The Arrangement Anthology 2(11)
Sean’s voice comes from over my shoulder. “Don’t worry about what?”
CHAPTER 8
When I turn around, his eyes ravish me, boldly lingering in places they shouldn’t. I smack his chest and scold him, “Stop it!”
Sean grins so hard that dimples appear on his cheek. Oh God. They’re like little lickable magnets and they’re pulling me in. He could recite a poem about water buffaloes right now and I’d have no idea what he’d said.
Sean presses his finger to the end of my nose, making me blink. “If you didn’t want me to look, then you shouldn’t have worn that dress.”
“I didn’t. Black made me change.”
His smile broadens. “Then, this should be fun.” He takes my hand and presses a kiss to the back of my palm, making butterflies erupt in my stomach. It’s a school girl response and although I try to squash it, I still giggle. Sean’s smirk changes slightly, but he doesn’t take his eyes off of me. Holding out his other hand to Mel, he says, “Come along ladies. I have our night all planned out.”
Mel gives me a weird look and slips her palm into his. We follow Sean into the room and let the door close behind us. Sean drops Mel’s hand and squeezes mine once before letting go. “Avery, I need to talk to you about earlier, but from the sound of it, I already know what’s happening.”
“What do you mean?” Mel asks, as she sits down on the chair by the desk. “What happened earlier?”
“One of Black’s guys saw us together,” Sean explains. “Gabe showed up and warned Avery before things got ugly. Your employer thought you girls were dishing out on the side.”
“No, I don’t think that’s the problem,” I explain. “Black’s doing something. I tried to quit tonight and she wouldn’t let me.”
“Tell me what happened, and don’t leave a thing out.” Sean leans against the wall and folds his arms over his chest. He’s wearing a dark suit with the shirt still buttoned up to his neck and a blackish blue tie. It looks like he was at work, either that or he dressed up for the occasion, which is laughable since he said he was giving us a night off. When I get to the end of my story, Sean doesn’t move. He stares into space, and the only way I can tell that he’s livid is the tightening of his jaw. I’m pretty sure he could bite the head off of a chicken right now.
Mel sighs and looks out the window. She’s not stupid enough to mess with Sean when he’s about to blow up. Yeah, but I am. I reach for a candy from the mint dish and peg him in the chest. It leaves some powdered sugar on my fingers so I suck it off and then grab another one. “These are good.”
“Avery, stop.” Sean inhales slow and deep.
I don’t mention the last words Black said to me or the conversation with Mel in the car. That’d be too much for him, and it worries me. Sean doesn’t know what he does to me or how attached I’ve become, but Black sees it. I try to make light of the situation to diffuse some of his tension. “Sean, it’s not so bad. I just have to get out of it and make her not want me anymore. I planned on not showing up but Mel said that was—”
“A stupid idea,” Mel finishes my sentence for me.
“Yeah, so I guess I need to move onto plan B and figure out how to get fired.” I shrug and turn back to the mint jar. Where is all this false confidence coming from? Two seconds ago, I felt like I couldn’t deal with Black and now I’m talking about manipulating her into firing my ass like it’s nothing.
Sean steps up behind me. I feel his warm breath wash over my shoulder. God, he smells good. “So, you want to stop working for Black?”
Turning, I look up at him, and nod. “Yeah, it turns out that I still have a heart and it’s somewhere else.”
Sean tries not to smile. “So, were you going to say yes, Miss Smith?”
“It depends on what you were going to ask me, Mr. Jones.” I’m looking into his eyes and wondering if we can have a future together. I want it more than anything, but I don’t know. There are so many obstacles in the way, and we both have so much baggage. It seems impossible, but when Sean’s with me, it doesn’t feel that way.
Mel gags herself and slams her head on the desk. Sean and I stare at her. When she lifts her head, she scolds us. “People, share that lovey-dovey shit some other time. We have problems right now.” She taps her finger firmly on the desk for emphasis.
Sean clears his throat and steps away from me, like he was caught doing something wrong. As if showing affection is a criminal offense. “So, let me make sure I understand what you want to do, Avery. You’re plan is to go into Black’s, take the clients, and be so horrible that they don’t want you again?” His dark brow lifts, but he manages to ask without laughing or strangling me.