They walked back into the living room. Mom had laid it on thick. A pair of wine glasses and a bucket of ice with a wine bottle sweating inside sat next to two plates of roasted chicken and mashed potatoes in front of the fireplace. A thick woven blanket covered the marble floor. The message was clear. Romance her. He glanced at Marnie. Her shoulders hunched behind her ears. Perhaps a little too thick.
Marnie grabbed two pillows off the sofa and joined Danny in front of the fireplace. He handed her a wine glass.
She gave him a quizzical look. “Champagne?”
“Sparkling cider.”
He held up his glass, and they toasted to sobriety.
“Nights like this, a little dipped wick would be nice,” Marnie said.
Emily had been the first one to introduce him to the marijuana cigarette dipped in embalming fluid.
“Yeah or some E,” Danny said.
They shared a knowing look, but both accepted that it was in the past.
“I think you'll do just fine.”
She blinked as he pulled her close. Once again, she felt herself coming unglued under the intensity of Danny's kisses.
He pulled back and Marnie gasped for air. “Let's eat,” he said.
They ate in silence for a moment. Each savoring the garlic mashed potatoes and the juicy rosemary crusted chicken.
“While we're confessing secrets, I guess you should know things aren't going that well for me,” Marnie said between bites.
She kept her eyes on her plate to avoid the disappointed gaze she was sure was on Danny's face. “I'm failing,” she whispered.
“I don't accept that for one second. You're here, aren't you?”
Danny took her plate and set it on the coffee table. He took her hands, kissing the tops of each finger. “You're doing just fine, and I couldn't be any prouder of you than I am right now.”
Marnie wrapped her arms around his neck. She pushed him down onto the woven olive blanket. Her eyes searched his. “Danny, I want to love you, I do, but I'm scared I've never…” A lump rose in her throat, choking her. She stopped, took a deep breath and tried again. “I don't even know how—”
Danny trailed a finger down her nose and rested it on her lips. A delicious shiver followed the finger as it traveled down her neck, past her chest and glided over the buttons on her shirt and between her jeans and between her—.
“I've never done it sober.” She closed her eyes and bit her top lip.
He removed his hand from inside her jeans and kissed each eyelid and her nose. She slowly opened them. “It's fine. We can take this slow,” he said.
He pushed her off him and stood up, holding his hand out to her. “Let's go to bed.”
By the light of a small desk lamp she watched Danny undress. Thin black underwear hugged the curves of his buttocks like a vine on a trellis. He climbed into bed and patted the spot next to him. “Come sleep in here with me. My mom's deferred maintenance on this place, so the central heating is not working. We can keep each other warm.”
She undressed to her tank top and panties then joined him. Marnie reached up to kiss him, but he said, “Let's go to sleep,” and turned the light off. She placed her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. She drifted off, wondering what she had done to deserve such sweetness from a man who was normally cold and indifferent to her wants. Was this really a new leaf?