Charlette was worth watching, though at the moment, not on account of her numerous feminine attributes.  But because she had just polished off her third beer.  She must be feeling no pain, Paul thought in amusement, with some concern thrown in for good measure.  A few couples had even joined them on the dancefloor.  He had a sinking suspicion that the females had dragged their male counterparts up to dance, thus denying them any further opportunity to gawk at the gyrating Charlette.<br/><br/>He actually caught two of the women glaring icily at his dark-brown haired tenant.  Paul found this a little annoying, since he believed if anyone deserved glares, it was their boyfriends, who obviously didn’t know what the word<i>discreet </i>meant.  Her musical selections now exhausted, Charlette had developed a mild case of the hiccups.  And then she announced a desire to return home.  Nodding knowingly, Paul left her where she was standing and quickly retrieved the few items of theirs from the booth.<br/><br/>Settling their tab, he included a generous tip as he genuinely liked the staff, along with their scrumptious menu items.  Now outside, the blast of fresh air was a welcome relief.  He hoped Charlette thought so, too, though she was silent, aside from an occasional hiccup.  She remained that way throughout the short drive home.  He helped her with the seatbelt, then guided her into the house.  Paul’s right hand was poised near the small of her back, in case she stumbled or needed some kind of support.<br/><br/>Once inside, he turned off the porch light while also switching a lamp on.  The front door was locked and bolted.  He guided her to a nearby chair where he had her sit so he could remove her shoes and socks.  The rest of her clothing would be dealt with by her and her alone.  He was not about to head down that dark and twisty path.  Kneeling in front of her, with the easy task of footwear removal complete, Paul looked up at her, and stated softly, “C’mon, Charlette, let’s go tuck you in.”  There was no doubt in his mind that she would sleep soundly tonight.  For that matter, so would he.