When he opened his mouth again, Tessa said, “Zach.” She leveled her voice in an understanding but firm tone, hoping to give him a lifeline to perspective. “We should get going.”
Zach glanced at Tessa, and guilt flashed in his eyes. He cut a look at the woman. “Don’t come around again.”
Tessa didn’t know what that meant, but the women looked at each other with a spark of surprise. He started up the beach, taking Tessa’s arm gently. “Let’s go.”
On the way to the car, Sophia asked, “Who were those ladies?”
“No one important, baby,” he told her.
Important enough to sleep with. Tessa’s mind was spinning with negativity and jealousy and doubt. The familiarity between the women and Zach had been clear. The way he hadn’t introduced them to her and Sophia, another sign. She’d bet her promotion he’d slept with them. Judging by the way the women acted together, Tessa would also bet he’d slept with them at the same time.
She might not date much, but she’d met enough of Corinne’s friends and heard enough of their colorful stories to know what happened in the looser singles scene. And that only added insecurity to her insecurities.
“Are you mad at them?” Sophia asked.
He hesitated. “A little.”
“Why?”
“Because they were rude.”
Sophia gave him a quizzical frown. “Why?”
He sighed. “Because they’re, evidently, not as mature as you are.”
Tessa had to bite her lip to keep from snorting a laugh.
“What’s mature?” Sophia asked.
By the time he glanced at Tessa for help, she couldn’t hide her smile. “What are you grinning about?”
“Why?” she asked Zach in an innocent imitation of Sophia. “Why is the ocean blue? Why do birds chirp? Why did you say that? Why didn’t you say this? Why? Why? Why?”
Sophia turned her quizzical frown on Tessa. Tessa reached over and tickled her belly, instantly changing Sophia’s expression. And Zach seemed to relax a little.
Between the beach and the car, Sophia talked about the seagulls, the sand, and how hungry she was.
At the lot, Zach turned toward his car.
“Sophia needs to be in a car seat,” she reminded him.
“Oh, right,” he said. “Sorry.”
“We can still take yours. I just need to take the seat out—”
“No, yours is fine.”
She opened the door, and Zach awkwardly settled Sophia in the seat, then stared at the straps. With a sigh, he stepped back. “You’re going to have to show me how this works.”
“It’s okay.” Tessa rubbed his arm and gave him a smile. “The secret to kids’ car seats isn’t programed into us at birth. We all have to learn how to use them.”
Once they had Sophia—and Pegasus—buckled in, Tessa closed the door and handed him the keys. “What about your car?”
“We can come back for it.”
She nodded, but when she stepped around him to move to the passenger’s side, he caught her waist and pulled her back. “I’m sorry about them.”
She shook her head. “They’re the ones who should be sorry, not you. I’m sorry they upset you.”