Free Under Seige by Catherine Mann Page B

him and dashed down the hall without ever once glancing at him.
    He followed, watching the glide of her long legs. Thinking back to that poolside moment.
    Unwise. Wrong. Impossible to ignore.
    Tucking his radio under his arm on his way out, Zach called over his shoulder, "Ivy, hang tough kiddo, and I'll be back in a few minutes for those chapters. Shel, keep an ear out for Ivy."
    The screen door banged shut behind him, leaving Zach in the carport. Alone. With only Julia and a yard full of crickets.
    She popped the trunk, and he welcomed the excuse to focus on something else. He tossed the crib and bag inside and slammed it shut. Circling around the car, he perched the radio on the seat of his Harley.
    "You look good, Julia."
    Ah hell, again. Where had that come from?
    His mouth had apparently staged a rebellion against his better judgment.
    Julia buckled Patrick's car seat in the back without turning. "Thank you."
    Actually, she looked incredible, so hot he wanted to take her inside to his bedroom and close the door on the rest of the world. "I mean it. You look great. No one would guess you just had a kid."
    She draped and smoothed a blanket over Patrick. For the third time. "Thanks, Colonel."
    "Zach."
    She ducked out of the car and faced him, sparks from her eyes showering all over him like anti-aircraft fire. "Okay, Zach, what the hell are you trying to do?"
    Adrenaline abandoned him in a snap. He leaned against the car. "I don't know, Julia. I just know I've missed you."
    All those sparks dispersed from her eyes. She sagged against the car beside him. "I've missed you, too."
    He tried not to think about that day at the pool when he'd seen those long legs. Tried not to think about how damn worried he'd been seeing her rounding belly and knowing she would face parenthood alone.
    And tried like hell not to be mad now because he hadn't known the half of it that day.
    In spite of all their talk of being friends, she hadn't told him the outcome of those tests. She'd carried around the knowledge that her child had Down syndrome for months and never once told him.
    Whatever he'd done to make her hold back, he would fix it. He had to, for the little bruiser in the back seat. For his kids inside. And yeah, maybe even for himself so he could sleep again without dreaming about her and her orange thong. "I want us to be friends again."
    "Really?"
    "Yeah." God yes, he did. And he didn't.
    "Me too."
    "So we'll just do it. Backtrack a few months and pick up from there."
    "I'm not so sure I can do that."
    "Why the hell not?"
    "Because you're looking damned fine to me too."
    Blown out of the sky and he never even saw the missile coming.
    Zach exhaled, long and slow. It was one thing suspecting she felt the attraction too. But hearing it. Well, that was a-whole-nother pack of trouble altogether. "No chance of anyone accusing you of holding things back."
    She turned her head and smiled, soft and womanly and close. Only a few inches separated them, a hand span maybe. Even less space separated their mouths. It would be so easy to reach, so easy to grasp her arm and tug her to him. Her body language shouted a very firm go-ahead.
    But her smile faded, her eyes blaring an unmistakable wary message, Please, don't hurt me.
    Damn Lance Sinclair.
    Damn himself too for wanting something so obviously wrong for both of them.
    Zach shoved away from the car. "Go home, Julia. We're both tired and too lonely to be having this conversation now."
    He opened the driver's door and stood aside. He never knew what to expect next with Julia. Anything from impromptu whittling lessons for Ivy to defiantly baring her pregnant body to a pool full of onlookers.
    Zach prepped himself for anything.
    Except her touch. There was no way in hell to steel himself against that.
    Julia cupped his face in her hand, the numb side, frustrating him all the more with the diluted sensation.
    His brain knew her soft palm was there, and he felt the slightest pressure. But he wanted it