Say Something

March

Two weeks later, Gwen was working late on a Saturday afternoon at the animal hospital. They had had several walk in emergencies and Gwen was cleaning up the lobby when one of the vets walked in.

"I'm so glad you're still here, Gwen. I need a favor and I hope you won't mind doing it."

"What's up Doctor Steph?"

"I have a couple dogs here that have been boarded this week and their owner has been delayed getting back into town. They're not going to make it here before we leave. Would you mind terribly dropping them off at their house?"

"That shouldn't be a problem. Who am I taking?"

She jotted an address down on a slip of paper and handed it to Gwen. "Zoey and Zora, the bulldog and the Boston."

Gwen nodded. "I'm on it. I'll see you next weekend!"

Gwen found a couple crates and set them up in her car for the two dogs. She snapped leashes to each of their collars and walked them before putting them in her car. She looked at the address again, finding it to be vaguely familiar but unable to place it. She started her car and pulled out of the parking lot, headed across town.

Thirty minutes later, Gwen pulled into the driveway and got the dogs out of the crates. She felt like she had seen this house before but couldn't place why. She led them up the walk and rang the doorbell.

"Gwen, what are you doing here?" Danny exclaimed.

"Oh my god, Danny! Now I remember why your house seemed familiar. I've got your dogs. Dr. Steph asked me to drop them off." She dropped the leashes and the two dogs took off in the house.

"You work for my vet?" Danny asked.

"Well, yeah. That was where I was working when Zoe hired me but I still work weekends for them. How did I not know you're a client?"

"This was the first time they've stayed there. I don't like the vet that took over the practice I was taking the girls too so I just switched to Dr. Steph's office."

They stared at each other a moment before Danny opened the door wider. "Do you want to stay for dinner?" he asked.

"That would be nice," Gwen answered. He stepped aside so she could enter. "Your dogs are great by the way. Two of the most well behaved I've ever seen."

"Thanks." Danny closed the door behind her and led the way to the kitchen. Gwen stopped short behind him.

"I'm not interrupting you know, family time with your kids or something?"

"No, they're still with their mother. Since the flight got delayed into town, they’re staying an extra night. It's just me and the dogs." He smiled at her and she smiled back before settling into one of the bar stools around his kitchen island.

"So what's for dinner?" Gwen asked.

Danny grinned sheepishly. "I was going to order a pizza," he admitted. "I'm not much of a cook."

Gwen slid off the barstool and came around to the other side. She threw open the doors to what she assumed was the pantry. Danny smiled, liking how confidently she moved around his kitchen. "Surely you have something we can make,” she remarked as she checked the shelves. She moved to the fridge and opened it, clicking her tongue at him. "Tsk, tsk Mr. Briere," she teased. "You've got three nearly teenaged sons; I can't believe your cupboards are this bare." She grabbed a few things from the pantry and turned to him. "Spaghetti okay with you?" She found hamburger meat in the freezer and tossed it to him. "Defrost that and I'll let you make the meatballs."

Gwen grabbed other ingredients and directed Danny in preparing the meatballs while she worked on the pasta and a salad. Danny grabbed plates and utensils and Gwen piled food onto both plates when it was ready. Danny carried them to the table and Gwen followed with two beers from the fridge. Gwen broke the silence by asking Danny about the games they had played the week before. In return, he asked her how things had been working for Zoe. Conversation began to flow freely between them after that, talking a little about their childhoods, high school, and the like. Danny noticed Gwen was guarded but answered his questions thoughtfully

When they were done eating, Gwen began to clear the dishes. "You don't have to do that," Danny said as she began to load his dishwasher.

"I know but I want to. You didn't have to invite me to stay for dinner," Gwen replied.

"It was nice not to eat alone; you really did me a favor."

Gwen smiled. "Well, anytime you need a babysitter for the girls, just give me a call. It'll save you the cost of boarding and I'd love to keep them for you."

"I couldn't impose on you like that."

"Nonsense! Those are two fantastic dogs you have and I'm offering so its not an imposition."

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Danny blurted.

