The Arrangement

We were finishing the first of two trips to my apartment — gathering the last of the things I was bringing over. It was nice of him to help me. Especially on his day off.

“So it’s a trilogy?”

Nathan nodded. “So far.”

We made our way down the hall, all the way to the end where my room was located. Or at least, it was supposed to be my room. Not that I’d slept in it yet, but you never knew.

“And you’re writing one book each?”

Nathan shook his head. “No, actually we decided that might make the books feel disjointed. Instead we’re all writing different chapters of all three books, in sequence.”

I squinted. “That sounds complicated.”

“It is.”

I turned the knob, and the banded oaken door swung open on heavy iron hinges. Every door in the villa was like this. It was kind of amazing.

“So are you each writing different characters?”

“For the most part,” said Nathan. “We switch up POV’s sometimes, but usually we—”

He hadn’t taken two steps inside when he leapt suddenly sideways. I gasped as he tripped over his own feet, to avoid something small and furry.

“WHAT THE—”

Sidestepping at the last second he lost his balance completely. In a valiant effort he tried to save the boxes rather than himself… and ended up losing everything in the process. He wound up on the floor, covered with my clothing and personal items… staring up at my tiny, yellow-and-white dog.

“Nathan, meet Beast.”

Beast backed up a foot or two, sniffing the air in Nathan’s direction. Then he sneezed.

“Beast?” Nathan looked amused. “That’s his name?”

“He’s a lot tougher than he looks,” I explained.

“I’ll bet.”

I extended one arm to help him back to his feet. Instead, he pulled me right down on top of him. We ended up body to body, face to face.

“Got any other surprises for me?” Nathan flirted.

“Maybe.”

Our eyes met, and our faces drew inexorably closer together. Our lips were practically touching. It would be nothing to lean forward and just start kissing him.

God…

My mind flooded with images of last night. Of Nathan’s hard body, pressed against mine. Of the pleasures he and Chase had given me… as well as the things he’d done to me later on, back beneath the comfort of his own sheets and blankets.

No wonder I was so goddamn tired.

“GRRRRRRR…”

Our lips had just about touched when Beast started growling ferociously. Our heads turned reluctantly sideways, to where my little corgi was bearing his crooked teeth.

“Wonderful,” joked Nathan. “He gets right under you feet and he’s overprotective.”

“Yeah, sorry,” I laughed. “It’ll be better once he gets to know you.”