Coming Home

by Priscilla Glenn

  Danny pulled the car into an empty space in front of her apartment, and before he could say anything, Leah turned to him.

  “Do you want to come in for a little while?”

  He turned to look at her. “Um…yeah. Okay.”

  “Okay,” she said before undoing her seat belt, and Danny cut the engine as she exited the car.

  They walked up the path to her door in silence, and once they were inside, Leah took his coat, hanging it beside hers in the closet. She closed her eyes, taking a small, steadying breath before she righted her expression and turned to face him. He was standing by the door, his hands shoved in his pockets.

  “So,” he said, rolling up on the balls of his feet.

  “So.”

  His eyes met hers, and the way he was looking at her made her want to pin him up against the door.

  Instead, she cleared her throat and said, “I have something for you.”

  “You do?”

  She nodded. “Don’t get excited though. It’s not a big deal. Actually, it’s kind of silly.”

  They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Leah felt her stomach flutter as a slow smile curved his lips.

  “So…can I have it?” he asked through a laugh.

  “It’s in the kitchen,” she replied, turning in that direction.

  “Did you get me a Slap Chop?”

  “What?” she laughed. “Why would you guess that?”

  “I don’t know. You said it was in the kitchen and it was silly.”

  “Okay, let’s get one thing straight. The Slap Chop is not silly. It’s a stroke of genius,” she said as they turned into the kitchen.

  “A guy chopping a handful of almonds while telling the audience, ‘Wait until you see my nuts’ is a stroke of genius?”

  She turned toward him, fighting a laugh. “You watch too much TV.”

  “Said the girl who owns the Slap Chop.”

  She laughed then, taking the plate off the counter before she turned and held it out to him.

  “It’s no roulette table with a functioning wheel, but I tried.”

  The smile on his face dropped. “You made this?”

  “Mm-hm,” Leah said, placing it on the counter in front of him. “Well, not the cars, obviously.”

  She looked up at him, but he was staring down at the cake in awe. It was a typical square cake, but the entire bottom half was made to look like a road with two cars driving across it. On the top half of the cake was a sign that matched the shape and typography of the sign for Danny’s shop, where the words Happy Birthday Danny were written.

  “It’s all fondant. The road, the sign. So you can eat everything. I tried to make the cars out of fondant, but they looked like mutant insects, so I cheated and used toys.”

  He spun the plate slowly, looking at it from all sides, and then he looked up at her. “I can’t believe you did this.”

  She shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. It was fun.”

  “And time-consuming. And incredibly thoughtful.”

  She smiled up at him, and he shook his head before looking back down at the plate. “I can’t remember the last time I had a birthday cake.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, I mean, once you pass ten, it kind of loses its grandeur, don’t you think?”

  “No way! What about making your birthday wish, then?”

  He shrugged, and she shook her head in disbelief.

  “Well, let it be known that on my birthday, this girl needs her cake and her birthday wish. No exceptions.”

  He smiled. “When’s your birthday?”

  “May third.”

  “Noted,” he said. “Wait, do I have to make one myself?”

  “Tell you what,” she said. “You can buy one and tell me you made it, and I’ll pretend to believe it.”

  He laughed before he put his arm around her and pulled her into his side. “Thank you. I love it,” he said against the top of her head before he kissed her there. The flutters in her belly scattered up through her chest, and she closed her eyes, resting her hand on his stomach.

  “This kitchen is incredible, by the way.”

  “I know,” she said, her head still resting on his shoulder. “It was the thing that sold me on getting this apartment. That, and the bathroom.”

  “What’s so special about the bathroom?”

  Leah smiled. “Do you want a tour?”

  He unwrapped his arm from around her and gestured grandly. “After you.”

  Leah walked out of the kitchen with Danny behind her, and she nodded to the right. “Living room, but you saw that last time you were here.” She turned and walked a few steps to the left and said, “The formal dining room.”

  Danny smiled at the little nook off the kitchen area that was just large enough to fit a small table and four chairs.

  “Spare bedroom,” she said, waving her arm like a Price Is Right girl at the doorway to their left. Danny popped his head in for a second before he nodded his approval, and Leah smiled.

  “Brace yourself,” she said, reaching her hand into the next room and turning on the lights.

  Danny moved to stand in the doorway beside her, his eyes combing the room. “Holy shit,” he said. “That’s the biggest tub I’ve ever seen.”

  “Right? It’s a spa tub. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

  “If a tub could be gorgeous, I guess this one would be. I’m more concerned with that shower, though. Why are there forty-seven showerheads in it?”

  Leah laughed. “The guy who lived here before me worked for Kohler. He designed bathrooms for a living.”

  Danny nodded, his eyes roving the room, and Leah huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re supposed to be making a bigger deal than this.”

  “Oh my God!” he said, rubbing his eyes before widening them. “Is this real? I have to be hallucinating. This is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen in my life! I’m ruined for all other bathrooms now!”

  She stared up at him, completely expressionless, and when she saw the first signs of his dimples, she pushed his chest before stepping back out into the hall.

