Page 27 of Coming Undone

“Exactly.” Another kiss followed. Longer. Slower.

His heart rate jacked up. And that wasn’t the only thing elevating.

“Steph.” He gripped her shoulder, holding her at arm’s length. Meeting her gaze in the dimness.

“Yes?” A mischievous light danced in her eyes.

“You know you’re winding me up over here.”

“Thank goodness.” She grinned. “I thought I was losing my touch.”

With a growl in his throat, he reeled her closer, fitting her body to his. He cupped the base of her neck, tilting her toward him for a kiss and much, much more.

Chapter Nine

Stephanie awoke to banging outside the house. Still half asleep, she wondered if the siding was getting ripped off the house or if someone had decided to bulldoze the place down.

“Danny!” She gripped his arm, bolting upright in bed. “What is that?”

He moved slower, his eyes still not open.

“Brothers,” he muttered.

What the hell?

Shrugging off the last vestiges of sleep, she listened more carefully. The bang, bang, banging became clearer. Almost as if a small army had descended on the gate house and decided to pound on every side.

“Football in five!” A deep male voice shouted from somewhere outside. The sound seemed to emanate from just below the second-floor deck off the bedroom. “Don’t make us come in there, bro.”

“Are they serious?” Stephanie realized she and Danny were both naked and definitely not in any position for company. The bedroom was a whirlwind of discarded clothes and tangled sheets.

Downstairs was no better, she recalled, since they’d made a late-night snack, then ended up feasting on each other on the dining room table.

“As a heart attack.” Danny yanked back the covers and stood. “Sorry about this, Steph. I’ll go knock their heads together so you can go back to sleep.”

She glanced at the clock, shocked to discover it was ten in the morning. There was a brief respite in the pounding outside and the quiet seemed to vibrate.

“Actually, that’s okay. I can’t believe how late I slept.” She’d meant to awaken early to walk the beach and get her head on straight before she met his family. She was nervous and unsure how they’d feel about her coming into his life again. Especially now that she’d discovered he had gone a little crazy when she’d been kidnapped. What must his mom think of her that she’d never returned his calls afterward?

A chant started outside. Deep male voices shouted in unison. “Dann-y. Dann-y.”

Danny swore at their persistence, barreling into a pair of shorts so he could pry open the French doors and holler at them from the deck. “What the hell kind of welcome home is that?”

“Danny lives!” Someone shouted and Stephanie recognized the Finnish foster brother’s accent. There were some catcalls and wolf whistles over his half-dressed state, but all the voices sounded good natured and- she was certain- happy to see their brother.

Hugging the covers tighter to herself, she admired the muscles in Danny’s back as he braced his arms on the deck railing to lean over and shout down to them.

“No thanks to you all. I nearly went into cardiac arrest from you shaking the damn gatehouse. Go away until I get dressed.”

When he turned around to come back inside, he was grinning.

“If you’d like to play football, it will give me time to clean up before I meet everyone.” While she didn’t think the rowdy Murphy males would really raid the gatehouse to retrieve their brother, she’d also rather not take any chances.

“You sure?” He frowned. “I brought you here to spend time with you.”

A smile warmed her on the inside. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. Your family hasn’t seen you in six months. I know they’re eager to hang out with you too.”

He leaned close to drop a kiss on her cheek. “After tonight’s party, it’s all about you.”

---