feel Charlie's gaze on her and if she didn't move now she might just do something ridiculous, like lean into him and rub her cheek against his chest. The situation was hopelessly intimate, all of them sitting here, laughing and chatting like a family. It was hard not to weave fantasies.

'I want Charlie to do it,' Dana said.

Oh, no. No. No. No. That would be too much like happy families. 'No, sweetie. Charlie's going to do the dishes. Aren't you?' She turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

He could see the gentle note of warning in her eyes. 'Absolutely.' He nodded. 'I love was.h.i.+ng up.'

Carrie shot him a small smile.

'You are going to stay for the dancing, aren't you, Charlie?' Dana looked up at him, pleading with her big blue eyes.

Charlie saw Carrie roll her eyes and smothered a smirk. 'Wild horses couldn't keep me away,'he promised. 'Now, go have your bath.'

Dana turned to do his bidding obediently and Carrie rolled her eyes at Charlie again. His warm s.e.xy chuckle followed her all the way to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later the dishes were done and Dana was padding down the hallway, her wet hair combed, her thumb in her mouth, dragging her blanky behind her. She had on some tie-dyed pyjamas.

'Do you like my pyjamas, Charlie?' Dana asked, pirouetting.

He looked up as Carrie entered behind Dana. 'Very much,' he said.

'My aunty makes them. She's a niner.'