Under Seige by Catherine Mann Page A

cream. Okay, not too bad, even appetizing with all those unmixed marshmallow swirls marbleizing the effect.
    Ivy chewed her lip. "Maybe if we keep it in the refrigerator."
    A snort sounded from Shelby in the family room. "More like the freezer."
    Julia glanced over her shoulder at Shelby strolling to a stop in the doorway. The teen pitched pretzels into her mouth. Aggie trailed, pitiful puppy eyes tracking every bite.
    Shelby plastered an expression of boredom across her face with more masking perfection than an Estee Lauder makeover. Except Estee Lauder ladies didn't usually have a silver stud through an eyebrow.
    Stifling a groan, Julia scratched her own brow. As if things weren't already going to be awkward enough when Zach walked through the door.
    When he saw what Shelby had done...
    Julia's rebellious eyes snuck another peek at the driveway. His truck still wasn't there, but the lean lines of his Harley offered too potent a reminder of the man anyway. She wanted to see him, had been lonely for his towering presence and brooding smile for the past six weeks.
    Too much so.
    She needed some of that chocolate. Now.
    Julia whipped open a drawer and scooped out a handful of spoons. "Let's just eat it as is, kinda like raw cookie dough."
    "Cool!" Ivy squealed, bouncing on her toes. "I hardly ever get to lick the bowl since Mom always scrapes it clean like the recipe says."
    Julia padded barefoot across the kitchen, passing a spoon to Ivy and pitching one to Shelby. "Well, hon, I've never been one for following the recipe since it usually doesn't work out anyhow. I'm a make-it-up-as-I-go type."
    Kathleen placed the sleeping infant in his car seat and extended a hand. "Don't I get one?"
    Grinning wickedly, Julia dangled the spoon just out of reach. "You told me not to eat junk food when I was pregnant."
    I told you to limit junk food, and believe me, Tanner's limiting my junk food just fine. I swear, I'm going to burn all those pregnancy books he's reading," she said, her grumbling completely negated by a smile.
    "You'd think he would know I have the darn things memorized. Now, give me a spoon."
    "Yes, ma'am!" Julia passed the spoon over Patrick still snoozing away in his car seat. She brushed a quick kiss across his brow, savoring her last days with him before her maternity leave ended. He might be six weeks old, but she recalled those pregnancy cravings well.
    Six weeks since she'd seen Zach.
    Or he'd seen her.
    The sitter had been the one to bring the girls over to meet Patrick. Never Zach.
    What would he think of her trimmed-down body? Not that he could even see it in her baggy clothes. The khaki overalls had seemed logical when she'd packed. Practical, comfy. Safe. And they were her favorites even if they made her look like a blob. She didn't want to change herself for a man ever again.
    Even one with sleepy bedroom eyes and endless lanky appeal.
    "On second thought..." Julia whipped the bag of pretzels from Shelby's hand, poured a pile on the table and scooped one through the chocolate. "Who needs a spoon?''
    She plopped into a chair, drawing her legs up and sitting cross-legged. She popped the chocolate-covered pretzel into her mouth. Her eyes slid closed. Euphoria melted through her in a tide of warm chocolate.
    If only life could always be this simple, friends and junk food. But Zach wasn't a simple man to understand.
    Julia, I need your help.
    Her heart stuttered. Another bite of chocolate soothed the unsteady beat.
    Shelby clicked a fingernail against the stud in her eye brow. "Is it true that chocolate is the next best thing sex?"
    Julia dropped a pretzel in the pan.
    Kathleen coughed, twice, then hefted herself from the chair with surprising speed to pitch her spoon in the sink
    Clearing her throat, Julia turned to Ivy. "Hon, would you run back into your father's room and look through the diaper bag for Patrick's pacifier?"
    "But he's not cranky."
    "Better to be prepared."
    "Sure." Ivy sighed. Ponytail swinging, she