Page 72 of Pierced Pages
Only a moment or two passed before Danielle took the leap. “Okay. Let’s do it. Brunch tomorrow. You, me, and Lila.”
“Great! Text me what time you want to meet up. Unless you want me to pick you guys up? I’m good with that, but I don’t know if you are.”
“We’ll meet you.”
Danielle felt confident this would go well, but her practical brain still wanted to make sure she had an exit plan if things went south for some reason she couldn’t predict.
“Okay, then. It’s a date.” She laughed. “Sort of.”
“I like the sound of ‘sort of,’” Danielle said. “It sounds slow and easy.”
“I’ve got a history of fast and impulsive, but slow and easy sounds really nice, too.”
At that, Morgan leaned forward and kissed Danielle, a slow and easy closed-mouth kiss that felt more intimate than anything they’d done before. Danielle melted against the softness, and she pulled back before she let herself consider anything more right then.
“I’d better get going.”
“Right,” Morgan said. “Pumpkin.”
Danielle smiled. “Pumpkin.”
Then she got in the car and drove away, waving to Morgan as she left and trying to calm her racing heart so she could focus on the road. The night had been so perfect. And tomorrow morning somehow sounded even more perfect. So perfect that she couldn’t wait to wake up and see her again.
Danielle could barely feelthe cement meeting her shoes as she exited the car in Melanie and Kim’s driveway. Every step was light as air, making her worry she might trip in her dreamlike state.
Somehow, she made it to the front door, and it opened before she could even knock. Melanie’s beaming face appeared in the doorway as she motioned for Danielle to come inside.
The room was half-lit, with a warm glow coming from the standing lamp on the opposite side of the couch from where Kim lay curled up. She had obviously fallen asleep during whatever card game they had splayed out on the coffee table.
Melanie wasted no time in getting right to the point.
“Soooo how was it?”
On the other side of the coffee table, Danielle saw Lila sitting on the floor, eyes wide with anticipation for the answer. She might be all soccer and snakes, but she loved weddings, even though she still wasn’t into the dresses aspect. She’d only ever been to Melanie and Kim’s wedding, and while that had been a beautiful event, it was nothing like the wedding Danielle had just been to. Lila had been dying to hear all about the flowers and the dancing and especially the cake.
“It was lovely.”
Lila rolled her eyes. “Mom, that’s what you said about your earrings. Everything can’t be lovely.”
But it could. And lately it was.
Danielle stood with her hand on the top of a wingback chair and kept her voice low so as not to wake Kim.
“Fine. It was beautiful and elegant and totally over the top.”
Melanie gave a maternal smile. “More importantly, did you have a good time?”
“I had a lovely time.”
“Moooom,” Lila groaned.
“Okay, I had fun.”
“Fun is definitely good,” Melanie said. “You need more fun in your life.”
Danielle was beginning to see that.
“Okay, kiddo. Party’s over.” Danielle pointed at Kim, still asleep on the couch, worn out from an evening with a thirteen-year-old who liked to talk. “Time to go.”
