"No?" he asked tightly. "Then how do you explain this?" he asked, rolling his hips 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.

"Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit here?" she asked, and he could hear the smile in her voice. It pleased him that she was no longer upset, but he was still insulted.

"No, now leave me be, woman," he said, turning his head even more away from her. "I'm no longer speaking with you."

"Fine," she said, sighing heavily as she climbed off the bed, not apologizing or groveling, he noted.

Would it really kill her to accept his expertise on the matter? He said she was beautiful then she should really just shut the hell up and accept that he knew best, but the woman was just too damn stubborn and until she accepted that he was right about this he wasn't going to-

"You know it's too bad that you're not talking to me. I was going to surprise you today. There's this new buffet restaurant opening a few towns over that I was going to--eeep!" she squealed adorably when she found herself back on the bed and pinned beneath him and his mouth smothering hers.

"I accept your apology."

Chapter 23

"Are you still pouting?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Trevor threw his truck into park as he sent her another glare. "I just don't understand how you could betray me like this."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said, getting out of the truck and headed for the restaurant sporting the "Grand Opening Weekend" banner, knowing that Trevor was probably close behind her.

"Why did you have to tell her?" he demanded as he caught up to her.

Zoe worried her bottom lip, wondering if he was going to throw his arm around her or hold her hand the way he did when they took Toby for a walk. Of course when he didn't, she forced herself not to be too disappointed. This was only an arrangement after all.

She shoved her disappointment aside and answered him, knowing it was just a waste of time and energy to be upset over things that were never going to happen. "Why wouldn't I tell Haley?"

"Because she'll tell Jason," he said, not sounding happy at all as he opened the door and gestured for her to go ahead with the medium size black plastic shopping bag that he'd brought with him. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now she wondered if he was carting around his own condiments.

"And probably Jared and everyone else, too," Zoe pointed out, feigning innocence. Of course Trevor probably didn't need to know that she text messaged Jared with the name and location of the new buffet restaurant or that she'd made damn sure that everyone in his family knew about the buffet restaurant. He'd be pissed when he found out, but that was okay since she'd been admittedly a little pissed when she did it.

She still couldn't believe he called her beautiful. While most women probably would have appreciated the compliment she hadn't. If he had actually meant it, and she knew the odds of that happening were zilch, she would have savored it, but he'd only called her beautiful to make her feel better. It was a nice gesture, kind of, but one that hurt more than anything.

It was hard enough knowing that this arrangement was never going to be more than just sex, and at first she'd accepted it, welcomed it even, but now......

She wanted more. More importantly she wanted more with Trevor, but she wasn't delusional. He didn't want more with her and she wasn't going to push for it. For however long this lasted, and she really couldn't believe that it lasted this long, she was going to enjoy it. When it ended she was going to take Toby and find a new place to live and hope it didn't kill her to have to see Trevor every day at work. If she couldn't handle seeing him she'd already decided that she'd move out of state, maybe to Florida where she could get a fresh start.

"Would it have killed you to keep it a secret between us?" Trevor asked as they stepped into the long line for the cashier.

"It's a buffet, Trevor. They would have found out about it within a week," she explained even though it was really just common sense.

"Yes, but that would have been a week that I could enjoy the place before those greedy bastards get us all banned," Trevor sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.

"Gee, I hadn't thought about that," she mumbled, trying not to laugh.

Trevor slowly looked down at her. His eyes narrowed dangerously on her as she did her best to bite back her smile, but lost that battle several times.

"Oh my god.....you sold me out," he said, looking shocked and affronted, which was kind of ridiculous since at this point he really should be used to it.