Zach pressed a finger to her lips. "Hold that thought."
He led her through the lobby, flashing a salute to the uniformed attendant. The subdued echo of a lone late-night fitness enthusiast clanged behind a window. At the end of the hall, Zach swung a door wide and flipped a light switch to illuminate a gaping, empty room.
Julia circled slowly, her brow furrowing as she surveyed the high ceiling. Excitement charged through him, a sense of purpose to meet Julia on their new ground of compromise. God, he couldn't wait to share his latest idea with her, to see her smile and know he'd put it there.
Zach strode past her. "I had a phone consult with the Wing Commander while I was TDY
this week."
"About what?"
"About the fact that your base support group needs more room for the children to spread out." His rumbling bass bounced and echoed off the walls. "We're thinking this space may work. It's already slated to be an indoor play gym. The contractor could use your input on designing a section with modifications like you made for the playhouse. You and Rena Price will have to draw up the proposal and wade through a mountain of paperwork. But with luck and decent funding, it should all come together by the fall."
He watched the graceful sway of Julia's h*ps as she silently walked. Thanks to her, he'd learned to look beyond the mission to the people. But would she understand the message he was trying to send, how he was trying to show her his feelings?
Then she slowed, turning to face him. Her full-faced smile below tear-filled eyes answered his doubts.
He'd hit pay dirt.
"Thank you, Zach, so much." She swiped her wrist over her eyes.
Zach closed the last two steps between them. "Before you say anything more, I want you to know that none of this is contingent on your staying. I can understand if how I reacted back at the hotel might worry you. My father—''
She clapped a hand over his mouth. "Stop. Not another word. My turn to talk now. Okay?
No running off before I have my say."
Determination radiated from her in waves that would have sent rebel forces running.
Zach raised his hands in surrender.
"You are not your father. Sure you have a temper. So do I. So do most people. You had every right to be angry. Mad. All-out pissed at Shelby. Just like I had the right to get mad at you on the flight line tonight. But it's how we handle that anger that matters. When it came right down to it, we both held it together. Angry, sure, but never violent. You are not your father," she repeated a final time.
And this time, he heard.
Her words washed over him with a truth that resonated deep inside him. She was right.
He'd faced frustrations as a husband and parent tonight that would have sent his dad over the edge. But he'd held it together with Shelby.
With that truth from Julia came a peace he'd never expected to find, a reassurance he could be a man worthy of Julia's love. "You're not leaving me."
She cupped his face, the numb side, but he felt her healing touch in his soul.
"Of course not. I will stay with you. Go with you. Be with you. Wherever you are, I'm right there beside you forever, because I love you. Do you hear me? I love every stubborn, take-charge, drop-dead sexy awesome part of you."
Linking her arms around his neck, she rose up onto her toes and plastered her body to his.
He combed his fingers into her tousled curls and kissed her, long, full. A perfect forever fit.
They toppled back against the wall, sliding down together. Julia sprawled on top of him in a tangle of arms and legs...and escalating need.
She dipped her face to kiss him. Or maybe he pulled her head toward him. Who knew?
And who cared as long as she kept loving him.
A squeak of door hinges sounded a second before a cleared throat echoed. Julia and Zach sprang apart to find the uniformed desk attendant standing in the doorway.
"Oops, sorry Colonel. I, uh, wanted to make sure you found the lights and to let you know we're, uh, closing in about ten minutes."