Page 34 of Coming Undone

“I think it’s great that your parents have encouraged each of their kids to follow their strengths and be their own person.” Her vibrating evening bag reminded her that she’d never be so fortunate.

“There’s still a certain amount of pressure.”

“Really?” It seemed hard to imagine. “You’ve all done such different things.”

Danny shrugged off his jacket and laid it over the back of one of the wooden chairs.

“But you’ll notice we’ve all done them fairly well.” He draped an arm across her shoulders so that they both faced the glittering bright jewel box that was the Murphy home in the darkness. “My father was adamant about hard work and tangible achievement. We were pitched in competition against one another from the time we were old enough to run across the yard. It was about who ran fastest. Who skated the best, sailed the smoothest, threw a ball the farthest.”

“Were there points for who could play the most bitching guitar riff?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Definitely not.”

“Was that one of the reasons you walked away from the band?” She wasn’t sure what answer she hoped for. Part of her feared he’d stopped playing with his group mainly because he’d entered the military, something which her kidnapping had helped spur. Then again, she hated to think he would have given up his shot at a future in music just because his family didn’t recognize the value in rock and roll.

“Not really.” He turned her toward him in the moonlight, the water lapping up against the dock at their feet. “My priorities simply changed. But the thing about music is that your love of it doesn’t go away just because it doesn’t make you famous. Sometimes it’s enough just to enjoy something you’re good at.”

She wished her mom shared that point of view – that Stephanie didn’t need some high-brow job to be happy and successful. Then again, maybe she hadn’t done enough to show her parents that her photography fulfilled her.

“No?” Her voice caught as he stared down at her and it felt like they were all alone in the world. She’d thought she wanted to keep things light, but she wouldn’t trade the intense way he looked at her for anything.

“No. You can always find the music again. Pick up right where you left off and savor it.” He skimmed his hands up her arms and along her shoulders. Then, he lifted a palm to cup her chin.

When he kissed her, she could have sworn something melt inside her. Her last reserve, maybe. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she could take a deep breath and let it out again in a way she hadn’t been able to in a very, very long time. She didn’t know where this thing between them was going, but she didn’t want to try to force it into some artificial parameters anymore.

“Danny.” She breathed his name over his lips between kisses, the man becoming her whole world. “I can’t wait to go back to the gatehouse with you.”

The air coming off the water was cooler now, making her seek the heat that rolled off his body. She gripped his biceps, mindful that their silhouettes would be visible from the house with the candelabra lights behind them. Otherwise, she would have been plastered to him.

“Good, because I’m so ready to have you all to myself.”

“Is it too early?” She looked back at the party and the full dance floor.

“God no. This is the most socializing I’ve done in years.” He picked up his jacket and set it around her shoulders, carefully extracting her hair and laying it over the lightweight wool. “When I get home from a deployment, it’s usually all I can do to string a sentence together.”

He was already leading her back toward the main dock and the rest of the party, so she couldn’t gauge his expression, but it unsettled her to think his work would be that draining.

“Oh.” She hastened her step to walk at his side, careful to remain on the carpet runner so her heels didn’t fall into the cracks between the planks. “I didn’t think about that when I surprised you in Norfolk the other day.”

He ducked closer to speak into her ear. “The last thing I feel is tired around you.”

Her skin hummed with awareness, his strong arm keeping her tucked to his side. Her breath came faster and she wished they were already back at the gatehouse. Now that she’d recovered her sensual self, she couldn’t indulge it enough.

“I’ll just say my thank yous to your family and then you can remind me why men who can dance are so good in bed.” Her heart beat faster, anticipation flowing through her veins like high-proof alcohol even though she hadn’t visited the bar once tonight.

“Should you check your phone first?” He asked, nodding toward her purse. “It seems like someone really wants to get in touch with you.”

Belatedly, she realized he referred to the active vibrating coming from her satiny evening bag. Her phone buzzed so often she’d become immune to it.

Some of the heat in her veins cooled at the realization she needed to deal with her mother before Whitney Rosen worked herself into a frenzy of worry.

“It’s my mom,” she explained, embarrassed to admit her mom’s semi-neurotic need to check up on her. Stephanie had tried to be patient, knowing that the abduction had been terrifying for an already nervous mom. “I’ll catch up in a few minutes after I reassure her I’m still in one piece.”

“Of course.” Danny’s hands vanished from her body, giving her space to handle the situation. “I’ve got a few people to thank for coming. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

Watching him walk away, her chest tightened. Already, she was coming to care about him too much. What would it be like when he sailed off into the sunset on the USS Brady well into next year?

She tugged her phone out of her purse and stepped around the dance floor back onto the lawn of the Murphy home. Seeking out a quiet corner by the boathouse, she ducked away from the ring of white lights that outlined the party space. It was dark over here, which gave her a little case of the heebie jeebies, but she kept her eyes trained on the party and the bright lights spilling out over it as she punched in her mother’s number.

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