Julia grabbed the pan. She wound around Ivy's spilled bag of toothpicks and a bag of aquarium rocks as she whipped past to toss it in the sink. "Sorry about the clutter everywhere."
"Leave it." Zach stopped behind Julia, closer than he'd meant to. Too close. "I'll put it all away later."
"Yeah, well..." She kept her back to him, twisting on the faucet and filling the pan with water. "There's leftover pizza in the fridge if you're still, uh, hungry, and some iced tea."
Her voice drifted off as the water trickled to a stop. Still she didn't turn.
Zack stayed behind her, unmoving, but she didn't move either, just stood in front of him while they looked out the window and exchanged body heat. He breathed in the mix of strawberry shampoo, baby lotion and chocolate.
The soft curve of Julia's neck begged to be kissed. Zach forced his eyes somewhere safer, like back to the window. Tanner Bennett jogged across the street, meeting Kathleen at the edge of the driveway. With a whoop, the big lug scooped his pregnant wife off her feet and kissed her as if they'd been separated for a year rather than just two weeks. He dropped another kiss to her rounded stomach.
A sigh whispered from Julia. "They look good together."
She sounded so wistful, Zach couldn't help himself. He had to touch her. His hands fell to rest on her shoulders. His thumbs stroked the curve of her neck, her skin even silkier than he'd imagined.
She swayed under his touch, shoulders dropped, head lolled forward. Her body started a lean back that would bring her flush against him, her hair to his face, her bottom nestled snug against him. Damn it, she did feel that tug between them too.
His arm started the glide around to draw her closer.
Julia ducked from under his hands. "I should gather my stuff and go."
Yes, she should, but he didn't want her to and couldn't stop the urge to keep her talking so she would stay. Pizza and Julia looked a helluva lot better in his kitchen than the chili and solitude he'd been facing the past year. "Everything go okay with the girls?"
Julia scratched her eyebrow, then dried the wet spot with her wrist as she backed out of the kitchen. "Uhm, yes, homework's almost done. We built a cage for Ivy's desert habitat project. Shelby's in her room typing in corrections on her term paper. And there's pizza in the fridge."
"Yeah, you told me already."
"Oh, right. I'll just say goodbye to Ivy first before she falls asleep." Julia spun away, darting down the hall.
Zach slumped against the counter in his wrecked kitchen, not too different from his wrecked libido after standing so close to Julia. He glanced around the trashed room full of pizza boxes, dishes in the sink, Ivy's science project on the floor. At least he would have something to do to burn off the restless energy from his flight. Not that he minded the mess in the least. For the first time in too long, his house felt...
Normal.
He wanted someone who would be there for his kids. And from where he was standing, the scene in front of him fit the bill too damned perfectly. Of course he was far from being the perfect man for Julia Sinclair or her son.
Zach knelt beside the baby. "Hey, little man. Good nap?"
Patrick stretched stiff-backed in his car seat.
"Good. Glad to hear it." The kid deserved the best. Grabbing a sleeper-clad foot, Zach tweaked the baby's toes. "You go easy on your mama tonight, okay, Bruiser? She needs her sleep and there isn't anybody around to help her with those night feedings."
Would there have been even if Lance had lived?
Zach frowned. Where had that thought come from? Still, he couldn't stop wondering if the already rocky Sinclair marriage would have lasted. Did Julia still love the guy?
A moot point anyway.
Zach stared at the tiny foot in his hand and forced himself to be honest. He was trying to justify the possibility he could be finding the man guilty of negligence on the job. If Julia didn't still have feelings for Lance, then she wouldn't resent Zach for what he had to do if the results of Bronco's interview with the board went wrong.
Yeah, right.
Regardless of how Julia felt about her cheating husband, he was still the father of her child. Just as Pam was the mother of Zach's children. And even as pissed as he was at Pam, he wanted his children to have good memories of their mom.
No way in hell would Julia understand him tainting Lance Sinclair's memory.
Time for her to pack up before he found himself sharing more than a spoonful of fudge with her tonight.
Chapter 5