Gwen glanced at the clock on his wall. "I have to make a call. How about you pick and I'll join you in five?" Danny nodded and Gwen excused herself from the room. Danny looked through the DVDs on the shelf and pulled two down. He wandered back into the kitchen to make popcorn. He heard Gwen's soft laughter from down the hall. As she walked back towards the kitchen, Danny froze when he heard her say softly "I love you" to the person on the other end.

Gwen ended her call and rounded the corner into the kitchen. She flushed when she saw Danny who stared at her. She bent her head and Danny busied himself with the popcorn, pouring it into a bowl. Gwen followed him back to his TV room and settled onto one end of the couch. Danny held two movies up to her. "Your pick," he said.

She studied the two cases and pointed at the one he held in his right hand. Danny glanced at it, set it down and loaded the other movie into the DVD player. He sat down on the opposite side of the couch, the bowl of popcorn between them. "You failed the test," he commented.

Gwen laughed. "No, I passed with flying colors. I wanted to watch super troopers but I wanted to see what you would do if I picked the notebook."

The movie started and they settled into a comfortable silence. Every so often Danny would lean over for popcorn until Gwen picked the bowl up and scooted across the couch to sit beside Danny. She balanced the bowl on his lap and smiled at him. Danny swallowed hard. Her perfume tickled his nose and he took in a deep breath of her.

"Thought it was silly all the work it took for you to eat popcorn," Gwen said. She hoped her voice came out steady. Inside every nerve tingled at her proximity to him.

"What perfume do you wear?" Danny asked. She stared at him and his next sentence came out in a rush. "You always smell good."

"It's called Lovely," Gwen answered quietly.

"You are quite lovely." Danny set the bowl of popcorn on the table in front of them and turned to Gwen. He reached out and touched her hair, letting his fingers twist around her curls. "It smells like lavender and orchids, patchouli and cedar, and apples. And any time I smell any of those things, I think about you which is very difficult because all Zoe wears is that damn be delicious so she always smells like apples," Danny breathed. He touched her cheek, tracing his finger along her jaw. "I really want to kiss you now."

"Yes," she rasped softly.

Danny groaned inwardly but couldn't stop himself from leaning forward and capturing her soft lips with his. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her with every ounce of his being. She gave himself to him completely in turn. She moaned softly, her body pressed to his, her fingers tangled in his hair. They were consumed with each other and when the doorbell rang, neither heard it. She was straddling his waist when pounding at the door followed by Claude yelling Danny's name broke them apart.

They stared at each other, their breathing heavy. Danny raked a hand through his hair and Gwen reached out to rub away a smudge of her lip gloss on his mouth. She scrambled off of Danny and scurried down the hall to the bathroom. Danny sighed and stood, straightening his clothes as he opened the front door.

"Took you long enough," Claude commented, striding into Danny's home.

“Had the volume turned up, didn’t hear the doorbell,” Danny said through a tight smile.

"Got company?"

Danny shook his head at him. "You saw the extra car in the driveway," he replied. Danny followed him into the TV room as Claude settled on the couch, grabbing the bowl of popcorn.

"Obviously you're holding out on us so when I saw the extra car, I figured I’d stop in and meet whoever it is you're hiding."

Gwen laughed as she reentered the room. "Sorry to disappoint Ginger, but Danny was only polite enough to invite me to stay for dinner because I dropped his dogs off from the kennels." Claude stood and crossed to her. He pulled Gwen into his arms and kissed her. Danny looked away from them.

"He is a stand up guy that one," Claude commented with a grin over his shoulder to Danny. He returned the grin grimly but Claude did not notice. "It's early; wanna go out with me?"

Inside, her body screamed at her to stay while her head told her to leave. She should not have kissed Danny. She knew it was bad but when he looked at her, she couldn’t stop herself but she did not want to hurt Claude. They weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, had only been out a couple times but she did like his company. Besides, they were teammates and on top of that good friends. It was wildly inappropriate for her to be thinking the thoughts running through her head about Danny at that moment. She needed to be away from Danny. Her mind made up, she smiled at Claude. “That sounds like a great idea,” she replied.

Claude took her hand in his. "You wanna come too?" he asked Danny.

Danny shook his head no. "You two go have fun."