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“Danny?” The tone of Richie’s voice made him pause at the door. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know,” was all Danny said before he walked out of the house.
After he got into the car, Danny slammed his palm against the steering wheel. The string of expletives that poured out of him would have shamed a longshoreman. He scrubbed away some rogue tears with the back of his hand and then drove off. For the first ten minutes, he drove aimlessly and was lucky he didn’t get in an accident or pulled over. Finally, he managed to settle down enough to focus and headed into the city. He found his way up Madison Avenue until he reached East 79th Street and took that into Central Park. There was a small area near Bank Rock Bay where there were a few parking spots reserved for NYPD vehicles. He pulled over and parked, flipping his NYPD car identification onto the dashboard. Then he sat, silent, staring out towards the water while his mind churned.
I’m not perfect,he thought.I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But I’ve sure as hell been trying. I could have slept with Lauren that first time and I didn’t. And now everyone thinks I’m guilty? And Heather just walks out and takes the boys?
He sat in the car for two hours, playing recent events over and over in his brain. Things he’d done and not done, alternating between angry, devastated, guilty, sad, and too many other emotions to sort out. But one thing he realized was that he truly felt alone. Abandoned. Heather had left. And what would his family think? They’d be on Heather’s side. There was only one person he could turn to.
He turned the key, and the engine roared awake. Putting it into drive, he headed down West Street until he reached the south side of the park. From there it was a short drive on 7th and then 57th until he reached the Somerset.
He gave his car to the valet and dialed Lauren’s number.
It was midnight.
Lauren was waiting at the door when he came up. “Danny? What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Heather left,” he said, walking past her and into the apartment. “She left and shetook my boys. She’s at her parents’ place in Connecticut so I can get it out of my system.”
Lauren was shocked. By herself, in the dark of night, she’d wondered if Danny would ever leave Heather. But she hadn’t considered that Heather might be the one to leave.
“Get what out of your system?”
“You.”
“Jesus.”
“Heather’s convinced I’m sleeping with you. Doesn’t matter if it isn’t true: I’m guilty as charged.” Danny paced as he talked.
Lauren’s gut twisted. “Danny, I’m sorry, but… what we’ve been doing? Not exactly on the up and up.”
“I know.” Even though he looked down, Lauren could still see the anguish on his face. But it was the suffering in his voice that broke her heart. “She took my boys.”
There was nothing Lauren could say to make him feel better. She knew how much Danny loved his sons and trying to make the situation seem less terrible would be little more than empty platitudes. She hated feeling helpless.
He caught her around the waist and pulled her closer.
“Danny!”
“I’m tired of fighting it,” he said. “I don’t know if this is a one-night stand or something else… I just know it’s something I want.” As he spoke, Danny closed the small distance still between them.
“We can’t.” Lauren’s voice was barely a whisper. She put her hands up, as if to push him away, but they hovered a fraction of an inch above his chest. She didn’t dare touch him.
“I know this is crazy,” he said. “If you want out of this mess, tell me now. Tell me now and I’ll go—and I won’t come back. I won’t ever bother you again.”
“Don’t say that.” Even as confused and conflicted as she was, Lauren couldn’t bear the thought of Danny leaving. Not now. Her life felt like a swirling mess, and he was the one solid piece of land in the middle of it. She looked up, meeting his eyes as they searched her face.
“Don’t go,” she said, her hands coming to rest on his chest. “Tonight’s enough, at least for now.”
ChapterTwenty-Six
Hanging over the city, the moon washed everything in Lauren’s bedroom with a silvery light. Danny rolled onto his back and pulled the sheet up over his waist. With a languid stretch, Lauren curled up alongside him, resting her head on his shoulder and sliding an arm across his waist.
The past two hours had been a blur. From the moment she’d allowed him to stay, they’d been all over each other. A trail of clothes led from the living room to her bedroom, and the sheets on her bed were in complete disarray.
Since returning to New York, Lauren had daydreamed about being intimate with Danny again. Would it be awkward? Not as good as she remembered? Tonight had dispelled those worries. The sex was intense and gratifying and forgetting everything else had been easy. But now that the afterglow was dimming, reality loomed heavy over them both. Lauren heard a long, slow breath come out of Danny.
She studied his profile. “Are you sorry?”
