A/N: Sorry for the delay folks. Blame it on all the holiday partying. Here's the next chapter, based around one of the hottest moments in television history... the opera dress zipping scene. Thank you for all your lovely reviews... they really are what keeps me going. Hope you enjoy this one :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Younger, any of its characters or their scripts and stories.

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Chapter 10

Her skin was on fire.

His fingers ran slowly, torturously slowly up the length of her almost naked back. She was struggling to breathe. The butterflies in her stomach were on overdrive. Her heart was racing. Her body was quivering. Her knees were threatening to give way.

For all practical purposes, he was simply zipping up her dress. But it felt like the most sensuous, seductive, intimate moment.

He was close enough that his gentle breath tickled the back of her neck. His warm fingers were setting every nerve ending alight as they trailed up her spine. She could feel the warmth emanating from his body. If she took a small step back she would encounter the solid wall of his chest. His big, manly, broad chest.

She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breath. Tried to remember where she was. That they were both here with dates. That the simple touch of his fingers shouldn't send pangs of lust coursing through her being. That she shouldn't in that moment be imagining what it would feel like if those very fingers trailed seductive paths over the rest of her body. She really, really shouldn't.

Yet, she felt disappointed when he stepped away from her. Her skin suddenly feeling chilly, despite the warmth of the room.

She turned around and looked at him. Was that her desire reflected in his face? He looked flushed. A little shaken. Could she dare hope that he felt as turned on as she was feeling in that moment?

As she looked up into his eyes, she could see them turn a shade darker. She felt a yearning begin in the pit of her stomach and crawl rapidly straight up to her heart. They hadn't broken eye contact since that moment. The world around them had once again ceased to exist as it so often happened with the two of them.

And then her brain lost the battle with her heart, and all she wanted to do was close the distance between them and kiss him, with the carefree abandon and passion that had her heart thumping wildly.

She took a step forward…

"Charles…" came a voice from behind her.

And the moment was over. Eye contact was broken. Breathing returned to normal. Heart rates came back under control. And the noises around them grew louder.

"Radha. This is, uh, a colleague of mine. Liza Miller," he was suddenly saying.

And her brain told her heart to shut up as she turned and flashed a big grin at his beautiful and elegant date.

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Charles squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. His date turned to look at him questioningly and he quickly smiled politely, pretending to concentrate on the opera, even though his mind was occupied with a thousand different thoughts… all centred around the woman who had simultaneously given him a new lease of life and also made his existence hell for the last few months.

He closed his eyes and his mind was flooded with images of her smooth, soft, flawless skin. His fingers twitched in his lap. He could almost feel her bare back beneath them. He could almost smell her again… the beautiful, sweet fragrance that made him want to lean down and kiss the nape of her neck. Slide his arms around her waist, pull her to him, and then kiss her again, like he had been wanting to since he had done so at the mall.

In that moment of zipping up her dress, he had felt a reckless savage lust unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. Never before had he felt such a loss of self-control. Never before had such a haze of longing and lust clouded his brain that he would have forgotten all his manners and upbringing and just ravished her right there, in the lobby of the opera house.

He was shaken from his reverie by Radha's hand on his arm, and a faintly annoyed look on her face. Clearly she had been talking to him for some time now. He took a deep breath and smiled at her and willed all the blood in his brain to stay out of his pants.

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Liza lay in bed that night. Her own bed. She couldn't bear to spend the night at Josh's. Not with the way her heart was pounding and the thoughts that were muddling her brain and making her all confused.

Meanwhile, across town, Charles stared up at his ceiling, unable to fall asleep. He had dropped Radha home, come back to his brownstone and poured himself a couple of stiff ones before retiring to bed. But the welcome warmth of the alcohol that was creeping through his bloodstream was doing nothing to help him sleep.

He picked up his phone and began typing. And before his brain could let loose a bout of logic, he pressed send.

She jumped when her phone buzzed. Who was texting her so late at night?

[Charles] It was lovely to see you tonight Liza. I hope you had a good time.

She could feel the goofy grin spread across her face. And though she would be loath to admit it, she scrambled to sit up and reply like she was a lovestruck teenager.

He wasn't expecting an answer. It was 1 a.m. She was probably in bed. With Josh. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, startled when his phone pinged.

[Liza] I had a lovely evening. It's been years since I've been to the opera and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them. I hope I can go again soon.

[Charles] You sound like you've been to a fair few. I didn't realize young people enjoyed operas nowadays.

Liza could kick herself. 'What's wrong with me', she thought. She had to be more careful.

[Liza] Yeah, my parents would take me to the opera quite often when I was young. I hated it at first but as I grew older I began to really enjoy the music.

[Charles] If you'd be interested, there's a lovely show next week at the Metropolitan Opera House. I think you'd really enjoy it.

Was he asking her out? She scanned the message again. He didn't mention going with him. She was completely confused. How should she respond? Before she could begin typing, her phone buzzed again.

[Charles] I have a couple of tickets but I am not free that night. I would love it if you and Josh would use them.

She felt a wave of disappointment crash over her. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Had she really thought he was going to ask her out? Was she actually imagining a romantic date with Charles Brooks to the opera, followed by dinner and dancing?

She shook her head at her foolishness.

[Liza] I don't think Josh is much of an opera buff. But I would love to take the tickets off your hands. I'm sure I can find a friend to go with.

Charles willed himself not to type what his fingers were itching to. How he would love to be able to take her out. Have her wear the sexy dress she wore tonight, beam proudly to have a beautiful and intelligent woman like her on his arm, take her out for dinner and maybe some dancing afterwards. He was tempted, sorely tempted, to do it. To just give in to what his heart so very clearly wanted and just ask her out. Boyfriends, professional relationships, propriety be damned.

But he was Charles Brooks. He could be impulsive when he followed his heart. But for the most part he followed his brain. And even though Liza had greatly upset that balance in his life, and made him lose control on more occasions than he would've liked, tonight he was going to do the right thing.

[Charles] Come see me in my office tomorrow and I'll give them to you. Good night, Liza. See you tomorrow.

And in two different part of New York, two sets of lights were put out, two people settled into their respective beds, two tormented minds wrestled with sleep and two hearts beat for each other even though neither was prepared to admit it.