you were raised in looks like.”
He turned off the engine and tugged the bags out of the backseat.
“Before my dad formed Murphy Resorts, he was a real estate developer at a time when property rates were growing exponentially. So yeah, my folks live well these days.” He hit a button on a key-ring remote that lifted a garage door off to one side. Two weathered Adirondack chairs sat on a deck off the room over the garage.
“Do you have someone take care of things while you’re away? It must be hard to leave such a beautiful place.” She followed him into the garage, which was empty except for a bicycle and a scooter as big as a small motorcycle. He’d left his car outside.
“A property manager has it cleaned and watches it while I’m gone.” He used his keys to open an interior door that led them into a modern kitchen full of whitewashed cabinets and stainless-steel appliances.
But her eyes didn’t stay on the kitchen. The open floor plan drew her attention to a huge family room with a wall of windows that overlooked the water.
“This is incredible.” She walked toward the windows, drawn by the view. “I can’t imagine how relaxing it must feel to come home to this.”
The beach was empty even though a few boat ramps were visible down the shoreline, suggesting other houses were nearby through the trees that lined the property.
He dropped the bags onto the counter and shuffled through the take-out lids, so she returned to the kitchen to help.
“After growing up near the water, I get a little stir-crazy if I can’t see it now.” Turning on the oven, he slid some foil containers inside to reheat. “Would you like to take a walk out there while this warms up?”
“That’d be great.” She wanted to feel the sand between her toes, but walking out on that shoreline with Danny would be the ideal time to come clean about what she wanted from him. Her heart rate jumped into a higher gear as an attack of nerves set in.
“This way.” He nodded toward the French doors off the living area and they walked past overstuffed blue couches to reach the patio.
Stephanie took her shoes off and left them on the wooden deck before she followed him down the few steps to the beach. Sea grass bent in the breeze on a couple of low dunes close to the house. Beyond that, a few patches of dried black seaweed clumped in piles while the surf rolled onto the shore with a rhythmic whoosh.
“My dogs would love this.” She tipped her face into the salty air.
“You have pets?” He stretched his arms over his head and arched his shoulders like he was working out some kinks.
She tried not to stare. But then again, how could she not? It had been a long time since looking at a man incited the kind of sensual interest she felt right now. That spark of excitement made her feel alive. Healthy. Whole.
“Yes. A couple of cats.” Her voice cracked, her throat dry. She licked her lips and tried again. “I meant the dogs I photograph would have a blast out here. I love taking pictures in natural settings like parks, or at the owners’ homes. But I’d get some great shots if I had this in my backyard.”
Water really brought out the personality of some dogs. Labs and retrievers. Newfies, Porties … And maybe if she kept thinking about her job, she’d forget about what she really needed to discuss. The oh-so-awkward reason she’d made the three-hour drive from D.C. to Norfolk.
“I’d like to see your work sometime.” He toed off his loafers and socks, then headed into the shallow surf. “But first, I’ve got to ask—”
“Uh-oh.” She waded in after him, gathering her excess skirt material in one hand so that it didn’t blow in the breeze off the water.
“What?”
“I know what you’re going to ask, but I’m still working up the nerve to answer.” She flexed her toes into the squishy sand, which fell away beneath her feet as a wave rolled back out to the bay.
“Are my questions that obvious? We haven’t seen each other in five years and you’re already reading my mind?”
“It doesn’t take a mind reader to guess that you’d be curious about why I popped up out of the blue today.”
He frowned. “That wasn’t what I was going to ask, but now that you mention it, learning that is actually a high priority for me.”
Crap. Crap. Crap.
Why hadn’t she let him just finish his thought? Because she was nervous and antsy and … oh, God. This was a stupid idea.
Nevertheless, she’d been imagining this moment for a whole year and she’d hate herself if she chickened out now.
“Are you familiar with the idea of—” she cleared her throat “—sexual healing? You know, recovering lost mojo by having sex with someone you trust?”
Silence met her question. Can you say … awkward?
Danny looked as if she’d hit him with a two-by-four. But there was no turning back now, so she took a deep breath and summed it up for him.
“Well, my mojo hasn’t been the same since … you and I were together last. I’ve been waiting for you to return from your deployment so I could proposition you. What do you say to re-creating our affair?”
DANNY WASN’T SURE if he stood there for ten seconds or ten minutes after Stephanie posed the question. He couldn’t have been more stunned if a rogue wave rose out of the bay, knocked him on his ass and dragged him out to sea. In fact, he probably would have recovered faster if that was the case.
“Danny?” Her voice sounded far away because of all the thoughts that came rushing into his head. She stepped closer, her hand landing on his wrist.
Her request echoed in his mind on an endless loop. He didn’t know whether to pump his fist in victory or cry that she needed to ask. Yeah, knowing why she wanted that kind of healing ripped him raw. In her public account of her abduction, she’d denied being … assaulted. She’d written a book about the experience afterward, and he’d read the whole thing cover to cover a few times. But he had no way of knowing the deeper damage of what she’d really been through—the things she hadn’t put into print.
If she was brave enough to ask him for something like that, however, he was humbled to be the one she went to. He’d damn well do whatever she wanted. Even if it ripped apart the crappy patch job he’d done on his memories of that whole time.
“Come here.” He would have gone to her, but he was still a little numb. He was also wary of spooking her by showing her how much he wanted this. “Please. Will you just come here?”
Between her uncertain step forward and his arms reaching out, he caught her. Drew her against him. She stumbled a half step, but then she was tucked tight to his chest, the top of her head just below his chin where he could rest his cheek and breathe in the scent of her hair. Her arms went around him and her skirt wrapped around his legs in the sea breeze.
He held her that way for ten steadying beats of his heart before his body reminded his brain what she’d just asked of him. All that numbness evaporated. Like a fireball shot into an
