He'd been so damned pressed for time, he'd only just made it to the chapel after sprinting to the store for a ring for Julia. Buying one for himself too had been an impulsive last-minute decision.
The gold band felt alien on his hand. He clenched and unclenched his fist as if that might adjust the fit, as if that might make the whole thing more real.
Not that it could get any more real than having a woman in his bedroom putting her baby down in a crib by the queen-sized bed. Except he wouldn't be sharing a bed or anything else with her tonight.
And he wanted to.
He wasn't often surprised, but that kiss of hers had knocked him back a step. For half a second. Then he'd decided what the hell. Analyzing could come later. The stunned look on Bronco's face had been priceless. No one would question their marriage now.
Certainly the less talk, the easier on his kids.
Zach circled the ring on his finger around and around.
Julia's feet sounded in the hall just before she eased into the dining room. She'd ditched her stockings. Long legs stretched from that flirty white skirt of hers. Bare feet and legs.
Elegant yet natural. Totally Julia and so enticing he wanted to drape her across the table in the middle of all those roses and candlelight and follow up on the promise of their wedding kiss. To hell with the repercussions.
And if the price were only his to pay...
Ivy's hopeful face drifted through his mind. The kid had already been through enough disappointment. He needed to keep things as uncomplicated as possible.
Set the tone now. "What do you want to do about the Christmas holidays for the kids?'
"Whatever the girls are used to is fine with me. I'm not set on a particular way to stuff the turkey or hang the icicles." She opened the red-and-white cartons of food one at a time, uncovering moo goo gai pan and shrimp fried rice.
"The girls won't mind if you want to pull in some traditions from your family."
"Traditions?' She laughed. "I grew up with a real mix of everything around the holidays.
It wasn't a religious commune, so everyone brought something representative from their walk of life. Like any other neighborhood in some ways, just with all the doors open."
She dropped into a chair across from him, tucking one foot under her. "What about you?
What do you and the girls do over the holidays?"
Candlelight cast warm shadows along her creamy skin.
"Zach?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, we do all the standard stuff, tree, presents, pageant at church, lots of food."
He flipped a chair around and straddled it. He would eat later. A candlelit dinner made too tempting a scenario for his dwindling restraint.
"What about family?" Her brows pinched together in a frown. "I don't even know about your family."
The less said the better. "My mother died when I was fifteen. My father still lives in Texas, works the oil rigs along with my younger brother. We don't talk much." The holidays had been the one time his dad smiled, as if that made up for eleven other months. "What was it like where you grew up?"
"It was more of a...I guess you could say back-to-basics kind of living, everything natural. Everyone pitching in. I know this may surprise you, but I wasn't on the cooking crew.">Let people talk. She hoped they would, because Zach was a sexy, fascinating man who deserved to have a woman who wanted to marry him for real. For himself. Forever.
Since she couldn't give him that, she would give him this. She wouldn't be sharing any details of their marriage with anyone, not even her closest friends. She would show the world the perfect image of totally enamored, hot-for-each-other newlyweds, starting now.
And afterward?
He would transfer to another base after his commander tour ended. He would start his new assignment at Air War College in Alabama, a career opportunity of a lifetime only offered to five percent of his peers. He could leave the talk behind. Leave her behind.
Reality chilled her. Julia's hands slid from his shoulders, her mouth from his. Their eyes met, held, yearned.
An airplane roared overhead, breaking the silence.