Okay, any other woman and he would have probably shrugged it off and left her alone, but this was Zoe, his little tenant. The idea of her hurt or unhappy ate at him. It was the same reason his ever ready erection, well when she was around at least, had gone down quickly when she'd announced she wasn't feeling well, even though he was pretty sure that she was lying and he'd still been desperate for her.

The reason why she was lying became pretty damn obvious when she dove for that sheet as he stepped out of the bathroom. He nearly sighed with irritation when he realized there were still a few issues they had to deal with, but deal with them they would. He wanted all this bullshit done with so that they could focus on their little arrangement without any of the drama or bullshit that was hindering her focus on him.

"Are you hiding a tattoo of my name declaring your undying love for me?" he mused, actually liking the idea of his name somewhere on her body, letting every ass**le in the future know that they'd never rate.

His response kind of surprised him, especially since the few times a girlfriend had gotten herself inked with his name had actually irritated the shit out of him. He hadn't appreciated their little games to try and tie him down or earn a declaration of love from him, or try to guilt him into getting their names tattooed on him. He'd never hesitated in telling them to have a nice life after that, but the idea of having his name on Zoe actually turned him on so he decided to ignore her little snort of laughter.

"Hmmm, is that it?" he asked, scanning her soft pale back and ass. Actually, he wouldn't mind seeing his name on her beautiful ass. Then again the idea of having his name just below her navel or on her breast was just as hot.

"No, now can you let me up?" she asked, renewing her struggles to get away from him.

"Not until I figure out what you're hiding," he said, releasing one ankle so that he could reach down and give her bottom a squeeze.

"I'm not hiding anything so stop groping my ass, you pervert!" she snapped as she renewed her struggle, but thankfully was careful not to kick out at him, which he and his balls truly appreciated.

"But I like your ass," he pointed out, palming the other cheek.

"I think everyone in the neighborhood knows how much you like my ass! Now let go of me!" He chuckled at that little accusation, knowing that she was probably right. Over the past couple of months he may have had a problem with keeping his hands to himself when they were outside taking care of the yard or taking Toby for a walk. It was all her fault of course.

"I guess whatever you're hiding must be on the front," he said, ignoring her threats to kick his poor balls again and flipped her over onto her back. He sighed heavily when she made a lame ass attempt to cover herself, but surprisingly or rather not surprisingly she wasn't trying to cover the naughty bits that he loved so much, but her soft slightly round stomach and thighs that he f**king adored.

"What are you doing?" he asked, sighing heavily as she tried to roll onto her side, probably to further hide herself from his view.

"Close your eyes!" she yelled, twisting to the other side when he wouldn't allow her to curl up.

"Why exactly am I covering my eyes?"

"Sunlight, damn it! Sunlight!" she snapped a bit hysterically, he thought as he ran his eyes over her, enjoying the way her br**sts jiggled with every pathetic attempt to hide her body from his view.

"What exactly does the sun being out have to do with anything?" he asked as he reached down and absently ran his hand over his hardening member.

"Because it illuminates everything, damn it! Now hide your eyes!" she said, giving up on her useless attempts to escape and went back to covering herself.

"Move your hands, Zoe," he murmured quietly as he continued to stroke himself.

"No, you'll see me," she mumbled, sounding so distraught and unhappy that he had to laugh.

"Baby, we've been ha**ng s*x for several months. Trust me when I tell you that I've seen ever single inch of your body."

For a moment she only worried her bottom lip as she continued to cover herself. Finally she stubbornly shook her head and with a frustrated sigh he released her ankle and his erection. She lost no time at all in reaching over the edge of the bed and snatching up one of the blankets off the floor and wrapping it around herself.

"Zoe," he said softly as he climbed onto the bed and leaned back next to her, pulling her into his arms. "Unless you've got some livers spots or a weird appendage that I don't know about then you have to know that I've seen everything by now."

"Not in the sunlight," she grumbled, but he noted with pleasure that she laid her head against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Ah, Zoe....," he sighed, chuckling softly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Do you think I'm going to see something that I don't like?"

"Yes," she mumbled unhappily against his chest.

"Zoe," he said, gently taking her hand from where it rested on his stomach and brought it down to press against his painful erection, "trust me when I tell you there is nothing about your body that I don't like."

"You don't like my body," she said even as she ran her very talented little hand over his erection, pausing only long enough to give the head a little squeeze that had him hissing in pleasure.

"No?" he asked tightly. "Then how do you explain this?" he asked, rolling his h*ps into her touch.

"Because you're a pervert? I mean look at the weird obsession you have with my ass," she grumbled, but thankfully sounded a lot more relaxed.

"That may be so, but you still have a body that I can't seem to keep my hands off of." With his arm wrapped around her he pulled her up his body until he could kiss her. He felt her melt in his arms so he took advantage by gently prying the blanket away from her. After a slight hesitation she gave up.

He placed his hand on her stomach. "There's nothing about your body that I don't like," he whispered against her lips.

For a moment she didn't say anything as he pressed kisses along her jaw and throat. He slowly guided her onto her back as he gently caressed her stomach and pressed one last kiss against her lips before he pulled back.

She looked so damn embarrassed and defeated that he couldn't stop himself from brushing his lips against hers one last time. "You're beautiful, Zoe," he said, realizing at that moment just how beautiful she really was. From her beautiful soft brown hair to her stubborn little chin she was beautiful.

"No, I'm not," she said with a snort and an eye roll as she averted her eyes.

His eyes narrowed dangerously on her. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"More like delusional," she said with a snort.

"How dare you question my taste, woman?" he demanded. "If I say you're beautiful then you're beautiful so get the hell over it!" he snapped.

"Look, I appreciate the compliment, but-"

"Out," he said, dropping onto his back and folding his arms over his chest as he stubbornly looked away from her.

"But-"

"I said out, woman!"

"This is my apartment," Zoe pointed out, sounding close to laughing.

"Then you know where the door is. Now get out, woman, and don't you dare come back until you're ready to apologize to me," he said, waving a dismissive hand in the direction of the door.

"Apologize to you? For what?" she asked, sitting up to kneel beside him.

"For what?" he repeated, stunned. "I call you beautiful and you dare to doubt my word? For that you may get your beautiful ass out of my sight."

"Uh huh," she said, drawing out the words. "Did you by any chance eat this morning?"

"That has nothing to do with it," he said, sniffing in disdain.

"Oh, I think it does."

"Does not."

"Do you want me to go grab you some cereal or something?" she offered.

"Not unless it comes with an apology and groveling."

"Groveling?" she repeated slowly. "Since when is there groveling involved?"

"Since you doubted my word and only offered to make it up to me with cereal. How dare you add insult to injury?" he snapped as he once again gestured for her to leave.