Chapter 25
This arrangement wasn't working for him any longer, he realized as he stepped over his boys fighting over that damn pretty pink princess chew toy. He hung up their leashes and headed up the stairs only to come to an abrupt halt when his sleep hazed mind remembered something.
Grunting at Toby and Max to keep it down, he walked into Zoe's kitchen. He yawned as he grabbed a glass, dropped some ice into the cup and filled it with ginger ale. As he was leaving he shot a glance at the clock stove and nearly groaned. It was nearly eight o'clock in the morning and if he didn't leave soon he'd probably miss out on the fresh baked muffins his aunts made every Thanksgiving morning, but he should be able to make it in time for the huge breakfast spread they put out.
If he didn't haul ass soon he wouldn't have the proper nourishment that helping prepare Thanksgiving dinner for his family required. He had about three hours of peeling, chopping, dicing, washing dishes, and at least one emergency run to the store for whatever ingredient the women of his family needed to complete the insanely delicious dinner they'd serve at one o'clock promptly, but first he wanted to check on Zoe and tell her that things just weren't working out for him anymore.
This wasn't her fault of course. She'd respected their arrangement and even followed the rules that they both set, but somewhere along the line it stopped working for him. This whole bullshit situation of having sex with a woman but not sleeping with her and having to sneak into her room first thing in the morning just so he could cuddle with her and admittedly have his very naughty way with her was just too much work.
Plus if he was going to be honest with himself he'd have to admit that he was sick of all the work that it required to keep his hands off of her in public. Every time he wanted to touch her, hold her hand, or kiss her he had to remind himself that it wasn't like that between them and hold back. Denying himself what he wanted wasn't fun and he was done doing it.
This whole thing was ridiculous, he thought as he stepped back over the playful pups and started up the stairs. They'd been together for months and he cared for her, genuinely cared for her. He couldn't actually remember caring about a woman before Zoe. Before her he only cared what being with a woman did for him, food, sex, and a beautiful woman on his arm, but with Zoe he'd have to get his own damn food or risk his own case of food poisoning, unless she made him a yummy sandwich, he'd die without sex with her, and he didn't give a flying f*ck what anyone thought about her. He enjoyed being with her and if anyone had a problem with that they could f*ck off.
He didn't think it would last once he put his new plan into effect, but then again he hadn't thought their little arrangement would last this long. He'd been wrong about that, but he was sure that once they arrangement turned into something a little more substantial the novelty of the whole thing would wear off quickly. No doubt his plan would take all the fun and excitement out of sneaking around, and he was pretty sure that's why it lasted this long, but he didn't really care. The sooner he told her the sooner he could put himself out his misery and just relax and enjoy being with her until it was time to end things.
When he came to the top of the stairs he hesitated for a moment. He'd kept her up pretty late last night, or rather this morning, maybe he should just let her get some sleep and he'd talk to her when they both got back from their Thanksgiving plans. But that would mean he'd have to wait until well after six o'clock, the time he usually came home after his family ran out of food on Thanksgiving Day, to talk to her about his decision and he really didn't want to put it off, knowing how happy it would make her.
Besides, he didn't want to leave without seeing her. It was stupid, but he liked seeing her first thing in the morning when her hair was all messed up, her face was puffy and she grumbled rather violent promise to his manhood. She was so damn cute first thing in the morning.
He walked into her room and wasn't too surprised when he heard Toby's happy panting closing in behind him or when the large pup ran past him, wagging his tail happily as he raced towards Zoe's bed, but didn't jump on the bed. The pup had learned early on not to be close to Zoe when she first woke up. The woman was not a happy camper and poor Toby had been hit with a pillow or two as Zoe struggled to bury her head under her pillow and ignore their demands that she get up.
A few seconds later Max ran in, no less eager, but not yet quite half the size of Toby and raced to the bed, trying to jump on it and failing miserably as he whimpered, still sounding very much like a puppy, demanding Zoe wake up and cuddle with him. It was the same way the dogs had woken him up an hour ago. Of course Toby didn't hesitate waking him up with puppy licks since he'd snuck into his room with Max following right behind him around three this morning after Zoe had fallen asleep, and slept on the bed with him.
After he gave each puppy some attention they took their morning walk, ate a quick breakfast, and he took a shower while the puppies played tug of war with his boxers. Every few minutes he had to tell them to be quiet so that they wouldn't wake up their mommy. He really should be heading to his uncle's house, but he wanted to see her first even if it was only for a moment.
He knelt by the bed and smiled at how beautiful she looked. How in the hell had he ever been stupid enough to call her plain? She was easily more beautiful to him than any of the women he'd dated, he thought as he reached out with one finger and lightly tickled the tip of her nose.
