Sleeping with the Frenemy (Vega Family Love Stories #3)

Chapter 9

9

Sometime later they were walking through the apartment door, Leo carrying the dog like a baby.

Sofi took a look around the pristine neutral-toned apartment and then at the dirty dog. “Hold up,” she told Leo, who was about to walk into the living room with it. “That dog cannot just wander around. It’s filthy.”

Leo gave her a look. “Sofi, do you really think it’s going to sit here in the entryway?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, but that dog is not roaming free in the apartment when I can literally feel the oily dirt on me after sitting on the ground with it.”

“Then I guess we’ll have to give it a bath.”

“We? What we? You mean you.”

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

Sofi motioned down the hall toward his bathroom. “Go, I’ll bring you the dish soap and a towel.”

“Dish soap? Just grab some shampoo.”

“The hell I am using my expensive shampoo on a dog,” she said with enough attitude to make it very clear that she would not be doing that. “Unless you want to use yours.”

“I actually ran out yesterday.”

“Then dish soap it is. Besides, in the commercials they always use Dawn to take the dirt and oil off baby ducks. It’ll be fine.”

Leo just shook his head and took the dog down the hallway. It kept looking back at her and whining. “It’s okay,” she told it. “I’ll be right there.” She rushed to the kitchen to grab the Dawn from the sink. Then she went to the linen closet and tried to find the oldest and darkest towel Leo owned. She found a dark purple beach towel and snatched it up, then she booked it back down the hall. The bathroom door was closed. “Leo,” she said. “I have the stuff.”

“Give me a second,” he said. A moment later the door cracked open and both of their heads popped out. Leo was clearly trying to maintain a hold of the dog. “I’m trying to figure out how to get him in the tub. He does not look like he’s feeling this bath thing. We should’ve used yours. It has the walk-in shower.”

Sofi shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I’m about to use my shower, because I smell like trash dog.”

“You seriously aren’t going to help me?”

“Nope. It was your idea to lure this dog into the house. You can wash it.”

“And what if it gets mad and attacks me?”

Sofi eyed the dog who was now docilely sitting at Leo’s feet. “I don’t think that’s going to be an issue—” she began backing down the hall “—but you have your phone. Call 911.”

“You’re so mean to me. I don’t know why I like you.”

“You’re a masochist.” Sofi threw him a kiss, then turned the corner and headed straight into her bathroom. She peeled off the most-likely-ruined outfit that had cost her a thousand dollars, turned the shower to piping hot, quickly pulled her hair into a bun on the top of her head, and then stepped in. She scrubbed her body and face at least three times before she felt clean again. When she was done she wrapped herself in a fluffy towel and went about her normal nightly routine: applying moisturizers, creams, and serums to her entire body. Then she put on a satin pajama set and a pair of fuzzy socks (her favorite). She put her hair up in her sleep bonnet and wandered back into the open space of the apartment to see how Leo had done with the dog.

When she stepped out into the living room she stopped dead in her tracks. Leo stood in their kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of basketball shorts that hung low on his hips. The dog was lying at his feet. All the other times he paraded around shirtless, she’d done her very best not to look at him—mostly because she knew he wanted her to—but now she couldn’t help herself. She looked. Leo had always taken care of himself physically because of his job. But this was at a completely different level. It was as if his body was his entire focus now and it showed in the muscles that flexed in his back, shoulders, and legs as he moved things around in the fridge. “There’s some leftover salmon in here, but that’s Sofi’s and she does not like to share.”

Sofi shoved her tongue back in her mouth and swallowed until her throat no longer felt dry. “I leave for thirty minutes to take a shower and you’re already bad-mouthing me to the dog?”

At the sound of her voice the dog got up and trotted over to her. He leaned his entire body weight against her and stared up at her like she was the greatest thing he’d ever seen. He was even more cute now that he was clean. He was gray with a hint of brown, but he had a white chest and one white front paw. His eyes were light brown and his face was subtly wrinkled giving him a sad look. “He looks like a dog from one of those commercials with the Sarah McLachlan song playing.”

“Well, this little jerk cost me more than seventy cents a day.” He closed the refrigerator door. “He got me soaked and filthy, I had to take a shower right after him. Then his ass chewed on my Jordans while I was in the shower.”

Sofi bit her lip. She was kind of sad that she’d missed it. That had to have been hilarious. But then she noticed how he was holding one shoulder higher than the other and flexing his fingers. Fuck. She’d totally forgotten about his injury. He’d probably aggravated it carrying and bathing the dog. She should’ve stayed and helped him. She was ready to ask if he was in pain, but then she remembered how mad he’d gotten the last time she’d tried to show concern.

