Coming Home(107)

“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.