Auggie took his stairs two at a time as he ran from his store up to his – their – apartment. Annie had moved in two weeks prior, and he quickly found the perks of having his loving girlfriend – fiancee – just a few feet from him at any given time.

And now, since the cool, wet weather resulted in only one customer all day, he instructed Carl to take over while he took a long lunch break. He'd ignored his employee's smirk, simply because if Carl weren't there, Auggie would have been chained to his store for eight hours a day, and unable to see Annie as much as he'd liked.

He opened the door, hoping to catch Annie in the middle of making lunch – hopefully enough for two – but there were no smells emanating from the kitchen area, nor did the kitchen look like it was used beyond the coffee they'd made and drunk that morning.

He took a couple of steps in. "Annie?"

Looking around the newly decorated and arranged apartment, he saw Annie at her desk, bent over the keyboard, typing away furiously. She wore a tank top and some kind of pink knit pants that he loved solely because they hung low on her hips, giving him a peekaboo of her toned abdomen. Her long, blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head, with a few tendrils hanging down her neck.

Just the fact that she looked so comfortable in his place gave Auggie pause to just stand there and stare at her. But after a few seconds, he crossed the apartment to come up behind her.

Her desk, one of the few pieces of furniture she insisted she bring from her rented house, looked much the same way as it did when he first met her – strewn with papers, books, notepads, pencils, and her oversized cup with a teabag hanging over the side.

"Hey, sweetheart," Auggie murmured, bending down to nuzzle against her neck where a lock of hair had fallen down from the bun. He felt her shiver from his caress and pressed his lips against her porcelain skin.

"Mm," Annie murmured, pulled instantly away from her work at Auggie's touch. She halfway turned in her chair and caught Auggie's lips in a soft kiss before turning back to her computer. "Come up for lunch?"

"Mm-hmm," Auggie said, sliding his mouth along her jaw to the spot just beneath her left ear that he knew drove her wild. "Lunch, or something else." He lay both hands on her shoulders, running his thumbs under the straps of her tank top, kneading the slightly tense muscles.

"Auggie," Annie protested softly.

"Yes?" he whispered, darting his tongue out to taste her.

"I have to work."

"So do I – I'm taking a lunch break, thought you'd want to, as well," he murmured, one hand moving up her hair to pull it loose.

"Later," Annie said, removing his hand from her hair with one of her own.

Auggie caught the dismissive tone in her voice, and he pulled away from her neck and straightened up. "Is something wrong?"

Annie shrugged, "No, of course not. Just need to get this done. Deadline's end of day."

"But surely you can –"

"No, Auggie, I can't. I'm sorry if I'm ruining your great plans to come up here for a quickie, but I really can't."

If nothing, the tone in her voice cooled any ardor Auggie was feeling, and he dropped his hand from where it was stroking her shoulder. "Okay, fine. I mean, I totally understand, you're working, and I guess I should, too."

Stalking over to the kitchen, Auggie began pulling out items for a quick sandwich that he figured he could take down to the shop and eat. He knew he was being somewhat petty and juvenile, shutting the refrigerator door harder than he needed to and banging cupboard doors, but he was annoyed. Maybe this great idea of moving Annie in with him a month after they'd met wasn't the great idea it seemed two weeks ago.

"Auggie."

He didn't move, only continued to cut bread and spread mayonnaise, and Annie hung her head to her chest. "Auggie, don't be like this."

"Like what, Annie? I'll be out of your hair in a few minutes, okay?"

"You're angry at me." He didn't respond, and his silence only served to aggravate Annie even more, given how much work she needed to get done and sent to her client by the end of the day. "I'll have this project done by the end of the day, and then we'll have all night together."

He still didn't respond, only continued to make his sandwich, and Annie gritted her teeth. It'd been a great couple of weeks, and aside from the laying down of a few ground rules at the beginning – apparently, Auggie didn't like wet towels on the bathroom floor – she felt at home here with him. But now, it seemed, the honeymoon bubble had burst.

Extricating herself from behind her desk, she walked over to where he stood, his back to her. She reached around him and removed the knife from his hand and set it on the counter. Then, with a firm grasp on his arm, she turned him around until he faced her.

The look on his face – hurt, upset – tugged at her heart, and she placed both hands on his cheeks and lifted up on tiptoe to kiss him full on the mouth.

"You know I love you, right?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye. He nodded, and she continued, "Then why are you acting this way?"

Auggie reached up and pulled her hands off his face and entwining her fingers with his. "I just assumed we'd have more time together, but it seems our times never quite match up. You're always working, and –"

"Yes, we both work," Annie conceded. "But my work is just as important as yours. How would you like it if I came down to your store when it's full of customers and straddled you?"

Auggie's eyes rose at the imagery, and his mouth tilted up at the edges. "Would you?"

"Auggie –"

"Okay, your point is taken," he said and took a deep breath. "You say you'll be done by the end of the day?"

Annie nodded, and cocking an eyebrow, brought their clasped hands up to her lips. His eyes, as expressive as they've always been, darkened as she ran her lips along his index finger, her tongue darting out.

Auggie groaned at the gesture. "You sure you can't take a break for a few minutes or perhaps an hour?"

Annie shook her head, the effort brushing her lips along his knuckles.

"Then you'd better let me go and have my sandwich before something happens that'll definitely make you miss your deadline," Auggie teased.

"As you wish," Annie whispered against their hands before releasing his hands and walking slowly back to her desk.

Auggie groaned as he tore his eyes away from her swaying backside. "Nice try, Buttercup, but I still haven't changed my mind about role-playing."

A/N Well, you wouldn't expect everything to be all roses and champagne, would you? Maybe these two should've had a few discussions prior to shacking up. :)

Please review, as always.