Free Under Seige by Catherine Mann Page A

shoulder on the doorframe. Yeah, he'd moved closer to Julia but no problem now that they were back on familiar ground just as he'd planned. No need to rush her out the door now.
    Think again, dumb ass. Still, he couldn't stop himself from enjoying a moment of the friendship he'd missed too much the past six weeks. "Thanks for making it sound like this wasn't a colossal imposition."
    "It wasn't."
    "Yeah, right. Every woman with a six-week-old baby wants to take on two more kids to watch and pick up after."
    "You must be joking about the picking-up part." She swept a curl off her brow. "It looks like I ran through your house with a lawnmower."
    "It's not that bad." Well, it was, but that didn't matter. Julia brought laughter for his girls along with all that chaos. "Just looks like y'all had fun."
    "You should have seen it before they helped me clean."
    Zach snorted. "My kids? Help clean? You forget, I've seen their rooms."
    "Really. They did."
    "Either you're a great liar or a miracle worker."
    "I'm not their parent so it's no fun playing the martyred kid with me."
    "Too true."
    Her laugh joined his with too much ease. Too much power. Too much. Period.
    With adrenaline rising as fast as his resistance fell, he needed to stop playing with fire. Even if that fire promised to be more exciting than any game of cloud chasing. "Point me toward your bag and I'll load it in the car."
    "In your bedroom."
    He did not need to hear that. His imagination took a fantasy flight right into sharing that bed with Julia.
    She spun away, padding barefoot down his hall while Zach strode behind her. If he helped, she would leave all the sooner. Right? He wasn't actually following her into his bedroom for any reason other than that.
    Ah, hell.
    He pivoted on his heel and went back for Patrick. Snagging the car-seat handle, Zach hefted along his very own pint-sized chaperone. "No napping now, Bruiser. You hear that? I'm gonna need all the back-up I can get. You'll be my wingman and watch for bogies looking to blast us out of the sky. Got it?"
    Patrick gurgled a spit bubble.
    "Yeah, just like that. Keep 'em coming if that'll help you stay awake." Zach cruised to a stop in the doorway.
    Julia darted around the room like a firefly, stuffing sweat pants, a brush, shampoo into her bag.
    She'd slept in his bed.
    His sheets would carry her scent when he slept there later.
    Zach secured his grip on the car seat. "Need any help?''
    "There's not much, but yes, please carry the Portacrib." She reached across the bed and picked up an oversized T-shirt, revealing—
    Panties. An orange thong.
    Ah, man, he was so not going to get any sleep tonight.
    He tried not to look at Julia, but then he would have to look at that underwear. Better to look at her.
    Her cheeks pinkened.
    Julia wasn't a particularly bashful woman. A holdover, she'd once claimed, from her days growing up in a commune. No privacy had quickly translated into little modesty.
    An image blared in his mind, full blown and fully unwelcome, a memory of going to the base pool to check on his girls and make sure they weren't imposing on Julia while he worked through a Saturday afternoon.
    Instead of a worn-out pregnant woman he'd found Julia in a bikini, glowing and magnificent even at seven months pregnant. Hot as hell.
    Objectively speaking, of course.
    More than a few male heads had turned to admire the sensual earth mother, Amazon goddess strolling to the snack bar.
    For the first time, Zach questioned how objective he could have been if he remembered the day so clearly. Apparently, the memory had stored itself away just waiting for a weak moment to flatten his sorry butt.
    Zach stuffed the thoughts away as quickly as Julia jammed those panties he'd never get to see up close and personal into her bag.
    She tugged on socks and shoved her feet into sandals in record time before crossing to him. "Thanks, Zach."
    She dropped the bag at his feet beside the folded Porta-crib. Julia grabbed the car seat from