Under Seige by Catherine Mann Page B

tiptoed around a poster, markers and wooden box full of cactus, on her way out of the kitchen.
    Julia waited for Ivy to clear the room then turned back to Shelby. "Do you think that was really appropriate to say around your little sister?"
    The teen shrugged. "Well, she's gone now. So? Is it the next best thing to sex?"
    Julia longed for simpler problems, like diapers and feedings. Even if she wanted to answer that question, which she absolutely did not, she wasn't sure she could. It had been so long since she'd had a man and chocolate in her bed at the same time for comparison.
    She willed herself not to think about the past night she'd spent in Zach's bed. Alone, but so very aware of the man
    Where else could she have slept other than the sectional sofa? Not that she'd slept much wrapped in blankets that smelled too much like the man who used them.
    Shelby quirked a pierced brow. "Well?''
    Julia looked to Kathleen at the sink for help, but her traitorous friend had suddenly decided to wash her hands. She pumped soap from a dispenser with intense concentration.
    Weren't doctors supposed to have training in answering these sorts of questions? Julia pulled a weak smile. "I guess I should be grateful you don't already know the answer."
    Shelby rolled her eyes. "Forget it."
    "Wait. You just surprised me."
    "Never mind. I mean, come on, as if you'd really tell me anyway."
    Way to go, Jules. "Okay, let's talk about it then."
    Shelby pulled her term paper from under the pan. "I just said it to get a rise out of you anyhow. Lucky I didn't ask the Colonel, huh? He would have had a stroke."
    Understatement of the year.
    The teenager skulked toward the refrigerator, ten pounds of attitude dragging her steps. How had life become so complicated for all of them in the span of one year?
    A truck rumbled on the street.
    Julia curled her toes, tucking their painted tips out of sight. Her eyes shot straight to the window over the sink. It could be anyone's vehicle. Lots of people drove trucks. Red trucks. Slowing.
    And pulling into the driveway.
    No time left to wonder if Zach's reaction to her after Patrick's birth had been a fluke.
    Time to find out.
    Zach shut off the engine, stared at the porch light and wondered when he'd turned into a coward.
    Geez, why couldn't he do something simple, like fly combat, dodge some missiles, deliver enough supplies to feed a third-world nation? But no. He had to walk into that house and find out if the rogue attraction to Julia had an anomaly, and the timing couldn't be any worse.
    Flying always left him restless, pumped with excess adrenaline, in need of the very best release for all that testosterone slugging through him, in need of a bed and a woman for a few uninterrupted hours. And for the past six weeks, the only woman who came to mind was Julia. One hint of that mind-blowing image would send her long legs sprinting away from him and his girls again.
    Of course, who said he had to let Julia know how he felt? He wasn't some teenager ruled by his libido.
    Although he felt damned close at the moment.
    She might not want the military in her life, but she needed him as much as he needed her. Time to set their friendship back on its old path.
    Zach slammed his truck door closed just as the side door to the house swung open.
    "Daaady!" Ivy sprinted out the kitchen door, one of Patrick's pacifiers clutched in her hand. Sailing from the porch step in a leap that would have made her ballet instructor proud, she flung herself at her father.
    "Hey, kiddo. I was only gone for a couple of weeks."
    "Missed you."
    "I missed you too." He hugged her, amazed for probably the millionth time at how much he could love another person. Until Shelby was born, he'd never had a clue. He glanced through the open door. His older daughter buried her head in the fridge.
    "Hey, Shel."
    Not even bothering to turn toward him, she waggled a wave over her shoulder, already headed for the hall with a soda can in hand. '"Night,