Her little early morning growl, which was laced with a little whimper of annoyance, had him biting back a chuckle. He picked up a long strand of her beautiful brown hair and lightly, ever so lightly tickled the tip of her nose with it.
"Stop it," she muttered as she lazily reached out and slapped at the air, not even close to his face.
So of course he had to do it again. This time when she went to swat off his tickling attack he was forced to duck his head or get a weak slap in the face.
"Zoe, wake up," he said in a tauntingly upbeat voice, knowing it would drive her crazy.
"Go away," she mumbled. "I hate you."
"Because I'm waking you up?" he asked, smiling as he ducked another weak attack.
"Yes!" she snapped, clearly aggravated as she was every morning when he did this. Yet he just couldn't stop himself from doing it. It was just too damn fun.
He was just about to up his attack when she flopped over onto her back and shielded her eyes with her arm. Not even two seconds later her eyes were wide open, one hand was clamped tightly on her mouth and the other one was pressed against her stomach and was off the bed and running towards the bathroom, slamming the bathroom door behind her.
"Shit."
Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he placed the glass of ginger ale on the nightstand, away from the edge where the dogs could get it, and headed for the bathroom. He'd hoped she was getting better. The last two mornings she'd only complained about feeling slightly nauseous, but she hadn't been sick. At least he didn't think she'd gotten sick.
She hadn't told him if she had and both mornings he was so damn busy making her stay in bed for a little longer, grabbing her some toast and ginger ale, making his lunch and taking care of the dogs before he left that wasn't entirely sure, but he thought she'd been okay. When he stopped by the office later both days and asked her how she felt she'd assured him she felt great, but clearly that wasn't the case if she was getting sick again.
"Zoe?" he said, slowly opening the door. "Baby, are you okay?"
"Yes," she mumbled, grabbing a toothbrush and loading it with toothpaste.
"You've been sick for almost a week now, Zoe. Maybe I should take you to the emergency room," he said, already trying to figure out which hospital was closer and wondering if he could get his uncle or someone to watch the dogs in case they got stuck in the emergency room all day.
She stubbornly shook her head, spit and added more toothpaste to her toothbrush and started the process all over again. A few minutes later she finally finished.
"I'm fine, Trevor," she said, walking past him, pausing only to pet Toby and pick Max up. Cuddling the small dog, she climbed back onto the bed and pulled the comforter up. Toby waited until she was settled before jumping on the bed and settling next to her and Mr. Cuddles.
Forcing himself not to throw her over his shoulder and take her to the nearest hospital, mostly because she'd probably knee him in the balls again, he sat down near her hip and handed her the ginger ale. Eying him warily, probably because she knew what he was thinking, she took a small sip.
"Thank you," she said, placing the glass down and returning to petting Max.
"You need to see a doctor, Zoe," he said, brushing the hair out of her face as he leaned in to press a good morning kiss to her lips.
"I'm fine, Trevor. Besides I have an appointment early Monday afternoon," she said when he pulled away.
"That's four days away, Zoe. You need to see someone soon," he said, taking one of her hands into his.
Zoe rolled her eyes playfully, which he had to admit was a good sign and made him feel marginally better. "I'm not dying, Trevor. I just feel a little sick. By the time I have my appointment I'll probably be fine."
"Yeah, probably," he agreed, hoping that was the case.
She twisted around so that she could look at her clock. "Aren't you supposed to be at your Aunt's house right now?" she asked, frowning as she turned back around.
"Yes, and it's all your fault that I'm going to be late," he said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose.
"How's it my fault?"
"Because I wanted to talk to you about something."
"And that makes it my fault?" she asked, arching her brows in adorable confusion.
"Damn straight it does," he said, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before he forced himself to move back and focus.
"Uh huh, you care to explain?"
"If I must," he sighed.
"You must," she said, her lips twitching and drawing his attention, but then he remembered that he really did need to move his ass and get out of there.
"Okay," he said, clearing his throat and wondering just how the hell he was supposed to do this. After a minute he decided just to get it over with since he knew it really was no big deal. "I've decided that it would probably be best for you to move in with me."
When she didn't immediately agree or tell him it was a great idea he started to get a little nervous.
"I'm sorry, what's this now?" she asked, looking a little stunned.
"I think you should move in with me to make things easier," he said, shrugging like it was no big deal and it shouldn't be, but for the first time since he'd decided that's what they should do he was a little nervous.
"How exactly would that make things easier? If anything that would complicate things," she said, switching her petting attention to Toby, who was more than happy to help her out by rolling over onto his back.
