mowed the yard while Tessa cleaned the house, as they fixed a simple dinner and talked about their favorite movies. The question wasn’t going away, and Zy couldn’t stop fixating. Was there any chance she was ready to try something more than friendship with him? Hell, was he ready to try with her, despite everything?
Honestly, he didn’t know.
After dinner, they were flipping between streaming services, looking for a movie they could both agree on, when he heard shuffling on the front porch. Then someone beat on the door.
Zy stood with a frown. “You expecting any packages?”
“No.”
Fuck. “Let me answer it.”
“I live here, and it might be nothing.”
“It might be something, too.”
“Tessa!” the male voice called from the front porch. “Open up, babe. I didn’t mean to get mad last time. I’m so fucking sorry. Let’s talk it out.”
Son of a bitch. “Cash?”
“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “He sounds drunk.”
He did, goddamn it.
“Go away!” she shouted through the door. “I have a restraining order against you, and you’re violating it.”
“Babe, you don’t need that. I would never hurt you. I lost my temper and I’m sorry. Open up so we can talk?”
Zy shook his head. “Grab your phone and the baby and lock yourself in the bedroom. I’m going to have a chat with this asshole.”
She shook her head. “You’re only going to make matters worse.”
“I’m going to make him go away, but I want you two safe.”
“Tessa!” Cash bellowed.
“He’s going to wake the neighbors,” she hissed.
Zy scowled. “Do you want to see him?”
“No, especially not when he’s drunk. But if he keeps the neighbors awake—”
“It’s a Friday night, and if anyone calls the police, they won’t arrest him. So if you let him in, you might need force to get him out.”
“In other words, I’ll need you…and you might be the one who gets arrested.” Tessa sighed like she was between a rock and a hard place and she knew it. “All right.”
She scooped the baby up from her activity mat. Hallie fussed a little, but Tessa disappeared with her phone and her daughter behind the closed door. Then he hauled ass to retrieve his Glock in his duffel—just in case. As he tucked it into the pocket of his sweatpants, he flipped on the porch light, then yanked the door open.
Cash stood on the front stoop, hands shoved in his pockets, huddled against the chilly night. His blond beard looked scruffy and his blue eyes bloodshot. He wore scuffed cowboy boots, faded jeans, and a ratty T-shirt with a drawing of a pig standing at a barbecue that said I like my pork pulled and my meat rubbed.
Classy guy.
“Listen, buddy. She doesn’t want you here. So take your drunk ass and—”
“Who the fuck are you?” Cash lurched drunkenly, looking him up and down. “Is she banging you already?”
Zy itched to punch him. “I’m here to protect her. Watch your fucking mouth.”
“You don’t tell me what to do!”
“Do you want to see Tessa again?”
“Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Do you want to meet your daughter?”
Cash looked less enthusiastic about that. “Well, yeah.”
Zy bit back his opinion that the asshole didn’t deserve either of them.
“Then you’ve got to start playing by the rules. You scared Tessa the other day, and she got a restraining order. Because she’s afraid of you. So now’s the time to back off and give her space. Maybe you can text her your apology.”
“She blocked my fucking number.”
He was glad to hear it. “Then she’s telling you that she’s not ready to talk, and you trying to force the situation isn’t going to change anything. It’s only been a few days since you busted out her window and threatened her. How was that supposed to reassure a new mom?”
“I didn’t think about it like that. But…but”—he sputtered and shivered with a gust of wind—“why is she pissed? I just pointed out that her body was looking smoking hot again, and since the baby, her tits are an upgrade. I didn’t say anything offensive.”
Oh, not at all. Dumb ass…
“Well, she found it offensive.”
Cash let loose a long-suffering sigh. “Why are women so touchy? Jesus, you can’t even compliment them anymore without them getting all weepy and insulted. I just tried to say something nice—”
“If you’d mentioned her eyes or her smile, she might have appreciated that more. But you haven’t seen her since you ran out before she gave birth to your daughter, and the first thing you mentioned was her breasts.”
“Because they were the first things