"Thanks, hon." Julia smiled, knowing full well she couldn't say goodbye to these children any more than she could their father.
Shelby snapped her fingers and Aggie came trotting from under the table to follow her.
The Woodworkers Kick Ash shirt blared a reminder Julia desperately needed.
What had she been thinking, demanding some silly words? She'd felt more love in one day with Zach than Lance had given her in six years of marriage.
She didn't intend to throw that away.
Whatever wounds Zach still harbored that kept him from voicing those words, she would heal with time. Starting tonight. She would sit on their front porch until her toes froze off if need be waiting for him. Never again would Zach come home to an empty house.
The seasoned commander might have fought a few battles in his time, but he hadn't seen anything like the siege she planned to wage to win his heart.
* * *
Zach roared around the corner. Only two blocks left until, home. And he wasn't any closer to easing the frustration churning inside him than when he'd lost control and stormed out. His bike hadn't offered its usual escape—release, relief from the mess he'd made of his life. At least the time away had given him one answer. He wasn't giving up. Sure, he'd hoped for something more from Julia, but that didn't mean he would roll over and quit. First thing Monday morning, he would park himself in the Wing Commander's office and request a year's deferment of his Air War College slot.
Yeah, it pinched to risk losing out on a career opportunity he'd worked his ass off for, but the regret didn't come close to what he would feel if he lost Julia. He would stomp around on her roof for the next twelve months cleaning leaves out of her gutters until she caved, if that's what it would take to persuade her.
Zach slowed the motorcycle around the last corner, heading home. And tried like hell not to think of how damned empty that house would be without her and Patrick.
He turned into the driveway, the single beam of his bike sweeping across the yard.
Revealing Julia. Moonbeams and the porch light glinted off her blond curls.
Zach braced himself. He'd been ready for a confrontation in the morning. He wasn't sure he wanted to finish this conversation tonight, not when they were both still so raw from the flight line, their time in his office, and his damned careless words about his father.
Then Zach looked at her. Really looked.
Julia wore his leather flight jacket, a motorcycle helmet perched on her knee, her invitation for a ride clear.
Zach exhaled a long gust of relief. As far as signs went, hers carried a cargo hold full of hope.
He'd told himself it didn't matter if he had to fight for her a while longer. He would wait.
But having her make the first move mattered a helluva lot more than he'd expected.
Zach hit the accelerator and drove across the grass, stopping in front of Julia. She stood, her mile-long legs unfolding. Those incredible legs in stretch pants and red boots made him almost as crazy as the incredible woman inside them.
Julia sauntered forward, winding around a row of empty flowerpots. She didn't hurry or run, but then Julia never rushed through life. She made him find time to take a wild night ride, stop for a nap in a hammock or watch his children play from a purple glider. Julia had given him and his children so much. More than anything, he wanted to be the man she needed. The man she deserved.
She strapped on her helmet. "Let's go for a ride."
"Where do you want to go?"
Julia slid onto the bike behind him. Her arms locked around his waist without hesitation.
"Surprise me."
He lifted one of her hands to his mouth. He pressed a lingering kiss to her wrist before replacing her hand on his stomach. "I'll do my best."
Zach cruised out of the yard, easing down the curb to the street. Outside the front gate, he opened up the engine and threw away the boundaries. Highway lights whipped past, sky above, air swirling below under the bridge. The road hummed beneath him with all the ground flight release he'd always enjoyed in the past. And more. The allure of the ride was back, and he knew it wasn't so much the bike as the woman with him.
Now to figure out how to make the most out of whatever miracle had prompted her to give him a second chance. He needed the perfect way to romance this unconventional lady he'd married. The house had too much potential for interruption, and he wanted somewhere more neutral than his office. Then the perfect answer came to him, the ideal offering for a woman who valued a Crock-Pot family dinner more than diamonds.
Returning to base, Zach pulled up outside the gym and cut the engine.
Julia slid off the bike, tugging her helmet free. "Uh, I know I said to surprise me, but what are we doing here? I had a more..." she paused to caress every inch of him with her gaze "...intimate setting in mind."