I looked over Ellie’s shoulder to see Adam and Stan shadow boxing each other on the way out of the door.
I’m going to kill him.
“What did he say?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but he must have lectured him or something. Sean’s definitely onto us, because Adam came up to me and said he was a dead man.”
“Who, Sean?” I asked.
“No, Adam. He thinks you’re going to kill him.”
Oh, I was going to murder him, all right. I felt instantly sick. Sean now knew that I was deliberately bunging on the seductress act. I would never forgive Adam and his big ears or his fracking big mouth.
“Don’t worry, Amy, you can just deny it. Say Adam’s just talking drunk talk and he is an idiot. No damage done, right?”
I bit my lip and didn’t answer. “Oh shit,” Ellie said. “What have you done?”
I grimaced. Ellie pushed me farther to the side and lowered her voice. “Right, here is what you have to do. Act as if nothing has happened. If he doesn’t mention Adam, you don’t mention it. If he tries anything, play dumb and just go with it. Knowing Sean, he will be out to press your buttons, so don’t let him win, okay?”
I rubbed my temple – this had gotten way out of control way too quickly. Adam had asked me, what if it backfires? Well, now, thanks to the drunken little shit, it had.
Big time.
I nodded, taking a deep breath. “It’s all right. You’re all heading to the Point, so I’ll just avoid him till he leaves and lock up.” Then, I’ll hide under my bed and never come out again.
“Good plan.” Ellie nodded.
“Come on, Parker, you’re holding the line up.” Chris held the door open for the stragglers.
Ellie hugged me goodnight. “See you tomorrow, Chook.”
“Ellie!” Chris warned.
“I’m coming!”
I followed Ellie over to the exit and took the door from Chris, who walked out after Ellie. “Make sure all the main lights are off.”
“Yes, Dad. Night, kids,” I yelled.
I shut the door, deadbolted it and twisted the locks into place. With a sigh, I ran my fingers through my hair and walked into the poolroom to hang up the cues that had no doubt been left on the table, like always. I stopped in the archway that led into the poolroom. Sean sat casually on the edge of the table, his elbows on his knees, rolling a well-worn cue in his hands. He straightened as soon as he saw me, the same wicked grin slowly spreading on his lips.
“Ready to be walked to your bedroom?”
Fuck!
Ellie’s words echoed in my mind: “He will be out to push your buttons, so don’t let him win.”
My gut reaction was to say something snide and tell him in his dreams, but the simple fact was that I actually did have the upper hand. I knew he knew, but he didn’t know I knew he knew. Oh yeah, this was so simple.
“How did you manage to escape Chris’s security checks?”
Sean hopped off the pool table and walked over to the mounted rack on the wall. He slotted his cue back into place and shrugged one shoulder in that cool, casual way he always did. “I hid under the pool table.”
“What?” I laughed.
Sean worked on grabbing the other cues off the pool table and securing them back into place. “Yeah, it wasn’t my proudest moment.”
My smile slowly fell as I realised that he had deliberately hidden out so he could ‘walk me to my bedroom’. I was suddenly well aware of how alone we now were, just Sean and me. I was snapped from my anxious thoughts by the sound of stool legs being scraped along the floorboards. Sean tipped the stools upside down to rest on the bar: the night-time ritual.
“Do you want a job here? We’re hiring, you know …” I mused.
He lifted the last of the stools next to where I stood, before smiling down at me wickedly. “You just can’t handle being without me, can you?” His knowing eyes waited for the reaction he was no doubt expecting.
It took every ounce of my being to fight against what would have been my natural, snarky reaction. I met his gaze unflinchingly, giving him nothing. I pushed off the wall I was casually leaning against – I could almost feel the heat radiate off Sean we stood so close, but not touching.
“Kill the lights. I have to empty the beer trays and give the bar a wipe down,” I said matter-of-factly, before skimming past him to head to the main bar.
“Yes, ma’am! The sooner we get this shut down the sooner we can get out of here,” he called after me.
I couldn’t see his face as I walked away, but I could tell by his cocky words that he was no doubt grinning from ear to ear, the smug bastard. At least turning away from him I was able to sneer slightly, letting out some of my pent-up frustration.