Page 74 of A New Chapter

Zack thumped him on the chest with his fist. “You never answered my email, jerk. Are you staying with me and Gracie or not?”

Damian’s eyes honed right in on Kelly, and he drawled, “Yeah, I think I’ll stick around for a while.”

Emma glanced back and forth between Damian and Kelly, and then she exchanged a knowing look with Zack.

“Hey, Em. Why don’t I show you around the house? Damian, you mind keeping Kelly company for a few minutes?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Damian replied without taking his eyes off of Kelly.

Zack took Emma’s hand and pulled her down a hall that led to the bedrooms.

“Holy shit,” she said when they were out of earshot. “Your brother is…”

“Hot? Yeah, I know. He’s always been popular with the ladies.”

Emma peeked into the doorway of one of the bedrooms, and finding it empty, she pulled Zack inside. She closed the door and leaned against it, motioning for him to step closer. “I wasn’t going to say hot, although he is very good looking.”

Zack’s eyebrows raised while he waited for her to continue.

“Of course, he’s nowhere near as handsome as you.”

“That’s better,” Zack teased, and he pressed her against the door.

“What I was going to say is that your brother is Kelly’s fantasy guy come to life. Did you see the way they looked at each other? Now that was hot!”

Zack put his index finger underneath her chin and tilted her face upward. “Kind of like the way I look at you, huh?” He trailed his finger down her neck and along the collar of her sweater dress. Kelly had insisted that they both dress up for the occasion, and Emma had chosen a cozy, ivory-colored sweater dress with a saddle-brown pair of knee-high boots. The dress skimmed over her petite body without being overtly sexy, and apparently, it had been a good choice, because Zack eyed her like a slice of pumpkin pie.

“We should probably get back out there,” Emma said half-heartedly with her eyes trained on Zack’s lips.

He had one hand braced against the door above her head, and the other had trailed down her side and now rested on her hip.

“Yes, we probably should,” he said before taking her mouth in a demanding kiss. His hand wandered to her backside, and he pushed her hips against his. Their tongues tangled for a few seconds before they both became aware of voices in the hallway. They froze until the sound drifted away, and then Emma broke out in giggles.

“Come on,” he said resignedly. “Let’s go see if dinner’s ready.”

Emma and Zack sat next to each other at one of the two rectangular tables that had been set up in the spacious kitchen. Kelly sat on the other side of Emma, and Damian sat directly across from her. Gracie sat at a small “kid’s table” that was set up nearby.

Emma kept sneaking glances at Kelly and Damian while dish after dish of mouthwatering foods were passed around the table. The conversation was lively, just as Zack had described in Chicago. Emma listened in and nodded politely, but it was difficult to follow any one conversation for long. Zack squeezed her knee under the table a few times to offer reassurance, but Emma enjoyed all of the activity. Everyone appeared to be having a great time, and the food was absolutely delicious. Zack was right; his mom did love to feed people, as was evident on Alex’s glowing face.

After dinner, most of the men retired to the living room to watch football. Emma encouraged Zack to join them while she offered to help his mom clean up. Zack winked at her and hurriedly left the kitchen like he had just been given a free hall pass.

“I raised him better than that,” Alex said, shaking her head while repressing a smile.

Emma wasn’t sure how to respond. She wanted to tell Alex that her son cooked for Emma quite often—and cleaned up too—but how much had Zack shared about their relationship? Emma just smiled instead and concentrated on clearing the dirty dishes from the table. One of Zack’s aunts helped as well, but Kelly was nowhere to be seen.

“So, Emma, how did you and Zack meet?” Alex asked innocently while she rinsed the dishes.

“Well, we first met about five years ago at my cousin’s wedding, but then we ran into each other again about four months ago.”

“Ah, yes, at the bookstore, right?”

So she does know some of the details after all. “Yes,” Emma replied and handed Alex another plate.

“Gracie just loves books,” Alex said conversationally.

“That makes two of us,” Emma replied.

“She likes you a lot, you know.”

Something in Alex’s voice made Emma stop what she was doing. Why does it sound like Alex is issuing a warning? Is she afraid that I might hurt her granddaughter the way that her ex-daughter-in-law did?

“I care about her too,” Emma began, and then she blurted, “I care about both of them.”

Suddenly she realized that it was just the two of them in the kitchen. Alex turned away from the sink to face her.

“I’m sure you do, dear. Please forgive me for being an overprotective grandma. I just don’t want to see my little girl get hurt again.”

Although it made her feel slightly uncomfortable, Emma appreciated Alex’s honesty. “I understand completely, and I have no intention of hurting either one of them.”

Alex’s face instantly relaxed, and she broke out in a trademark Kostas smile. “I believe you,” she said.

Emma accepted Alex’s remark as a stamp of approval, and they finished cleaning the kitchen in companionable silence until Gracie wandered in.

She tugged on Emma’s dress and said, “Daddy wants you to come and watch football with him.”

“Tell him I’ll be right there,” Emma replied before Gracie raced back out of the room.

Emma wiped her hands on a towel and met Alex’s eyes. “You have a wonderful family,” she said, and then she hurried out of the room before Alex could see the tears that had welled up in her eyes.