Page 32 of Prognosis Bad Timing

Joe sobered and placed his coffee on the table. ‘Look, you have to break the drought with someone when your tests come back negative. Why not Carrie? She’s a helluva woman. Pinstripes, dude. Pinstripes.’

Charlie looked at his friend with exasperation. ‘What did I tell you when Veronica and I split up?’

‘You were never doing the whole commitment thing again as long as you lived?’

‘Right.’

‘So?’

‘So, Carrie has commitment written all over her. She has a four-year-old child. I don’t know the first thing about being a father, a good one anyway, let alone to a child that’s not my own.’

‘Rubbish. You’re great with kids. Just take whatever your father did and do the opposite.’

Charlie rubbed a hand over his forehead. ‘You’re not listening. She’s not a drought-breaker kind of woman. She’s hot roast dinners and Netflix woman.’

‘Who just happens to look hot in pinstripes.’

‘Jesus, Joe. Work with me here.’

He laughed. ‘Relax, dude. I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, don’t you?’

Charlie shook his head. ‘No. That’s the point. She has commitments, big commitments. She can’t just be a quick roll in the hay. I can’t think about sleeping with her without looking at the bigger picture.’

Joe shook his head. ‘How the hell you grew up to be so honourable in your family I have no idea.’

Charlie ignored him. ‘I think she’s been pretty messed up by her ex. And she’s auditing me, for goodness’ sake. She could put me out of business.’

‘Ahh...living on the edge.’ His goofy smile told Charlie he was savouring the prospect. ‘A turn-on, isn’t it?’

Charlie sighed and shut his eyes, letting his head flop back. ‘You’re incorrigible.’

‘Okay, okay, no Carrie. But promise when the tests come back negative we’ll have a night on the town. Like the old days. You just need to get back on the horse, man. Find an outlet for all those pent-up tadpoles.’

Opening his eyes, he stared at his oldest friend. Maybe Joe was right. Maybe it was just the abstinence making him crazy. Not the memory of how good Carrie had felt, her softness pressed against him or her fiery response to his kisses. It had been a long time between drinks for him.

‘You’ve got a deal.’ Charlie held out his hand and they shook.

––––––––

The phone rang andCarrie resolutely ignored it. Her concentration had been shot all afternoon and she had half an hour to go. It stopped ringing and she thanked Charlie silently who must have picked it up outside. Angela had left a couple of hours ago and the responsibility of answering the phones fell to Charlie.

The door opened and Carrie braced herself for the impact of Charlie’s presence. His face and that hair and his mouth and those shoulders she’d gripped last night.

Why?Why, oh, why was her body betraying her over this?

He’d practically run screaming from the room when the reality of Dana had intruded into their sexual bubble. He could never be a part of her life. Their lives. Their lives.

Hers and Dana’s.

Single mothers couldn’t afford the luxury of thinking only about themselves. She knew that. And men had never factored into the picture - not since Rupert. The last four years had been about Dana and building a career to support her daughter, to make her daughter proud. She hadn’t taken her eye off that ball once.

Until Friday night.

And now there was this whole other world out there. And she was horny and...lonely, damn it.

Picking up the wall phone, Charlie held it out to her. ‘Your nanny’s on the line.’

Carrie frowned. Why hadn’t Susie rung her mobile? She pulled it out of her bag to discover it on silent mode and six missed calls on the screen.

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