"Well, I do."
Bronco stepped forward. "Julia, let's all just take a deep br—"
"You back off!" Fearless in her fury, she jabbed a finger at him, before returning the full power of her anger to Zach. "You had to know I would find out eventually." Tears filled her eyes, hovered, spilled free to be carried away in the tearing wind. She swiped her arm across he face, her chest heaving. She stared at him, waiting for hin to answer, but he only stared back. There wasn't a thing he could say to make this easier for her.
"Why the hell did I even bother?" She backed away one stumbling step at a time. "I've seen for myself that you didn't hit a mountain today and that's all I came for anyway."
Julia spun on her heel.
Three strides and he caught her by the arm. "Julia—"
"Let me go." She jerked in his grip.
"No." He held firm. The woman was so out of control no telling what could happen to her.
He didn't let himself think of his own emotions, boiling and threatening to break free after a beyond-tense day, the culmination of months of frustrating uncertainty.
She pulled harder, kicked at his shin. "Damn it, let me go."
Zach caught her other flailing arm and yanked her close, chest to chest, their hearts hammering against each other. Heat and spark, anger and need pulsed between them.
"We will talk. Just not here."
She stiffened against him, and he backed her toward the truck. The tension trembling through her broadcast she was five seconds from exploding and those itchy SPs standing twenty feet away wouldn't hesitate to haul her off.
"Julia," he said through clenched teeth. "Flight line security is nothing to play around with. There are military cops with guns standing all around you. I don't want to sling you over my shoulder and carry you out of here, but I'll have to in about three seconds if you don't come with me quietly."
The fight in her eyes cooled to a simmer. Warily, he relaxed his hold. Julia drew back her shoulders. She was the only woman he'd ever known who could make pink high tops and denim look regal.
Regal yes, but also looking so mad she could spit nails as she slid inside the truck again.
Stopping beside Renshaw, Zach extended his hand. "Keys please, Lieutenant."
"Sure, Colonel." Renshaw dropped them in his palm with a clink and edged backward.
"I'll just—uh—snag a ride back in the crew bus so you two can—uh—talk."
Zach gave Renshaw a tight nod and settled behind the wheel. Julia slammed her arms over her chest and stared forward. Her eyes glinted with anger and tears, and somehow he'd put it all there.
The past had bitten him on the ass in more ways than one in a few short days. He'd screwed up another marriage, and still he couldn't see his way through to a way he would have handled things differently.
One look at her clenched fists told him hearing that wouldn't put a dent in her fury.
The impending showdown in his office promised to have a different, helluva lot less satisfying outcome than the last time he'd locked them both behind those doors.
Chapter 15
The lock click echoed in Zach's office.
Julia stood in the middle of the carpeted floor, fury and fear still battling for dominance inside her. If she had her way, fury would win hands down. She'd made the mistake of holding back with Lance, and by God, she wasn't repeating that mistake again.
But the battle would take place with her on her feet.
She certainly wasn't sitting on the sofa with all those memories of tangled bodies, sweat-slicked skin and an out-of-control need she wouldn't let have its way with her this time.
Zach turned to face her. "I'm sorry."
That threw her. For half a second. Then the disillusionment came swelling back up to clog her throat. "For what? For lying to me? Or just that I found out you lied?"