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.