Moved On

Moved On Part Eighteen

Annie slammed the front door.

Sean ignored it.

She was cruising for a belter of an argument, and he just wasn't calm enough to handle her with kid gloves.

Following him into the kitchen, eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed, she confronted him straight away. "Would you like to explain your domineering decree?" She asked hands on her hips, heaving breasts thrust into a provocative prominence.

"Nope." Sean said with a negative jerk of his head, he was definitely not ready. Having heard the bile that came from that bloke’s mouth had riled him to start with. When Sean had seen him go to hit Annie, a red mist had descended. It hadn’t been a bluff, he could have killed that man, easily, pushed that long, skinny heel deep into the skull without a second thought.

"Tough, you don't tell me what to do." Annie hissed.

Sean tossed his keys onto the counter, harder than he'd intended. Skittering along the surface, they fell on the floor with a jangling clunk. He stopped pacing and grabbed the kettle, filling it from the sink. A cup of tea would settle him, a good old cup of tea usually did the job.

"Are you listening to me?"

Sean placed his hands on the cool counter top, leaning forward. "Not yet Annie, I'm not ready." He warned quietly.

"You don't choose what I do with my life, this stops or I walk." Annie's voice rose in volume.

I'm not fucking ready for this, his brain railed, her threat spiking his already throbbing rage. Placing the kettle carefully on the cooker, he turned to remove two mugs from a cupboard.

"Sean!"

He spun violently back to her, slamming mugs down. "What?"

She jumped back, even though they were separated by a half wall of breakfast bar.

What was that? Did she think he would hurt her? A butterfly pulse fluttered in her neck, the wariness in her eyes. She was trying to hide it, but she was scared.

"Don't you dare flinch from me. I wouldn't harm a hair on your head, not in anger, not ever." He ground out. Dragging hands over his face, he growled heavily. "You're not working there anymore, it's too dangerous."

Stubbornly Annie crossed her arms and shook her head. "I’ll work where I want to work."

Sean threw up his hands in exasperation. "This is exactly what I was trying to tell you this morning. What if the bizzy's had been called? They ask questions lass, what address would you have given them, mine or the squat I also own? You hear but you don't listen and you're not the only one with an arrest warrant waiting in the UK." There’d been another time he'd let his temper get the better of him, it was the reason he'd fled to the U.S in the first place.

"You selfish prick, this isn't about saving my skin, it's about saving yours." She straightened her spine.

Dropping tea bags into the mugs, Sean shrugged. "Why not? At least one of us is looking to their own interests. You blunder from one catastrophe to another, like a bad sitcom. God knows what clusterfucks you create left to your own devices."

"You set this up!" Annie accused, stepping forward, her hands beside his on the counter.

He immediately covered them with his own. "I beg your pardon?" Sean’s voice was low and dangerous, his mood darkening. He ignored the primitive clamour her proximity gave. He could end this argument now, in a physically satisfying manner that would burn.

"Of course, it all makes sense," Annie continued. "This is your MO. I dismissed your directive, so you put this in place to put me in my place."

Sean gave an almost silent laugh of disbelief. Talk about hoist by your own petard, of course he didn't hire ham-fisted no necks to start a fight in the diner. He wouldn't have risked Annie's safety, but was offended that she thought he would. He pressed his forehead to hers, drew in her fragrance, a smell he could drown in. Drawing his nose along her soft cheek, his blood began to thrum with new calculation. Against her lips, he murmured. "Give me some credit queen, I am far too sneaky for something that obvious." Her mouth quivered beneath his and Sean wondered if it would be bad timing to haul her over the bar and lay her flat on its surface? It would seem it was, as he attempted to deepen the kiss Annie pulled back, tugging her hands away.

"I think that's about the most honest thing you've ever said to me." She wasn’t going to let this rest.

Sean sighed heavily, looking to the ceiling, as if by doing so he could acquire his usual persuasiveness. "I'm sorry pet, I know you want to work there, but for both our sakes I can't let you have what you want"

"What I want?" Annie laughed bitterly. "What I want is to go back to my old life, where no man thinks he can manipulate me for their own purpose."

"Well maybe you should have considered the consequences of living the high life on someone else's credit card then you stupid bitch." Sean roared, his usually well-kept patience finally snapping. He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Annie's big blue eyes widened with hurt as they filled with moisture, lips a trembling moue.

Shit! Feeling like he'd just booted a tiny kitten, he was powerless to stop her turning blindly away with drooping shoulders. "Ar' eh Annie, I didn't mean it!" Sean appealed in soft contrition.

In answer, the door of her bedroom slammed with enough force to make him wince.