Lia hooked Huck up to his leash and headed towards Ben's house at nine the next morning. She was not going to talk to a contractor without having at least seen the inside of the house. As she and Huck mounted the steps to the back porch Huck jerked ahead running though the dog door that was not boarded up as promised.

Lia didn't have the good sense to let go of the leash and ran face first into the door. Her forehead took the brunt of it, but her nose hurt too. She was holding her face cussing up a storm when Ben threw open the door.

"What the hell Lia, why didn't you just knock?" He put his hand on her arm trying to push her hand away from her face, so he could see the damage.

"No!" she turned away from him. "Why didn't you board up the dog door like you said you would?" she demanded fighting back tears.

"It was on my list to do today, but I only woke up half an hour ago, I was at the hospital with Trinity all night." He reached for her arm again, but she evaded him. "Let me see Lia, stop being a big baby about it."

"It's probably broken, I'll just tell everyone it's your fault," she insisted, attempting to wiggle her nose.

"They will probably believe it," he said seriously, but Lia was in too much pain to realize what was being said.

Ben walked up behind her and wrapped both of his arms around her arms. "Let me see Lia, I've broken my nose, I'll be able to tell."

"I'm a nurse, I've seen plenty of broken noses." She informed him as haughtily as she could from behind her hand. She could feel his warmth as it enveloped her, his large arms made her feel small, and she could feel his body pressed tightly against hers. When he started to push her arms down her initial reaction was to fight him, so she doubled over, it didn't move Ben's arms, it only proved to push a certain part of her anatomy more tightly against his.

"I'm all for getting closer Lia, but I think I should take a look at your nose first," he whispered in her ear.

She straightened, her heart beating erratically as he rested his chin on her shoulder. His arms were like steel bands, one was around her midsection and the other was across her chest, up high enough to be decent. Her arms were pinned at her sides, but she was no longer fighting him, and he knew it. He continued to hold her close, his heartbeat matching her own.

"You smell delicious, Peaches," he said, nuzzling her ear.

Lia cleared her throat and gave a small squeak as he nuzzled her neck. She bent to free herself again and he laughed. "Sweetheart, that only makes it worse, don't you know that?"

"Please, Ben," she begged.

He sighed and dropped a small kiss on her neck before releasing her and spinning her around. "Let me see," he said, grabbing her face with his hand and tilting it up towards him. He rubbed her forehead with his thumb and grunted then he gently prodded her nose with his fingers. "It's not broken, but you'll probably have a bruise," he said, touching her forehead.

Lia looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. There was an awareness between them that hadn't been there before. It wasn't like anything she had ever felt before. She missed his arms, and she wondered if he missed having her in his arms. It had felt like she belonged there, like she was home.

"I came to see the house," she said finally, breaking his gaze and looking away.

He gave a halfhearted smile. "Is it the end of the world if we're attracted to each other?" he asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Lia couldn't contain the shiver that ran up her spine at the feel of his fingertips as they brushed her face. "You're a beautiful woman Lia,"

Lia blushed. "I think you've been trapped in your house by yourself too long, you need to get out more." She pushed past him into his house, stopping short when she saw the condition of the kitchen. It was like the 1970s threw-up all over it. Everything was avocado green, even the linoleum.

"This is worse than I thought," she exclaimed, "does everything still work?" Lia turned to look at him, but he was right behind her. He grabbed her, pulling her close as one hand went to the back of her head, tilting it back. "You're ignoring the situation Lia," he growled just before his lips captured hers.

Lia blinked, then closed her eyes giving a little moan. Oh, he was a very good kisser, she wrapped his arms around his neck and he took it as a sign to deepen the kiss while backing her up to the kitchen table.

Lia felt it hit her bottom and she let it catch her weight as her knees gave out when Ben's hands had snuck from her waist and one had moved under her shirt and was caressing her bare back, while the other was kneading her hip. Lia's hands had started to wander too, and she allowed them to feel the vast expanse of his chest and then his arms.

When Ben started to kiss her jaw and neck, she turned her head to see Huck watching them curiously, his head tilted at the heavy breathing sounds they were making. When Ben's exploring hand moved from her back to her front and his thumb grazed the underneath of her breast, she gasped at the pleasure the ripped through her.

