Page 29 of Daycare Santa

Alana rose from the bed, scrabbled around for her robe, and shoved her arms inside. Not once did her attention stray from him, as if she expected him to do something crazy.

Hands in his pockets, Zack stood motionless when she closed the door and dragged her hair from the back of the robe. He shifted his gaze, reminded of how he sometimes buried his face in her hair during their lovemaking. All the while, some other guy had been doing the same.

“Zack—”

“Why?” he asked, his tone harsh. “Was it so hard to tell me you wanted out?”

“I—”

“I don’t want to hear it.” Eyes closed, he said, “Tell me why you had to steal from me. You know how much that project meant to me, to my family.”

“That’s all you care about,” she spat. “Yourprecious sister andyourbusiness. I got tired of listening to you and Eli yakking at all hours of the day and night about your blasted programming.”

“Bullshit.” Zack’s nostrils flared as his blood pressure rose. “That’s no reason for any of this. All you needed to say was—”

“I got tired of telling you what you should have seen coming. You got so comfortable withus, that you forgot aboutme.”

“That’s your excuse for sleeping with your so-calledfriend? All this time, you led me to believe he was your buddy and now I find out ...” He wiped his mouth to prevent himself from saying something he’d regret, and filled his chest with air. “You know what? In my world, people in a relationship talk. They hash out stuff that isn’t working.”

He pointed over her shoulder. “They don’t run off and sleep with their friends.”

“They do, when it’s clear they’re in a relationship by themselves.”

Running a hand over his hair, Zack asked, “So, were you going to marry me?”

She looked away, but didn’t respond. When Alana finally met his gaze, malice flashed in her eyes and she scoffed.

“I get it.” Zack nodded. “You were prepared to string me along until you got everything you wanted. Now that you have it, I hope you’re happy.”

With her hands raised, Alana approached him, “It didn’t start out like that. Haydn and I have known each other for a long time and—”

Copying her movement, Zack shook his head and let his hands fall. “Nothing has changed, Alana. I don’t need to hear all the whys and wherefores. Far as I can tell, you stole from me out of spite.”

He walked away and spoke over his shoulder. “I can build a thousand more apps, but I can’t rebuild a relationship with a cheater, a thief, and clearly, someone I can’t trust.”

Something heavy crashed against the door when he stood on the other side. Zack walked away, shattered but grateful they hadn’t made it to the altar.

Next to his fingers, the cell phone’s ringer yanked him back into the room and the calm of the present moment. He couldn’t swear for Gina, but was willing to bet she wouldn’t do him dirty.

Still, he couldn’t go wrong guarding his heart.

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