  “You suck,” she said, and he laughed, switching off the light in the bathroom.

  He stepped back into the hall with her, and she pointed to the last doorway. “And that’s my room.”

  Danny walked over to the door, turning on the light before he took a few steps into the room, and Leah stood behind him, trying to imagine seeing it for the first time like he was.

  The walls were a warm terra-cotta color, the floor cherry hardwood. Her bed was up against the wall to the right, covered in a puffy cream-colored comforter and several oversized throw pillows. Up against the wall to the left was her dresser with her stereo and a few pictures on top. A flat-screen TV hung on the wall above it.

  The far wall was made up entirely of floor-to-ceiling shelves; along the top, there were vases of flowers and a few scented candles. The shelves on the bottom were full of books. And the ones in the center consisted of row after row of Leah’s CDs.

  Danny looked over his shoulder at her. “Can I?” he asked, gesturing to the shelves, and she nodded.

  Leah leaned up against the doorframe, folding her arms as she watched him approach the wall. He crouched down, checking out the neatly lined-up books on the bottom.

  After a minute he straightened, looking over the shelves with her music. “I don’t think I know anyone who still has CDs,” he said with his back to her as he pulled one of them out, glancing at the cover before sliding it back in its place.

  “I love my CDs. All that music is on my computer and my iPod. I just…”

  Danny glanced back over his shoulder. “You’re just a packrat?” he said with a smirk.

  “The politically correct term would be sentimental,” she said, and she heard him laugh softly. “But yeah…I guess I can be a packrat. But only with things that mean something.”

  “All these mean something?” he asked, ducking his hea
d to look at the second row.

  “In some way, yeah. It might be a song that means something, or in some cases it’s the whole album that reminds me of a certain time in my life. In others, it’s just the memory of buying the CD itself—who I was with, or what was happening when I bought it.” She shrugged, even though he wasn’t looking at her.

  Danny nodded absently, taking a step to the right and leaning in as he read the album titles, and Leah pushed off the doorframe and walked into the room, her eyes on him as she sat on the edge of her bed.

  She felt slightly unnerved, almost as if she were watching him read her diary. She had always believed the type of music a person listened to was a fairly accurate portrayal of who they were, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he was surmising about her as he studied the shelves.

  Danny slowly ran his finger along the cases; there was something almost sensual about the way he did it, and out of nowhere, she imagined him repeating the movement, this time along the skin of her inner thigh, and she swallowed hard.

  Danny’s finger stopped abruptly, and then he pulled one of the cases out and turned around, holding it up for her.

  “Really?” he asked.

  N’SYNC: No Strings Attached.

  She folded her arms as she looked up at him. “I didn’t buy them all yesterday.”

  “I don’t care when you bought it,” he said with a laugh. “There’s no excuse for this.”

  “I Thought She Knew.”

  “You thought who knew?”

  “No.” Leah laughed. “That’s the name of the song that landed that one a spot on the shelf. ‘I Thought She Knew.’ It’s an a cappella song. Really pretty lyrics.”

  Danny looked down at the CD case, turning it over to read the back.

  “Plus, hot guys sing it, so.”

  He glanced up with a smirk before he shook his head. “They’re not objects, Leah. They’re real men with feelings and debatable talents.”

  She pressed her lips together, fighting a smile as he turned to slide the case back on the shelf, and then he reached up and pulled another one down.

  “If you’re gonna make fun of every CD I have up there, I’m kicking you out of this room.”

  He laughed to himself before he turned to face her, the case sandwiched between his two hands.

  “Which one do you have?” she asked, craning her neck to see, and he turned his body, shielding it from her as he shook his head.

  “You’ll see in a second,” he said, walking the few steps over to her stereo and hitting the button to turn it on. Leah watched as he placed the CD into the machine, and then he skipped forward a few tracks before hitting play.

  The opening chords to Ray LaMontagne’s “Hold You In My Arms” filled the room, and Leah immediately closed her eyes. When she opened them a few seconds later, he was leaned up against the wall, watching her.

  “I love this song.”

  “Me too,” he said, pushing off the wall as he walked toward her. “I guess your taste in music isn’t so shitty after all.”

  She laughed lightly, looking up at him as he came to stand in front of her.

  “Dance with me,” he said, extending his hand.

  “Dance with you?”

  He nodded. “It’s my birthday, so you really can’t say no.”

  “Hey now. Your birthday’s over.”

  Danny glanced down at his watch. “Not for another two hours.”

  She laughed as she gave him her hand, and he pulled her up to face him. For a second they just stood there, looking at each other, and then their smiles slowly faded as the atmosphere shifted. Leah dropped her eyes, the sudden intensity of the moment catching her off guard.

  Danny gently raised their joined hands, and her heart began thumping erratically as she felt his other arm snake around her waist, his open palm resting on her lower back.

  She took a tentative step toward him, their bodies almost flush as she slid her left hand up his arm and over the top of his shoulder, coming to rest just below the nape of his neck.

  He started to sway them ever so slightly, and Leah smiled at the absurdity and the charm of them dancing in the middle of her bedroom.

