Chapter 20

His hands gripped her hips, pulling her against him, and then her hands were on him. She had not been wrong about his nice shoulders and back.

In her explosion of passion, she hugged herself to him tighter—probably too tight, if she was being honest. He didn’t seem to mind, judging by how his hands swept over her until they rested on her bare back.

She broke away to catch her breath, to take a moment to figure out if this was real, if he was actually kissing her. One up-close glimpse at his stupid, cocky smile was enough proof for her to press her lips back upon his.

God, he really was hot, so hot she wanted to cry.

Instead, she nearly moaned from the feeling of him at her fingertips and then—~Oh God, did I really just moan?~

He froze against her, his hands on her back and his lips on hers, as his confusion and hesitation coursed through her. The only thing that ran deeper, to her bones, was mortification.

“Did you just—?”

“No,” she blurted. “Maybe,” she amended after a moment of silence, then she clicked her tongue. “Don’t look so smug.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You have two settings: smug and annoying. Most of the time you manage to be both at once.”

“Is right now one of those times?”

“Yes—”

Her tangent was cut off by the sound of barking. She and Zavien frowned in confusion until realization dawned on them.

“Oh my God,” she whispered.

Zavien held her surprised gaze for one more moment before the two of them darted for the door.

“You left your door open?” she cried as she stepped into the hall, only to slam into his back when he stopped dead in front of her. And wow, it really was nice.

Nice enough that she nearly moaned again.

“Forgive me, I was a little distracted,” he retorted.

She decided to take that as a compliment.

Another sharp bark brought them back to the moment, and they shared a startled glance before tearing off in Pablo’s direction.

Unfortunately, they were not the first ones on the scene.

“Whose dog is this?” Mr. Nakamura asked, more awake than Lara had ever seen him, which she wasn’t sure was a good thing.

Upon seeing Zavien, Pablo happily ran to him, circling his and Lara’s legs as they stood side by side together.

Mr. Nakamura’s eyes narrowed on Zavien, and he wagged a finger threateningly. “You… First I get complaints about obscene door decor, then we receive your lewd packages at the front desk—”

“Mr. Nakamura, I can explain—”

“He’s mine, Mr. Nakamura,” Lara interjected, surprising Mr. Nakamura, Zavien, and herself. “Well, he’s not ~mine~. I agreed to watch him for a friend. Just for the week.”

Mr. Nakamura rounded on her. “There are no pets allowed in this building, Miss Hendry.”

“I’m sorry, sir, I just forgot. My friend was in a bind and had to leave town for a family emergency. I offered to keep Pablo for the week until he comes back.” She donned her widest, saddest puppy-dog eyes. To drive the point home, she scooped Pablo into her arms.

The pug really sold the story by propping himself up on her chest and licking her nose.

“This is against our rules, Miss Hendry,” Mr. Nakamura reiterated, but sleepiness began to seep into his voice, so Lara knew she had won this battle. “Between this and the noise complaint, I may have to start keeping a closer eye on you.”

Lara nodded. “Yes, I understand, Mr. Nakamura, and I apologize for the inconvenience, but…?” She brought Pablo cheek to cheek with her, pouting ever so slightly and staring at him wide-eyed and apologetic until he sighed in resignation.

“Just this once.” He gave Lara a dismissive wave before taking his leave.

Zavien stood silent beside her.

Smiling down at Pablo in her arms, she said, “Good teamwork, baby.” She scratched his little head until he panted happily.

Pablo licked her hand in agreement.

She giggled as she looked up, only to find Zavien staring at her in shock. “What?”

“Why did you do that?”

“I’m far less of a menace than you.” She shrugged. “I figured I wouldn’t get into as much trouble.” She relished the look of awe on his face and wanted to keep it there as long as possible, so she pushed aside the internal reminder that his recent trouble was her fault.

“Besides,” she added, “Pablo likes me better than you anyway.”

Zavien made a noise at the back of his throat that sounded like an objection, but he didn’t try to take the pug from her as they walked back to their apartments.

She took this as a sign of his agreement.

Finally, she had bested him, and he had nothing to say to diminish that victory.

“Your ass is out,” he cheerfully reminded her.

~Well, that was short-lived.~ “Yeah, yeah, what else is new?”

“You know, I really did do an excellent job with my selection.”

~There’s that smugness~, she thought, shooting him a glare.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to show me the rest?” His teasing smirk was much more charming now that she could actually see it.

She gave him a smirk of her own, a disdainful one. “Jump off a cliff.”

Zavien grinned. “I’ll take that as a maybe.”