Blizzards in the Rockies had delayed his flight back to LA. After 8 days on the East Coast for a conference, the extended layover was the last thing he wanted to deal with.
He stumbled sleepily down the hall of his apartment building, fitting the key into the latch.
A pleasant surprise greeted him: His personal mail set neatly on the coffee table, sorted the way she sorted the office mail, a dim light on over the kitchenette, her coat and shoes tucked into the closet.
Though he'd given her keys to his apartment long ago, their newly kindled romantic relationship had finally given her the confidence to use them.
After divesting himself of his wool coat, leather shoes, and heavy baggage, he followed the thin beam of light falling from the doorway of the spare room he used as a study.
Loosening his tie and undoing the top collar button, he gently whispered her name, assuming she was likely asleep at this hour but unable to resist calling for her.
She was sitting in his large leather desk chair, feet drawn up beneath her with the gauzy white film of her nightgown covering her legs. Her head rested against the back of the chair and her dark lashes were against her cheeks in quiet repose.
He'd obviously taken far longer to arrive than she'd anticipated.
Still, her presence gave him that odd feeling in his chest that was becoming more and more common-love, he supposed. Pure, unadulterated, perfect love.
Perry leaned against the desk, admiring her for a moment as she slept. Her skin glowed rosy in the light of his desk lamp. He smiled in spite of himself-the rosy glow of her skin was the same rosy feeling she caused to bubble up in his chest. Reaching out his hand, he gently brushed a finger over her cheek.
Her eyes drifted open and a sleepy smile spread across her face.
"Hi," Della murmured, drawing in a deep, refreshing breath.
"Hello, darling." It was a new moniker, but one that fit her so perfectly and rolled off his tongue as easily as her given name.
"Good conference?"
"Informative," he replied, too mesmerized by the jewels that were her eyes to go into any further detail. "Ready for bed?" he asked. Della nodded and extracted herself from the chair.
Rocking on unsteady feet, she reached out to him for stability, and he happily gathered her into his embrace.
"Welcome home," Della murmured, twisting one ankle at a time to bring the blood flow back to her feet.
Ah, what a welcome it was.