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Reaching up, he framed her face between his hands and brushed a kiss against her lips, then threaded his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her head for a longer one. “Absolutely.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
They’d gone out to the porch swing and talked until two in the morning, then Zach had insisted that she go inside and get some sleep for her day ahead.
He’d stayed out on the porch, watching for shooting stars crossing the diamond-strewn sky and waiting for dawn to paint the eastern horizon into a kaleidoscope of pinks and purples.
“Why are you still here?”
Startled, Zach straightened and found Alex sitting in a wicker chair at the other end of the porch, his face twisted in a scowl. “I didn’t see you over there, son. Isn’t this a bit early?”
“I’m not your son,” he bit out. “And you could say it’s a bit late to be here.”
“I suppose you could, at that,” Zach said mildly. The kid was all righteous indignation, his hands clenched and voice a half octave higher than usual. Zach recognized it for what it was, the challenge of a young male as head of the house, and settled back against the swing cushions. “Are you always awake at four?”
The boy’s gaze slid away.
“Just making sure your mom is okay? That’s a good thing, caring about someone. She and I didn’t get back from the clinic until after midnight. Thanks for helping watch over Katie, by the way. I’ll pay you in the morning for the two times you’ve done that.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“Not for some new Play Station games? Seems like a kid your age has a lot of places he could spend his money.”
“Why are you still here?” Alex repeated.
Ignoring the belligerent tone, Zach searched for the right words. “It was too late to take Katie home. We figured it would be best just to let her sleep. I stayed so she wouldn’t be upset if she awakened in a strange place and didn’t have me close by.”
Alex stood, his hostility evident. “We don’t need you here, you know. I don’t want another guy hanging around, thinking he can be our dad, and neither does Molly. My mom does just fine on her own without anyone else.”
“I’m sure she does.”
“Especially if that guy is a liar.”
“What?”
“It’s creepy, you know? If a guy would lie about one thing, he’d lie about something else. My mom says a guy’s honor means everything, and it’s something he can’t ever get back once he screws up.”
