Page 54 of A New Chapter

Emma giggled nervously, unsure of the protocol in this situation. She highly doubted that Zack had told Gracie that he was with Emma in Chicago, and she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by hovering nearby. She stepped into the bathroom while he was dialing just to give him a few minutes alone. While she was in there, she attempted to arrange her wind-blown hair into some semblance of order but was mostly unsuccessful. A few minutes later, she rejoined Zack where he stood by the window. Emma heard Gracie’s cheerful voice tell him all about the great time that she was having with Nana and Papa, and Emma smiled at the little girl’s vivaciousness. It came as a surprise when, just a few minutes later, Gracie’s tone sounded almost tearful as she asked her daddy when he was coming home.

It was then that Emma realized the significance of Zack’s role in his young daughter’s life. Gracie was still very impressionable and needed the love and reassurance that only a parent could provide. Emma understood that Zack’s first priority had to be Gracie and that any other relationship had to come second, at least for now. Just because they’d had sex didn’t mean that they had entered into a committed relationship. She didn’t want that anyway, and neither did Zack. It was way too soon, yet why did everything feel different? What did this mean for them going forward? Emma shook her head to fend off the worries while Zack said goodbye to Gracie.

“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, sweetie. I love you up to the sky.”

When Zack turned around to face her, Emma’s expression must have been telling. He gently took her hand and led her to sit with him on the edge of the bed.

“What is it, Em? What’s wrong?”

She employed her go-to tactic of denial. “Nothing’s wrong. Why would you think anything is wrong?”

“Maybe because your face is puckered up like you just sucked on a lemon.”

His description coaxed a slight smile out of her, but she kept mum.

“From what we’ve discussed about friendship, you should be able to tell me anything: the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

“Isn’t that the name of a movie?” she asked, trying out the next stall tactic—deflection.

Zack chuckled. “Come on, Em. Be serious. What’s on your mind?”

She moved to a cross-legged position and breathed a heavy sigh. “Has anyone ever told you that you can be very persistent?”

“Is that a code word for pain in the ass?”

A loud laugh escaped that time, and she finally gave in. “Ok, here goes. Listening to you on the phone with Gracie and knowing how much she needs you—it just really touched me.”

“And?”

“And it also made me wonder where that leaves us. I mean, Chicago has been wonderful, but what happens when we get home? Are we still supposed to pretend to be friends in front of Gracie? Are we still relegated to seeing each other when she’s not around? I just don’t understand how this is going to work.”

Zack leaned back on his forearms and blew out a breath. “First of all, we are friends, Emma. There’s no pretending to be friends. Just because we had sex doesn’t mean we’re no longer friends.”

She was about to protest, but he held up his index finger for her to wait.

“As for your other questions, I don’t have all the answers. I didn’t plan on getting divorced. I didn’t plan on meeting you again, and I certainly didn’t expect to have these… feelings so soon. So, if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, then that makes two of us. I was kind of hoping that we could figure it out as we go along.”

“Wait a minute. Can you rewind a little?”

He looked at her with raised eyebrows. “To which part?”

“To the part where you said that you didn’t expect to have these feelings. What kind of feelings are you referring to?” You had to go there, didn’t you, Emma?

Zack leaned forward, and his lips curled up in a slow, sultry smile. “I’m referring to the feeling of not wanting to be apart from you. The feelings that make me do crazy things like drive for five hours just to see you. The feelings that cause me to think about you all day long and dream about you at night. The feeling of wanting you so bad that I ache. The feeling…”

Emma put a finger to his lips to stop him. “I got the picture,” she whispered, and then she leaned in to replace her finger with her lips.

Emma and Zack spent the remainder of the evening wrapped in each other’s arms. Their lovemaking alternated between hot and heavy, and soft and slow. There was no more talk about what happens next, because there was simply not enough time. They were too busy kissing, sucking, nibbling, and exploring each other to talk. Instead, they found a rhythm all their own and practiced it repeatedly until it became a perfect song.

The following morning, they had their first mini-argument.

“Why won’t you let me drive you to the airport?” Zack huffed while he packed up his belongings.

“I already told you. I’m taking the airport shuttle.”

“But you set that up before I got here. Why wouldn’t you want to ride with me instead?”

“Because it will be a hassle for you to get in and out of the airport when you could just get started on your drive home.” Emma had stopped packing, and they glared at each other across the room.