Coming Home(108)

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 head 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.