All a Man Is. Janice Johnson Kay

from it to her face, where it stayed.

      “There a problem?” he asked quietly.

      “Matt yelled at Mom,” Liana confided. She bent her head, her fine, silky hair falling forward to veil her face. “Sometimes he scares me,” she said softly, sneaking a look toward the hallway.

      Alec’s eyes met Julia’s, just a quick look, before he laid a hand on Liana’s nape and squeezed. “Hey,” he said. “He’s a teenager. They can be butts. It’s hormones run amok, you know. It’ll happen to you, too, kiddo.”

      Liana looked up, her expression patently relieved. “Uh-uh. I’d never yell at Mom.”

      He grinned at her. “Famous last words.”

      Her forehead creased. “What’s that mean?”

      As he explained, Julia admired his endless patience with the kids. How was it he hadn’t married and had children of his own? He never seemed bored with hers, never gave them anything less than his complete attention. Liana visibly bloomed with him.

      We are so lucky, Julia thought, for at least the hundredth time. Then, But he might get bored. Or—what if he already is, and is just hiding it?

      He told a few tall tales about his own and Josh’s teenage years that had her and her daughter both laughing. Oh, she hoped that for once Matt had taken the damn earbuds out and was eavesdropping on his family. Let his stomach be rumbling, too, she thought vengefully.

      Liana declared herself stuffed and decided to save her blueberry cobbler for later. Apparently she’d promised Sophie she’d come over right after dinner, so could she please be excused?

      Within moments, she’d whisked out the front door, Alec following. Julia was clearing the table when he came back.

      “She got there safe and sound,” he reported.

      Julia smiled at him. “You didn’t think she would?”

      His dark lashes veiled his eyes, making her wonder for a fleeting instant what he hadn’t wanted her to see. No, she had to be imagining things. He was always cautious with the kids.

      Without answering, Alec took plates from her, their hands brushing. She’d let him get closer than she usually did. Afraid color was rising in her cheeks, she reached for a serving bowl.

      In the kitchen, she covered the bowl with plastic wrap. Alec set dishes in the sink.

      “I’d like blueberry cobbler.” He looked hopeful and even boyish, unusual for a man with a face so very male and enigmatic more often than not. “Especially if you have vanilla ice cream to go with it.”

      She smiled at him. “You know I do. Ugh. I can’t keep cooking like this or we’ll all get fat.”

      His eyebrows crooked as he nudged the faucet on with his forearm and began rinsing plates. “You doing it for my benefit?”

      “Maybe,” she admitted, sneaking a look at him. “Partly.” Mostly. The kids wouldn’t care if she put macaroni and cheese in front of them three nights a week and rotated hamburgers, pizza and maybe spaghetti the other four. She enjoyed having another adult to cook for. “Think of it as payback.”

      She didn’t realize she’d been seeing pleasure on his face until something like anger took its place. “Damn it, Julia, let’s not go there. The three of you are family. There’s no obligation here.”

      “How can I help but feel some?” she protested. “Especially after everything you gave up?”

      Creases carved deep in his forehead. “Didn’t you hear a thing I said the last time we talked about this? Exactly what is it I gave up? Do you think my job was glamorous? Fun?” He sounded exasperated.

      “You chose it.” For the first time, she felt uncertain. “You seemed to love it.”

      He let out a breath and moved his shoulders as if loosening tense muscles. “I chose law enforcement. I’m still in law enforcement.”

      “Oh, right,” Julia scoffed. “This is a town that had, what, two or three murders last year? Compared to something like one a day in L.A.?”

      He shook his head. “Less than one a day. And do you know how much we’d lowered that rate these past ten, fifteen years? That’s my goal—preventing crime, not cleaning up after it. And yeah, working Homicide was interesting, but so is understanding what a smaller city needs from its police department and making sure we deliver. I don’t know what this fixation you have is, but I’m liking this job, Julia.”

      “But...” Momentarily flummoxed by what sounded like sincerity, she stopped. “I’ll bet you sit in front of a computer all day, don’t you?”

      “I do some of that, but I sit through a lot of meetings, too.” His frown had relaxed. “Yesterday I worked out with the SWAT team. Today I spent a couple of hours in the crime lab listening to a compelling pitch for new equipment. Day before I rode along for a few hours with a patrol officer fresh out of training.” Vibrancy rang in his voice. “Last week I had breakfast with half a dozen other police chiefs in the region, sharing issues, concerns, solutions. Got some damn good ideas. I’ve met personally with every single member of the city council in the past couple of weeks, and I think I’ve got the votes to approve hiring an additional fifteen officers spread across the department, plus a civilian-crime analyst, which apparently was a new concept to them.”