They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. She didn’t wait to turn on me. The spark of fire I’d seen in her eyes was burning brighter now.
“You could have warned me.”
“I could have,” I agreed, but her parents were right. She was a stubborn brat and would have tried to change the situation if given the opportunity. I didn’t feel like giving her that chance.
“Why didn’t you?”
I pushed away from the counter and moved toward her. When I was close, I caught that whiff of strawberries again. “Because I didn’t want to drive for two hours with a pissed off woman in my front seat. It was better to wait until we were here, and your parents could deal with it.”
Her pulse fluttered in her neck, and she licked her lips. She didn’t have the same kind of fear in her eyes that I’d seen when I first saw her at the airport. This fear was one of curiosity and arousal, and I leaned toward her to reach behind her, but I could hear her suck in a breath at my nearness.
When my hand closed around the bottle of water on the shelf behind her, I straightened and walked away.
“I would have moved out of your way,” she grumbled.
“Yeah, but this was more fun, Princess,” I called out. “I’m going to sweep the house and let Zeke out of his kennel. Once it’s all clear, you can have the master bedroom.”
I enter her room and bathroom before heading into the hallway bathroom and bedroom. Finally, I went into the spare room that I’d set my stuff in when I first got here. A large kennel took up most of the smaller bedroom. Zeke was laying down, but as soon as I opened the door his head popped up with excitement.
“You ready to go potty, Boy?”
He barked a yes. His hind end was shaking with excitement at seeing me. I opened his kennel and let him out. Tail wagging, he headed out of the bedroom and straight into the kitchen to find out who the new person he was smelling was.
“Oh,” I heard her say as I rounded the corner to find Zeke wrapped up in a hug from Natalia. Lucky dog, I thought to myself. “Who are you handsome?” She smiled, running her hand over Zeke’s thick fur coat.
“Zeke,” I answered her question. He was eating up the attention and seemed to really like her. Most of the time, he wasn’t as welcoming with strangers, but for whatever reason, he was enjoying the attention from Natalia.
“The house is clear. I’m going to let the dog out. You can get settled in the master bedroom.”
“Okay. Thanks, Gavin.”