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 flattened 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.