Date Shark (14 page)

An alarm on Luke’s phone sounded a moment later. He groaned at having to get back to work, which made Leila smile, and helped her to her feet. On the drive back to work, Leila thought about the deal she had just made. Something new every day for two weeks. Realizing what a challenge that was going to be for her, her first thought was to call Eli and ask him for his help. He had invited her to go out with his friends, which was definitely something new for Leila. She supposed that should count for one day at least. No doubt Eli would be willing to help her, but a certain amount of guilt crept into her mind as she considered spending the two weeks Luke was gone with another man, even one who was only a friend, probably wasn’t what Luke had in mind when he proposed the assignment.

Chapter 12

Under Control

Leila’s flustered call the previous night had certainly been a surprise to Eli, but her request had been even more unusual.
I need you to help me come up with something new for me to do. Quick!
It had taken him a few moments to figure out what she was even asking him. He had to get the whole story about the assignment given to her by Luke before he really understood.

After Leila had explained everything, Eli had been confronted with a very odd set of emotions. Respect for Luke’s insight into what Leila needed. Jealousy that he had thought of it first. Smug satisfaction that Leila was calling him for help.

It hadn’t been hard to come up with something Leila had never done. When he suggested he take her out for sushi, the line went dead quiet. Her quiet squeak asking him if he was serious about eating raw fish made him laugh. He smiled at the memory of her trying to get up the courage to take her first bite as he checked his reflection in the bathroom mirror. The way her face had crinkled up when she finally took her first bite, only to have her eyes widen in delight a few seconds later was adorable.

The only sour part of the evening had been knowing that as soon as he dropped her off at her apartment she was going to be calling Luke to tell him all about her encounter with sushi. Eli tucked in his midnight blue dress shirt, wondering if Leila had told Luke who she ate the sushi with. In fact, it was almost all he could think about as he drove across town to her apartment. Until she opened the door wearing only a towel. Then all he could think about was how silky and gorgeous her skin looked.

“Are you going out wearing that?” Eli asked, sincerely hoping she was.

Leila giggled nervously. “I didn’t know what to wear.” She bit her lip. “I tried on everything in my closet, and I just don’t think anything is right.”

Eli tried not to picture Leila shimmying in and out of clothes. “Leila,” he chided, “you’re thinking too hard about this. Anything you wear will be fine. You would look fabulous in jeans and a t-shirt.”

“I’m not wearing jeans to meet your friends!” She sounded horrified by the thought.

Eli couldn’t help laughing, which made her glare at him. “Leila, I was wearing jeans when we went out last night. My friends wear jeans. Vance and I lived on Ramen noodles all through college. We’re no different than anyone else. You’ve got to stop thinking you’re so different from me.”

“I am different,” she stated emphatically.

“No you’re not. You’ll fit right in with my friends.”

Her expression said she thought he was nuts. Eli was forced to ignore her for the sake of meeting Vance and the others on time. “Come on, let’s pick out some clothes and get going before they think we’ve ditched out on them.”

Leila sighed dramatically. “Fine.”

When Eli walked into her bedroom a few seconds later he realized she hadn’t been kidding when she said she had tried on everything she owned. The room was littered with clothes. He turned around to look at her and only chuckled at the sight of her red face buried in her hands.

As Eli quickly assessed her clothes, he shook his head. Just about anything she owned would be perfect for tonight, but he wanted to help her be confident, so he picked out a pair of black skinny pants, mid-calf black boots, and turquoise satin tank top covered in glittery beads. When he dumped the clothes into her arms she looked dubious.

“Put them on,” he ordered. “Do you need me to pick out your bra and underwear as well, or can you handle that one on your own?”

Turning scarlet again, Leila only wrinkled her nose at him before pushing him out of her room. Eli immediately tried to find something to distract himself from thoughts of Leila dressing. He wandered over to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of cold water. While he was in there, he looked at the flower shaped magnets on her fridge that held up reminders of groceries she needed to buy or errands she had to run. There was a sink full of dishes that needed to be washed, and Eli was once again surprised by the bright cheerful colors she had chosen. Red, hot pink, lime green, fuchsia. The rubber spatulas sitting in a utensil holder were a veritable rainbow.

The click of a door being opened pulled Eli out of the kitchen. His eager steps carried him to the living room just Leila stepped out. He had picked out the clothes, but he hadn’t been prepared for the effect she would have wearing them. Every curve of her legs was expertly displayed, drawing his eyes up in sweet torture. The glittery tank top had a more generous neckline than he had originally thought. The cleavage it showed was minimal, but created a tantalizing hint of what wasn’t revealed. The color brightened Leila’s face, making her beautiful face angelic.

Leila stared back at him, waiting for some kind of comment. Eli was at a loss for what to say. The right selection of words that would allow him to compliment her without gushing about how amazing she looked simply would not come to him.

“Maybe this is too much,” Leila said. “I’ll change.”

“No,” Eli said abruptly. Leila paused, unsure. “No, you look perfect. Don’t change.”

There was a faint flash of pleasure in Leila’s eyes at his words, but it was shaken off quickly. “Let me just grab my purse then,” she said before brushing past him to snatch her handbag off the coffee table. Eli’s eyes followed her.

