Coming Home(161)

She opened and closed her mouth, trying to find her voice. “It’s…incredible,” she stammered.

He smiled at her, and she reached down and touched the pendant again. “It’s too much,” she said, and he shook his head.

“It’s perfect.”

She lifted her eyes to his, and his dimples started to appear. “Can I see it on you?”

Leah held the box out to him, still beyond words, and Danny leaned forward and removed the necklace before undoing the clasp, holding an end in each hand as he wrapped it around her neck. Her hand came to the pendant, holding it against her skin as he fastened the clasp behind her.

He leaned back and looked at the necklace on her, his smile broadening as he took her hand and pulled her off the couch. Danny walked her over to the mirror on the opposite wall and turned her so that she was facing it. The diamond glittered against her skin, the bright stone a sharp contrast to her deep-blue V-neck sweater.

“See?” he said from behind her. “Perfect.”

He stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and Leah leaned back into his embrace, closing her eyes as one of his arms snaked around her waist. A few seconds later, she felt his other hand come up to the necklace, taking the pendant between his fingers.

Danny brought his lips to her ear. “When this is over, I’m going to put one of these on your finger.”

Her eyes flipped open, finding his in the mirror.

“We’ll get through this, Leah,” he said, his eyes on hers. “And then I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I promise.”

Leah turned slowly in his arms, placing her hands on his chest as she stared up at him. Danny’s arms tightened around her waist, holding her against him as his eyes searched hers.

Her heart was thundering in her chest, and her body felt too small to contain the emotions reeling through it at breakneck speed.

“I am so completely and utterly in love with you,” she whispered, her voice measured, wanting him to feel the magnitude behind the simple, inadequate words.

He smiled down at her. “Then you know exactly how I feel.”

Her eyes fell closed as she dropped her forehead to his chest and slid her arms around his back, and Leah felt him press his lips against the crown of her head.

“Are you ready to go to bed?” he asked, and she nodded gently.

Danny ran his hand over the back of her hair before he released her, and Leah turned to the coffee table, grabbing their empty wine glasses. Danny took them from her, and a few seconds later, she heard the sounds of him putting them in the dishwasher as she made her way back over to the table, blowing out the candles and collecting their dirty dishes. She brought them into the kitchen and rinsed them before loading them in behind the wine glasses, and by the time she made her way back to her bedroom, Danny was already there, lighting the last of several candles he had lined up along her bedside tables.

Leah leaned against the doorframe. “You thought of everything.”

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “I tried,” he said before he blew out the match, and Leah pushed off the door as she walked toward him.

Danny turned, his expression growing serious as she closed the distance between them. As soon as she reached him, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers.

Their lips parted and met over and over in soft, worshipful kisses, and he splayed his hands over her back, pulling her with him as he backed them toward the bed.

Danny broke the kiss as he sat down on the mattress, and Leah immediately crawled onto his lap and straddled his thighs, cradling the back of his head as she leaned down to kiss him. Danny groaned softly as his hands slid under her sweater, running them up the length of her back.