Coming Home(28)

Leah looked up to see four young guys standing behind her.

“Excellent!” Robyn’s sister said. “We can check off number twelve on the list.”

Robyn sighed. “What do I have to do?”

“You have to take a young man over your knee and spank him.”

“I’ll do it,” two of the guys said in unison, and Holly burst out laughing.

Robyn got off Leah’s lap and sat on a chair, crooking her finger at one of the guys. “Alright, let’s go, naughty boy,” she said, and he swiftly laid himself across her lap, beaming like he’d won the lottery.

She spanked him as the girls counted them off, and in the midst of the shenanigans, Leah glanced up to see one of the other guys smiling at her.

“Bobby,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Leah,” she answered as she reached for it.

“Well, Leah, I know this is going to sound like a line, but you’re the most beautiful girl in here tonight.”

She smirked. “That does sound like a line.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate, because it’s true.”

“Thanks,” she said softly.

“So, can I get you another drink?”

“Oh. That’s okay. I’m good for right now. Thanks.”

“Alright. Maybe later,” he said with a wink before turning back to his friends.

Leah sat back in her seat to see Holly watching her, her brow lifted.

“No good?” she asked, and Leah shrugged.

“That’s okay,” Holly said. “I’m still so proud of you for your not-a-date the other day.”

Her inhibitions having been completely washed away by her third Cosmo, Leah leaned over to Holly and said, “I think it’s because of my not-a-date that I’m not impressed by these guys.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess I’m just thinking about Danny,” she said, and Holly’s eyebrows shot into her hairline.

The truth was, Leah had thought about him a lot that night. It had been four days since that bizarre phone call about the daffodils, and she hadn’t heard from him again. Not that she expected to. He’d given her no indication that he would call her after lunch that day, and that last phone call certainly didn’t leave her expecting to hear from him again, and yet tonight, she couldn’t get him out of her head. It seemed the more alcohol she consumed, the more thoughts of him would invade her mind.

He was the perfect combination of cute, but sexy. Pretty, but rugged. Exuding a gentleness, but at the same time, radiating a raw sex appeal. But she’d met lots of attractive guys in the past few years, and none of them ever occupied her thoughts the way Danny did.

He was such a mystery to her though, and maybe that was why she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Maybe she was just trying to figure him out.

She could tell he was a good guy—the way he took care of Catherine, the way he was protective of her, proved that. And at lunch, they had gotten along so well. They were comfortable. They made each other laugh. He seemed to enjoy spending the afternoon with her.

And then he left without even the tiniest indication that he wanted to see or talk to her again.

Maybe he has a girlfriend, Leah thought. But then why would he have asked her to lunch in the first place? Unless he really was just trying to be a nice guy.

But then there was that weird, angry phone call.

Leah sighed, reaching to take Holly’s drink out of her hand before taking a sip. This was exactly the kind of thing she didn’t want to deal with. She didn’t want to be vulnerable, especially with someone who was so hard to read.