He should have been down in time to offer his guest a proper breakfast. Bad enough she had to fend for herself, but even worse that his behavior had her feeling unsure if she should. “Of course.” He raised a brow. “Leonardo, eh?”
“I couldn’t very well call them puppies one through four.”
“After DiCaprio, I presume. Let me guess… Your favorite movie when you were young was Titanic?”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Please.”
“Da Vinci?” he asked. Not quite as clichéd but still fairly “extra,” as his sister might say.
Paige surprised him by shaking her head. “Da Turtle.”
Now that one he didn’t see coming. He was fairly certain he knew the answer to his next question, but he still asked, “And the other three?”
She grinned. “Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatella.”
“You’ve named the puppies after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?” This woman was turning out to be quite the enigma.
“Well, they were living in a sewer.”
“Fair point. But don’t you mean Donatello?”
“Nope. One is a girl.”
“I stand corrected.”
She turned toward the living room, then looked back over her shoulder. “Come on. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the pack.”
“Does this mean you’re their—”
“Don’t you dare say rat sensei.”
Lucas chuckled as he watched her walk out of the room. Smoking hot and a knowledge of his favorite comic-book heroes? Paige Parker might have been a certified pain in the ass, but in the back of his mind, part of him already knew she had the potential to be his perfect match.
* * *
Paige made her way down the hall and into the living room. When she’d turned around, she could have sworn Lucas was checking out her ass. And it wasn’t the first time. Even now she could practically feel the heat of his stare following each sway of her hips. On one level, she knew she should have been offended. Eyes up here, buddy, and all that. But on another level, she was shamelessly flattered. Not to mention completely fascinated with Lucas Croft’s apparent obsession with her backside. Guys had always checked out her breasts. But her butt? Let’s just say it was a lot to look at.
When she reached the fireplace, she knelt on the floor next to the pups. Their mother lifted her head for a moment before going back to sleep. Poor thing. Couldn’t have been easy to endure that storm all day and then have four rug rats feeding on her all night. She cringed at the thought of having one hungry mouth munching on her nipples. But four?
Speaking of breasts…
She looked down at the puppy she still held in her arms. He was snuggled quite contently against her chest and let out a squeak of protest as she passed him to Lucas. “You’ve already met Leo,” she said. “And this is Raphael.” She reached for the pup trying to nudge his brother out of the way for what was apparently a more desirable teat on which to feed. “He’s a bit of a bully.” She lifted the tan-colored dog to look him in the eyes. “Aren’t you?” The pup wiggled his rear end in an attempt to break free. “No matter where the others are feeding, that’s where he wants to be.”
Raphael yelped. The sound was far stronger than the noises his siblings made.
“I see he’s got the New York accent down,” Lucas said as he sat on the floor beside her.
Paige smiled. “All he needs is a little red mask.” She kissed the pup on the head and placed him back with his mother.
“That is Michelangelo,” she said. “But I just call him Mikey.” The black-and-white pup was tugging on his sister’s tail. “Fitting, as he seems to be the most playful.” She moved him to the other side of the pack. “Jury is still out on whether or not he likes pizza.”
Lucas nodded. “Or if he can surf.”
Paige was impressed. Not everyone she met was so well versed in TMNT trivia, and if she was honest, it was more than a little bit of a turn-on. Wow, couldn’t get much nerdier than that, she thought. Sammy was always on her to let him list her on whatever dating app was trending hottest that week. For a moment, she imagined the look on his face if she finally agreed, but only if the listing said she was looking for a nonsmoker who did his own laundry, knew how to cook, believed “ladies first” applied to more than just doorways, and had a working knowledge of all things Ninja Turtle.
“And this little sweetie,” she said, picking up the smallest pup, an all-black female, “is Donatella.”
“And are you calling her Donna?”
Paige considered the option for a moment, then decided against it. “No. She’s delicate and, though small, has a personality large enough to justify the name.”
“I can see you’ve given these a lot of thought.”
She shrugged. “I had a lot of time on my hands,” she said. “These guys are cute, but they’re not big on conversation.” She left out the part about not having much else to do once he’d huffed out of the room, leaving her alone for the night with nothing but canine companions.
Lucas stroked the head of the pup snuggled in his lap, tracing the white zigzag that stretched between his eyes. “What made you name this little guy Leonardo?”
“Well, Leonardo is the courageous leader and also the most devoted to Splinter,” she explained. “And this one was always trying to wiggle over to me last night.”
Lucas smiled. “So you are their rat leader.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Sensei. Not rat.”
Paige had to fight back a grin. She might have feigned outrage over being called a rat, but deep down she was secretly pleased Lucas referred to her as the leader of the pack—vermin or not—versus typecasting her as April, their plucky human companion.
“What about the momma?”
Paige considered her answer. “I’m not sure. Will have to get back to you on that.”
“Fair enough.” Lucas looked up from the litter to meet her gaze. “I have to admit, I’m more than a bit impressed by your comic-book knowledge.”
She laughed. “Well, don’t be. My expertise in the area is limited to turtles and Power Rangers.”
“Power Rangers?”
“Oh yeah. Begged my mom to let me be the green one for Halloween, but she thought the mask would obstruct my vision.”
“Now see, I would have totally guessed Pink Ranger,” Lucas said.
“Guess there’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Paige said. There was a lot she didn’t know about Lucas Croft, either, something she would very much like to correct. “We could change that,” she blurted out.