She pushed away the last of the fries. “Yep, I’m done. I could keep shoveling in fries but truthfully I’m stuffed already.”
“Then let’s go.”
He stood and took her hand to help her up, then led her to the register and paid the bill. She tried to offer him money, but he refused. They walked out to his car hand in hand. He opened her door for her and she got in while he waited. She smiled up at him as he closed the door, her pulse thumping because he’d been touching her. How did he do that? How did he make her temperature rise just by holding her hand?
He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. When he turned into Home Depot, she scrunched up her face in puzzlement. Zach laughed at her expression. “Trust me,” he said.
She did. So much. They went inside the store and Zach led her to the paint aisle. He held out his hands with a flourish. “Ta da!”
Kayla looked at the paint chips, then at him. “I don’t get it.”
He reached for a strip that had six different colors of pink on it. “I was thinking one of these would work for Ana’s room. It’s the one across the hall from the master. Did you look at the room?”
Kayla’s throat tightened. Her heart skipped a beat. “You brought me to Home Depot to pick out paint for a baby room?”
“Yeah.” He frowned. “Is that okay? You seem a little upset.”
Kayla swallowed. She could barely find the words. “I’m not upset, Zach. I’m… I’m…” She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Strong arms went around her body and pulled her against a solid form. She clutched his shirt and breathed deeply through her nose, trying not to cry. She hated crying. It was weak to cry and she never did it if she could help it.
And yet she couldn’t stop the trickle of tears that leaked down her cheeks.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Zach said, his breath hot against her ear as he held her tightly. “I’m sorry. I should have told you what I was thinking. I don’t want to make you cry, Kayla.”
“It’s just so… nice!” She sniffled. “I love that you thought about Ana. It means so much to me.”
“I almost screwed it all up,” he told her, still holding her tight. “I thought about painting the room as a surprise but then I realized I might pick Pepto Bismol pink or something and you’d hate it.”
Kayla laughed a watery laugh. “It’s so sweet of you. Really.” She sucked in her tears and pushed back so she could look up into his face. “You’re such a great guy and I couldn’t be happier that you thought I’d want to help. Even if you’d painted the room Pepto pink, I’d have been happy that you thought of doing it for her.”
“Anything for you and Ana. I mean that.”
She pulled in a breath. “I know you do.”
“So you think we can pick out some paint or what? I thought maybe you’d want a white crib, too. Does she have a wooden crib?”
Kayla’s heart hurt, but in a good way. “No, she doesn’t. I use the Pack’n Play. It’s a crib and a playpen, and it’s what I could afford.”
She didn’t tell him that Bailey and Alexei had wanted to buy Ana a crib but she hadn’t accepted. She’d told them the portable crib was fine, and maybe by the time Ana was ready, she could afford a bed for her. Maybe she should have accepted the crib, but it was a few months ago and she’d felt so guilty for taking their help already.
“Maybe we could get one of those cribs that can be converted into a toddler bed when it’s time. What do you think?”
“I think that would be great. But I can’t let you buy it.”
“Why not? If we’re getting married, then Ana is my responsibility too. Besides, they don’t cost that much. My sister buys shit online all the time and she’s gotten all her cribs there. They convert to toddler beds, and then to kid beds. I know she doesn’t spend a lot of money on them because she doesn’t have it.”
Kayla couldn’t breathe. It hit her, standing in the aisle of the freaking Home Depot of all places, that she loved this man. There was no other word for it. She loved him. He was honorable and decent and even though they’d barely been speaking just a few days ago, he’d stepped up to help her when she’d asked him to. And he was thinking of her baby like Ana was his own. Thinking about a pink room and a sweet little crib that converted to a bed.
He really cared. At least about Ana, that was clear. And he cared about her, though she couldn’t say he loved her or anything. But he cared enough to agree to marry her and protect her. It was more than she’d thought possible just a few days ago.
“We’ll look online then. Maybe there’s something,” she said, suddenly shy with all she was feeling.
“I’ll ask Lesley where she gets her stuff. It’s got the word fair in it or something.”
Kayla laughed. “Wayfair?”
“Sounds about right. So which color, Kayla? It doesn’t have to be pink. It can be whatever you want.”
Kayla fingered the paint chips, looking at all the pink colors available. “Wait—what about your landlord? Won’t he mind?”
“Not so long as we paint it back again when we move out.”
“It’s a lot of work if we’re moving out, don’t you think?” She desperately wanted to do it, but it didn’t make a ton of sense if they were going to apply for base housing.
“It can take time to get base housing. Months. Pick whatever you want and we’ll make her room beautiful for her. If we move on base, we’ll paint it back. But we’ll still