Huck made a sneezing sound with a shake of his head then walked over to Ben's stove lifted his leg and started to pee, giving a little bark as he did so.

Lia looked at him through half closed eyes, but when she saw what he was doing, they opened wide. "Huck, no!" she yelled. "Bad bad boy!"

Ben looked, first at Lia with his delicious hazy eyes then at Huck. When he saw what he had done, he gave a little laugh and reached for Lia again, pulling her closer.

"Ben! He can't be allowed to do that!" Lia hissed.

"He's only jealous," Ben shrugged, not particularly concerned that pee dripped from the corner of his oven. When he let his hand wander a little further up to Lia's breast, she gasped again and as his lips captured hers once more, she caved. It was his stove after all, and they were probably getting rid of it soon anyway.

Ben's hands had wandered down to her jeans when a large crash came from above them. It jolted them both and they looked at each other with shock, breathing heavily.

"What was that?" Lia asked, standing and straightening her clothes.

Ben looked at the door with a frown and that was when Huck made his appearance holding a pad of paper in his mouth, drool puddling around his feet.

"What is it?" Lia asked as she felt Ben, who was still pressed against, her grow tense.

"Those are my notes," he straightened and looked at Huck, his eyes narrowing. Lia swore that she saw Huck's eyes narrow too.

"Huck, give!" Ben ordered. "Now!"

Huck stuck his butt in the air as he went down on his front paws, his tail wagging uncontrollably.

Lia had the feeling that Huck wasn't jealous because Ben was distracting Lia, but because Lia was distracting Ben.

"My dog likes you more than me!" Lia said with shock.

"That's nonsense!" Ben said as he slowly rounded the table. Lia couldn't help but admire the way he moved and how he looked in his jeans. It was amazing how one make-out session could change the way you looked at a person. Ben was always attractive but now he was distracting.

"Huck," he warned and just as he reached the furball, Huck darted away, towards the front of the house. Lia heard the doorbell ring and waited, thinking that would take care of the problem, but when she saw Huck and Ben fly past the kitchen door on their way up the stairs and the doorbell ring again she sighed. It would be up to her to meet with the contractor.

"Lia help me with your dog!" Ben demanded as Lia passed the staircase on her way to the front door. "My notes are important." Huck stood at the top of the stairs tail wagging, waiting for Ben to try again.

Lia ordered Huck to behave half-heartedly as she reached the door.

As she opened the door, she heard Ben let loose with an oath as he charged the dog.

"Come in, you must be Ben's contractor friend, I'm Lia Haven."

"Brian Alexander," Brian greeted, looking at Ben chasing Huck across the landing.

"That's Huck, he stole some of Ben's notes," she closed the door behind Brian and hollered up at Ben that he was there.

"I know he's here, I heard, but your dog seems to be oblivious."

"Excuse me, Brian," Lia said as she went into the kitchen and looked in Ben's fridge for a treat, when she saw cheese she reached for it and as she started to unwrap it, Huck came sliding in, stopping at her feet, dropping the files, and looking up at her adoringly.

"You little booger," she said, giving him the cheese.

"If you knew that was the answer the entire time why didn't you do it sooner." Ben said as he joined them. Then on another thought, he added, "You're only rewarding his bad behavior." He was leaning against the doorjamb out of breath, watching Lia as she bent down to pick up his notes. They were soaked and there were teeth marks, but they still looked legible, as legible as Ben's handwriting was at least.

"If I don't reward it how will I be able to get him to stop in the future?" Lia asked honestly. Picking up Huck's leash. "I'll clean up in here, why don't you and Brian get started," she suggested, reaching for some paper towels. Huck laid down with a groan, realizing that the excitement was over and he could rest. Ben silently watched Lia as she started to mop up Huck's pee and after a moment he rubbed his face then turned and left to join Brian.

"Huck, you didn't have to be quite so bad, did you?" she hissed.

He only groaned and scratched his paw with his face, similar to what Ben had just done.

Great, they were two peas in a pod, but at least one of them was a good kisser, so that was something fo which to be thankful. Lia gave a little shiver as she remembered Ben's kiss. Yes, very thankful indeed.