"I want you to move in with me," he said, wondering if he should have waited until later when she was a little more awake and could fully appreciate how great this idea was.
This was perfect for so many reasons and he was sure that once she thought about it she would realize that once again he was right. When she moved in with him she wouldn't have to worry about rent, not that she did now. The first Friday after they'd started their little arrangement he'd felt a little odd about taking her money so he opened up a bank account in her name and deposited all her rent checks into it. But this way she wouldn't have to worry about rent at all, utilities, or any of the household bills because he would take care of her and the dogs.
They'd probably keep most of her furniture and all the stuff that she didn't need in her apartment so she didn't have to find storage and so his aunt wouldn't get any bright ideas about renting it out. He liked his privacy and didn't need another tenant disturbing them. He also didn't think Zoe would be so accommodating in the bedroom if she had to worry about someone overhearing them.
This would also cut Zoe's work in half. Granted, she wouldn't be working for him anymore, but the money she saved on rent, food and everything else would more than make up for the money she lost. Of course when things finally simmered down, which probably wouldn't be for a while, he'd either buy her a house to live in or move her into one of his apartments where he could continue to take care of her and make sure that she was okay. Then when she got married he would......
He would have to ask her to leave or risk heading to prison for killing the bastard since he couldn't stomach the idea of another man touching her. Damn, that would really complicate things. He wanted to make sure she was taking care of, but he didn't want to have to see her with another man while he did it. Well, he'd just have to suck it up for as long as he could, because he really didn't trust any other man to take care of her the way he would.
"But I live here...," she said slowly before adding, "next to you. Why do you think I should move in with you?"
"To make things easier," he said, wondering why the hell he had to explain any of this when she should be damn happy that he wanted to make things more serious between them.
Most woman were happy when a man wanted to get more serious, weren't they? All the women in his past would have jumped for joy if he'd ever offered them the honor he was bestowing upon her and it was an honor, damn it! She should be hugging him, crying tears of joy and offering to do that little thing with her hand that drove him crazy.
What the hell was wrong with his woman?
He should be tearing her off of him, not trying to convince her to do something they both knew was for the best.
"I don't think moving in together would make things easier," she said as she continued to pet Toby. A moment later, much to his displeasure, she released his hand to give into Max's petting demands.
"Why not?" he asked, wishing like hell that it hadn't come out sounding so damn pathetic.
She shrugged lazily. "Because this is an arrangement, Trevor. I don't see the point in moving in together when the whole point is not to complicate things. It would also make it weird when we start dating other pe-"
"Who the hell are you dating?" he demanding, cutting her off as he reached out and gently cupped her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him. "Is that why you don't want to move in with me? Because of some guy?"
Her eyes widened as his words hit and then, much to his horror, she smiled. "You're jealous?"
"No, I'm not," he snorted in disgust, but holy hell he was.
"Yes, you are," she said, giving him a pleased little smile that she was clearly trying to pull back, but failed miserably.
"No, I'm not!" he snapped, dropping his hand and practically jumped off the bed.
He pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're just trying to change the subject, woman. I think it would be best for everyone if you moved in with me," and ignored other men, but he couldn't exactly say that, although he would make damn sure there were no other men, "think about it and when you get home tonight we'll figure it out," he said, heading for the door, but he couldn't help the way her expression suddenly became guarded as she turned her attention back to the dogs.
"Okay, we'll talk about it later," she said, shrugging if off like there really was nothing to talk about.
Groaning in frustration, he marched back over to her and took her mouth in a hungry kiss that had him thinking about skipping Thanksgiving and spending the day with her, but he couldn't do that to his family and he didn't want to wreck her plans for the day.
"We'll talk later," he murmured against her lips.
"Fine," she sighed heavily as he pulled away.
"Good," he said, pleased that she wasn't arguing about it, at least at the moment, but hopefully after she was filled with turkey and all the trimmings she'd be too exhausted and full to argue with him.
"You better go or you'll be late," she said, gesturing to the clock again.
He winced when he saw what time it was. "Shit, I really have to go. Do you have a long drive?" he asked, wondering if he should plan to swing back here later to give her a ride. It snowed last night and rained a little bit this morning and he really didn't trust her car in this weather or any weather for that matter. It was just another reminder that he'd have to go and buy her a car soon.
"It's not very far," she said, giving him a small smile.
"Okay, but if you don't want to drive or your car dies give me a call and I'll come give you a ride," he said, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead and giving the dogs a quick pet before he headed for the door.
"What if I want to give you a ride?" she asked teasingly, laughing when he tripped over his own damn feet.