Tired of being ignored—or maybe he just liked the way her cocoa butter smelled—the dog began to lick her leg. “Eww. No. Stop that.”

“Get her, Dumpy. Get her!” Leo cheered.

Sofi pushed the dog away and he settled. “What did you just call him?”

“I couldn’t just keep calling him ‘dog.’ That felt wrong.”

“So you named him Dumpy?”

“Well, we did find him hanging out behind a dumpster.”

Sofi shook her head. “That’s so messed up, Leo. You can’t call the dog Dumpy. Absolutely not.”

“Then you come up with something better.”

It was clear that Leo had forgotten that this wasn’t their pet and was already getting too attached. It was going to be up to her to maintain perspective. “We aren’t naming him, Leo. He’s only here for the night. For all we know he already has a name and someone is out there shouting it as they look for him.”

“I don’t think so. He doesn’t look like a dog who lived in a house until recently. He’s pretty skinny and his nails are unkempt.”

“But he doesn’t act like a dog who is not used to people either. I mean, he just crawled into my lap as soon as I gave him food.”

“I guess we’ll see tomorrow.” He looked around as if unsure of what to do next. He reached up a hand and absently rubbed his shoulder. A brief grimace passed his face, but he quickly checked it.

Sofi couldn’t take any more. “Leo?”

He looked at her. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to tell you something, but I don’t want you to get mad at me.”

He eyed her warily. “What?”

“I can’t help but notice that you seem to be in pain.”

He opened his mouth to respond but Sofi held up her hand.

“Let me finish.”

He closed his mouth.

“I feel responsible for that, because I should’ve stayed to help you wash the dog. I’d really like to make it up to you.”

At that his eyebrow rose.

“I have a heating pad and some massage oils. Can I take care of your shoulder, please?” She wasn’t even sure if her guilt stemmed from the current situation or if she still felt bad because she’d never checked on him while she was in Europe. All she knew was that she really, really wanted to help him.

He must’ve seen the earnestness on her face, because he nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Go make yourself comfortable on the couch. I’ll be right back.” Sofi rushed to her bathroom to grab the oils and heating pad. She tossed them on the bed and then went to grab another large towel and a smaller one. As she passed by the living room she could hear Leo having a one-sided conversation with the dog about not sniffing at his musical equipment. She smiled.

Back in her room she set everything up. The towels were spread on her bed and one pillow to protect the comforter and pillowcase, the oils were set right on the nightstand, and she’d opened up the back of the heating pad to remove the clay pellet insert so she could heat it.

She went to the kitchen and stuck the insert into the microwave for thirty seconds. As soon as the timer went off, she shoved the insert back into the pad and moseyed into the living room.

She found Leo stretched out on the couch with the dog half on his legs and half on the couch. “I don’t remember giving that animal permission to be on the furniture.”

“You said that he couldn’t be on it without having a bath first. He had one.”

Damn. That was true. “Touché.”

He eyed the object in her hands with confusion and disbelief. “Why are you holding a stuffed cartoon uterus?”

“This is the heating pad. I usually use it for cramps.” He looked like he was going to argue with her. “Don’t be that guy,” Sofi said.

“What guy?”

“The guy who gets all weird about something as perfectly normal as cramps and periods. It’s so cliché.”

“True. Fine. Give me the uterus.”

“Here.” She put it on his shoulder. “Hold it there for fifteen minutes.” She moved to sit on the chair perpendicular to the couch. The dog hopped off Leo’s legs immediately and tried to climb right into her lap. She held him at bay with a hand on his chest. “No, Dog. I am not that kind of animal person. Go back over there.”

The dog whined. He placed one paw on her leg and just stared at her with that sad face.

“I don’t care how pathetic you look,” she told him. “You are not about to put your big butt in my lap.”

“And here I thought since you went to the gym so much, you’d be able to handle more than thirty pounds,” Leo said, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and turning on the huge mounted TV.

“You be quiet. This is between me and the dog.”

As if to punctuate her point the dog let out another whine and put his other paw on her knee. Then he outright cheated by putting his head on his paws and looking up at her with those sad eyes.

“Dammit,” she groused. She reached down and lifted him. “Come on you manipulative con artist.”

The dog immediately curled up in her lap and tried to hide his face between her arm and body. She began to stroke his back. “He’s actually pretty soft,” she said after a few minutes of companionable silence. She’d figured his fur would be coarse, but he felt like velvet.