  “You’re much better at this than I expected,” she said. “Dance Dance Revolution was not your friend tonight.”

  “Oh, I threw that battle,” he said dismissively. “I didn’t want to deal with Jake and Tommy being totally emasculated by my performance. Plus, every woman in the place would have swarmed me after that, and it would have been really awkward for everyone.”

  She pressed her lips together, but the smile broke through anyway, and he flashed his dimples before he turned them around and dipped her.

  Leah dropped her head back and laughed, and Danny slowly pulled her back up, looking down at her as he used their joined hands to brush the hair away from her face.

  And then he leaned in, his cheek brushing against hers as he sang the next words softly in her ear.

  When you kissed my lips, with my mouth so full of questions,

  It’s my worried mind that you quiet.

  Place your hands on my face, close my eyes and say

  That love is a poor man’s food. Don’t prophesize.

  In those first few seconds, it felt like her heart had stopped, but by the time the verse ended, it was pounding so wildly she was sure he could feel it against his chest; Danny lifted his head and she pulled back, her lips slightly parted as she stared up at him.

  The sexy, throaty timbre of his voice still resonated in the room; it poured through her body, warming her veins and making her feel heavy and sedated, like drinking wine in front of the fireplace while a snowstorm raged outside.

  It was sex and salvation and desire and serenity, stirring something primal and innately feminine in her.

  Leah’s breathing became shallow as she continued to stare up at him, and he kept his eyes on hers, still swaying them gently to the music. It felt like a current was running just below the surface of her skin, making her hypersensitive to everything around her: his hand on her back, the soft sound of his breathing, the scent of his skin.

  And that voice.

  She wanted to hear it again. She wanted to fall asleep listening to it every night. She wanted him to wake her up with it every morning.

  Leah took a step forward, closing the tiny distance between them and pressing her body against his, and he dropped his head slightly and exhaled. The warm rush of his breath danced over the side of her neck, causing goose bumps to prickle over her skin, and Leah turned her head slightly, breathing him in as they moved to the music.

  She had wanted this for so long—to feel his body up against hers again. She’d imagined it so many times, but those daydreams were pitiful echoes of the reality.

  All at once she realized she was trembling, and Leah tightened her arm around his back, trying to steady herself against him. She knew what she wanted, why she had asked him to come in, and now that he was right in front of her, she could feel the apprehension beginning to swirl with the growing desire in her belly.

  Danny’s hand moved on her back, his fingertips teasing the sliver of exposed skin above the waist of her jeans.

  “You’re shaking,” he whispered, slipping his hand up the back of her shirt and tracing soothing circles on her overheated skin. Leah’s eyes fell closed as she dropped her forehead to his shoulder. With every pass of his fingers, a tingling sensation rippled over her skin, making her feel almost dizzy.

  She had never in her entire life physically responded to someone the way she did to Danny, and it was as terrifying to her as it was thrilling.

  Leah gripped the back of his shirt, her forehead still pressed to his shoulder, and the solid steadiness of his body made her trembling that much more obvious.

  Danny lowered his chin so that the only thing separating his lips from her ear was the delicate veil of her hair. “Are you okay?” he asked softly, and she nodded against him, not trusting her voice.

  He f
lattened his hand against her lower back, pressing her closer to him, and that was all it took for her mind to completely surrender to her body.

  Leah turned her head slightly, nuzzling his neck before she placed a soft kiss just under his jaw, and their swaying came to a halt as he froze. She stilled instantly, her lips unmoving on his neck.

  Danny took a deep breath before he gently removed his hand from hers, and Leah’s stomach dropped.

  And then he wrapped his arm around her waist with the other and pulled her against him, so that any measure of space between them was completely forsaken. She exhaled against his skin as he started swaying them again, his movements fluid and carnal and intoxicating and perfect.

  Her free hand came up to cup the back of his neck, and when she resumed kissing his jaw, he tilted his head up slightly, his fingertips digging into her lower back. Emboldened by his reaction, she trailed her kisses upward, pressing her mouth just below his ear before lightly grazing her teeth over his skin.

  He made a tiny sound in the back of his throat, and she kissed him there before trailing her fingers down the back of his neck.

  “Danny?” she whispered, and he pulled back just enough to look down at her. She wet her lips before tentatively lifting her eyes to his. “Will you kiss me?”

  His eyes fell closed, and Leah saw his throat bob as he swallowed. And then his hold on her loosened as his hands came to her sides, slowly trailing up the length of her body and over her shoulders. His fingertips ghosted along the sides of her neck, making her shiver.

  He used his thumbs under her jaw to tilt her face up before he ran them over her cheeks.

  And then he nodded, slowly closing the distance between them.

  He kissed her carefully, his lips gentle, and Leah tried to keep hers pliant as she responded, but it was like trying to stop a cresting wave from breaking. She could feel the swell of it rising with every touch of his lips, building and building until finally she tightened her hold around his neck and deepened the kiss with a sigh.

  He moaned quietly into her mouth, and every tingle, every delicious sizzle of electricity that had been dancing over her skin collected at once, melting together until it felt like her entire body was humming.