She offered a teary-eyed nod and pulled his head down to kiss him again. In less than a minute, Zach was hard. His whole body ached for her. His heart pounded, thrilled at reconnecting. Then her hands slipped under his shirt and moved over his back.
Zach clenched his teeth. “Oh God, Tessa.” He mirrored her movement, pushing her sweatshirt out of the way to feel her skin, and it was everything he remembered—soft and smooth and warm. Intoxicating. He barely kept himself from pulling her clothes off. “How long do we have? Where’s Sophia?”
Before she could answer, a door closed in the distance and footsteps sounded in the hall, along with their daughter’s voice singing, “Baby Beluga and the deep blue sea, you swim so wild and swim so free…”
Joy exploded through Zach’s heart. He laughed and dropped his head back against the door. “That’s so fucking beautiful.”
But it also meant Abby was here. Zach pushed aside his urgent need for Tessa as she stepped back, smiling. “Get ready.”
He wasn’t sure if that was a good warning or a bad warning, but he moved away from the door so Tessa could open it.
“Oh Ba-by Beluga…” Tessa sang as she leaned into the hall, her voice joining Sophia’s, “is the water warm? Is your mama home with you, so ha-ppy…”
“Mommy, look what I drawed.”
Pleasure-pain cascaded through Zach’s heart, and he flattened his hand against his chest, overflowing with joy.
“Oooo, pretty. I have a surprise for you too.”
Zach tensed, unsure how Sophia would react to seeing him so suddenly.
“What?” her gleeful voice echoed in the hall.
“Come see.”
Tessa stepped aside, and Sophia bounced into the room, looking around. Her gaze stopped and held on Zach an extended moment.
“Hey, baby.” Zach dropped into a crouch. “Remember me?”
The shock on his daughter’s face instantly transitioned to joy, and she ran at him full force, screaming, “Daddy!”
Zach caught her and stood, doubling his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. She smelled like bubbles and powder and Sophia, and her warm little body spilled with unconditional love, pushing tears to Zach’s eyes. “Oh, man, baby,” he choked out. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I missed you too.” She pulled back with her eyes sparkling, her baby teeth flashing, and held up her drawing. “Look what I drawed, Daddy.”
Zach’s chest was so full, it felt like it would crack. He blinked the wetness from his eyes to look at the drawing she held out. “Oh, wow.”
“This is me, you, Mommy, and Abby.” The four stick figures were lined up along squiggly blue lines. She pointed to a stick figure lying in the clouds. “And this is Corinne.”
Regret flashed in his veins, but he told her, “That’s beautiful.”
She pointed out a few more things on the page, but Zach couldn’t take his eyes off her utterly perfect face.
“These are our surfboards,” she said. “These are fish.” She tapped the paper again. “And that’s our new house.”
Zach pried his gaze off Sophia to look at the picture again with a new zing of uncertainty. “New house?” Her image of the house was drawn on the blue squiggles. He chuckled and asked, “Is that a houseboat?”
“No,” she said with a you-silly tone. “A house on the beach. Near you.”
His gaze jumped to Tessa. Abby stood nearby, twirling the lanyard to her keys around her hand, but all Zach could think about was Tessa’s “I’m not moving closer to work.”
“What is she talking about?” he asked.
Tessa drew a breath to speak, but Sophia beat her to it. “I’m talking ’bout moving with you.”
Zach’s arms tightened around her while he held Tessa’s gaze. “Tessa?”
“I’m going to run to the store,” Abby said. “Text me if you think of something you want me to pick up.”