“I’m positive he’s still a puppy,” Leo said from the couch. “He looks young in the face and he’s obviously smaller than an adult. Although, he’s pretty low-energy for a puppy.”

“He’s just a baby and he was living on the streets?” That was terrible. Sofi had never had a pet. Her mother had told her that they barely had enough money to feed and house themselves, there was no way that they could add another mouth to feed. However, the thought of someone purposefully allowing harm to come to the sweet little guy on her lap seemed too much. Then she noticed the scrapes, scabs, and patches of missing fur where wounds had obviously healed over. “Good thing we found him.”

“Yeah. Now he gets to go live in a shelter with a bunch of other unwanted dogs.”

“But someone will adopt him.” Sofi was telling herself this more than she was telling him.

“I hope so,” was all he said in response.

Realizing that she too was falling under the spell of two sad eyes and a scrawny little body, Sofi shook herself mentally. “I think it’s been fifteen minutes. The heat needs to come off.” Sofi lifted the dog into her arms and stood. He awoke from his nap and looked a bit startled before he saw her. His tail wagged and he tried to lick her face. “No,” she said sternly. “No face licking.” He stopped. She looked to Leo. “Follow me.”

She led him to her room, puppy in her arms. When they arrived, she put the dog down. “Don’t you dare pee on my rug,” she told him. She thought he’d take off and begin to explore the new space but he stayed right at her feet.

Leo was staring at the setup on her bed. For once she couldn’t tell what he was thinking by the look on his face, but he was flexing his fingers around the stress ball again. “Do you want me on my front or back?”

Dear lord. The images that question evoked.

He must’ve read her mind, because he said, “Thinking naughty thoughts in front of a baby? You dirty girl.”

Sex had never been an issue between them. They didn’t just work on every level—they excelled. They were like a line of black powder and a fuse both leading to the same pile of gunpowder and TNT. She’d never found Leo’s equal and she was sure that he’d never found hers. That was what made everything that much harder. How could they give up something so damn good?

Because nothing else about us works , she reminded herself. “Lie on your back first,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice level.

He did as he was told and she grabbed the bottle of oil that she used after a particularly hard workout. It had arnica, lavender, chamomile, and rosemary. She knew it wouldn’t magically heal the damage caused by the bullet, but even if it helped him a fraction it was worth trying. She stood next to the bed and warmed the oil in her hands. The puppy came up next to her and settled into a ball at her feet. She looked down to find Leo eyeing her steadily. “I’m not going to use tons of pressure, but tell me if anything I do is too much.”

He nodded.

Sofi took a deep breath and then put her hands on his shoulder. For the first time she allowed herself to look at it closely. There was a scar along his collarbone where the bullet had obviously gone in and the doctors after. There was another smaller one a few inches over by his deltoid and one on top of his shoulder, closer to his neck. She could only imagine what he’d gone through. He must’ve been so scared and in so much pain. Sofi held her breath in an attempt to keep her emotions under control as she applied the lightest of pressure against the proof of how close she’d come to losing him for good.

“Hey,” he said.

She raised her eyes to his face and noticed for the first time that her vision was blurry, she could barely make out his features.

His other hand came up to her face and wiped her tears from one side, then the other.

Sofi blinked to clear her vision completely.

“Look at me,” he told her, his voice was low but stern.

Her eyes met his and just like every time, the light green pulled her in like the warm sun-soaked Caribbean Sea.

“I’m here,” he told her. “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

“I was so scared, Leo,” she confessed in a whisper. “When my mom told me, I was ready to jump on the next flight.” Her tears began to flow faster. “I wanted to be near you. See you. I just kept thinking, What if I don’t get to see him again? ” Her shoulders shook with the force of the sob she was trying to contain. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost you forever.”

Suddenly his lips were on hers, rough and desperate as if he wanted to eat her words right out of her mouth. He kissed her like he owned her and he was tired of not having her. He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her closer until she was precariously balanced over him. He bit her lip and then sucked it into his mouth. It was a punishment, this kiss. He was letting her know that he was mad at her for leaving him alone for a year.

Sofi welcomed it because she was mad too. Mad that she just couldn’t keep her distance from him. She growled into his mouth and bit him back. She lifted her knee onto the edge of the bed and threw her other leg over his hips.

He sat up, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her close. They kissed until he pulled away for a second. “Get naked,” he told her. His hands were already slipping up the hem of her shorts.

“Leo,” she whispered tentatively.

When he felt nothing but skin under her shorts his eyes darkened. “Right fucking now, Sofi.” He leaned in and put his mouth on her neck, sucking roughly like he wanted to mark her.

Her hands went to the buttons of her top. Her fingers were clumsy in her haste. As soon as she had the top open it slipped down her shoulders to pool at the small of her back where it was stopped from going farther by his hands under her shorts.

He straightened and looked down at her chest. “Co?o,” he breathed. “Every fucking time you amaze me.”

Sofi preened. She knew she didn’t have the biggest chest, she was a B cup, but Leo always looked at her like she was an abundance.

“Come here.” He tugged at her so she lifted onto her knees, her chest at the perfect height for his mouth. He wasted no time putting his mouth on her.

They both groaned as he nibbled at her nipples before licking.

“Take your shorts off,” he rasped.

Sofi paused. “I don’t have any condoms,” she told him.

When she didn’t move fast enough. He reached for her shorts himself. “It doesn’t matter.” He grabbed her waistband and started tugging it down. “We aren’t fucking right now anyway.”

Sofi paused again, her hand on the other side of her shorts. “What?”

He looked at her very seriously. “I’m not fucking you again until you’re ready to tell everyone you know about us.” He didn’t even give her a second to process that. He leaned in and sucked on a nipple. “But right now you’re going to sit on my face because it’s been too long since I’ve eaten mi bombón de caramelo.”

Fuck. He played dirty. He knew she couldn’t deny herself that pleasure. Sofi rose to her feet, standing on her bed, and moved to the side so she could let her shorts fall to her ankles. She watched him scoot down the bed as she stepped out of her shorts. She used her toes to flick them at his face.

He caught them and held them there for a second, breathing them in, before dropping them on the floor. “Enough.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her until she stood at the head of the bed facing the foot of it. He released her wrist and lay back, resting his head on the pillow he’d dragged with him. He looked up at her like a man starved. He licked his bottom lip. “Bajate,” he told her, his voice deep and dark with need.

Her legs trembled as she followed his command despite the squats she did every other day. She placed her knees on either side of his head. When her knee bumped his injured shoulder she froze. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she murmured.

“I don’t care if it hurts,” he said. “Te voy a comer como si fueras mi última cena.” Then he wrapped his arms around her thighs and pulled her down.

“Fuck,” she exclaimed at the first touch of his mouth. “Leo.”

His only response was to flex his hands on her thighs.

She wanted to lean forward and put her hands on his chest, but she was worried about putting her weight on him.

His big palm slapped her ass, hard. “You’re thinking too much,” he growled from between her thighs. “Just ride my mouth. I need it.” Another smack. “Muévete.”

She needed it too, so she leaned back, locked her hands behind her head, shut off her brain, and rocked her hips like they both wanted.

It was wet and messy, but neither one of them cared. They loved it. She was positive of this because he groaned and growled and slurped at her like he was having the time of his life. She knew she was.

Her thighs were trembling, her stomach was clenched, she couldn’t catch her breath, and her ability to speak had completely deserted her. All she could do was pant and moan. She watched as his hand slid down his chest to his stomach where it stopped for a second. “Do it,” she breathed, her insides clenching at the thought. “I want to watch.”

His hand continued its journey until it reached the waistband of his shorts where it slipped under them and tugged out his dick. He wrapped his fist around it and his moan reverberated through her.

“Yes,” she hissed, rocking her hips harder. “Así. Así mismo.”

His hand sped up.

Sofi couldn’t take her eyes off it. She wanted him in her mouth, but then she’d have to stop grinding on his face and that was more important.

The muscles in his stomach clenched, his toes curled, and he let out a muffled “fuck” against her.

That was it.

Her eyes squeezed shut, her hips jerked uncontrollably, her entire body shook, and she cried his name over and over. When she couldn’t stand it anymore she slumped to the side, letting her body fall to the mattress. She opened her eyes and his hips were in her line of sight.

His hand was still wrapped around himself, covered in his own pleasure. His stomach rose and fell quickly as he tried to catch his breath. His other hand came down, holding the small towel from the pillow. He wiped himself off and then set it aside. He sat up and looked over at her. “Sofi. Bombón.” He reached out a hand and dragged it along her hip.

She sat up and turned herself around while he repositioned himself against the headboard. Sofi scooted up until she was right next to him and then laid her head on his chest.

Leo wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. He kissed her on the forehead.

Sofi didn’t say anything. She just closed her eyes and let sleep take her, so she could stop thinking about the huge mistake she’d just made.