Holding up the little black handbag, Leila said, “Before you ask, the only thing in this is a tube of lip gloss and my credit card.”

Eli grinned and snatched it out of her hands before she could react. Belatedly, she tried to get it back, but Eli was taller than her. Holding it above his head was enough to make it impossible for her to reach the bag.

“Eli, give it back,” she whined. “That one is my favorite. You can’t have it.”

“I’m not going to keep it.”

She eyed him, clearly not convinced. “Then why did you so rudely yank it out of my hands.”

Taking a precautionary step back, Eli lowered the bag and unzipped the top. Leila’s inquisitive expression intensified, but she held back on retrieving her purse.

“The lip gloss you can keep,” Eli said, “but the credit card stays here.”

He slid it out of the little bag and set it on the mantle. He graciously handed the bag back to her with a smile. Leila was rolling her eyes. “That’s ridiculous. I’m paying for myself.”

“I’ve already explained that I refuse to let a woman pay when she’s with me.”

Leila’s eyes narrow. “Are you paying for all the girls tonight? I’m sure you mentioned at least two that were coming.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure Vance is paying for Stephanie, since she’s his girlfriend, and Leo is paying for Julie for the same reason. But if they weren’t, then yes I would pay for them too.”

Eli had no problem standing up to Leila’s scrutinizing. He meant every word of what he just said. It took a few moments, but eventually she seemed to accept that he wasn’t going to back down. She slid the zipper of her purse closed, but some other problem seemed to occur to her. The change in her expression could hardly be missed. Interpreting it, well—that was another matter.

“I thought this was a bunch of friends going out, but now it’s starting to sound like a group date.”

Eli shoved his hands in his pockets. He kept his expression even, not letting it show how much he wanted that to be true. “Not entirely,” he said. “Avery and Guy are coming too, and neither of them have dates.”

“Guy?” Leila asked.

“He’s French, but don’t hold it against him. He’s also very handsy, which he tries to blame on his culture, but it’s really not. Don’t be afraid to tell him to back off.”

Eli chuckled as Leila’s eyes widened. “Um, okay,” she said quietly.

After a quick check of the time, Eli ushered Leila out of her apartment and down to his car. After helping her into her seat, he hurried around to the driver’s side and got in. At first, he didn’t notice how quiet Leila was being, but after a few blocks the silence seemed to take on weight. One glance over at her told him something was wrong. Hating to see her frown, he knew he had to ask.

“Leila, is everything okay?”

When she looked over at him, Eli expected her to brush it off as she usually did. Her honesty surprised him, but made him proud as well when she said, “Do your friends know anything about me? Do they know how we met?”

Eli considered lying. He knew his answer might make her even more nervous. After a moment’s thought, he decided she deserved the truth, especially after being so straightforward with him. “Only Vance,” he said.

Instantly her posture tightened. “Why?”

“Because Vance is my best friend, and also because he’s my psychiatrist.”

“You have a psychiatrist?” Leila asked in surprise.

Her shock made him laugh. “It’s a standard practice,” he assured her. “Imagine having people coming to you all day with their problems and not being able to talk about it with anyone. If you didn’t have someone to talk to yourself, you’d get burnt out or go crazy.”

“You talk about me during your sessions with Vance?”

“Not everything people tell their shrinks is bad.” Eli looked over at her with a smile. “Yes, I talk about you.”

“What do you tell him?”

“I tell him how much I enjoy being with you, how you’re the only bright spot in my day sometimes. Trust me,” Eli said, patting Leila’s leg, “I never have anything bad to say about you.”

Leila’s eyes met his with one eyebrow cocked. “Yeah, sure,” she muttered under her breath.

The rest of the drive passed quietly, and soon enough Eli pulled up to the club where his friends were waiting. There was no line of people outside vying for position, which Leila seemed to think was odd. There was, however, a bouncer perched at the door to check IDs and wave them inside. Leila hesitated at the door, but Eli pressed his hand to the small of her back and pushed her along with him. He had no intention of letting her out of tonight early.

When they reached the main section of the club, Leila’s eyes took in the entire space. Eli gave her a moment to take it in and measure it against her expectations. When he felt the tension in her body begin to relax, he leaned in closer to her. “Not as scary as you were expecting, right?”

“It’s nice,” she said. “I expected blaring music and hot sweaty bodies filling every nook and cranny.”

Eli forced away any thoughts related to hot sweaty bodies. “Follow me.”

He guided Leila across the room to a circular booth were his friends were waiting. They were halfway to the table when Leila suddenly stopped and grabbed Eli’s arm. She peered up at him looking alarmed. “How are you going to introduce me?” she demanded.

Eli pondered her question for a moment, and then asked, “How do you want me to introduce you?”

The question in the place of an answer caught her off guard. Every second she was silent grated on Eli. He wanted to hear her answer. He wanted to know how she saw him. The confusion and uncertainty in her eyes when she glanced up at him was almost enough to break him. Instead, he smiled gently and said, “How about I introduce you as Leila, and leave it at that for now. If you figure out the answer to that question later, you can let me know.”

Leila looked at him quizzically, but nodded and allowed Eli to guide her the rest of the way to the table. As it turned out, they needn’t have worried about how to introduce her. As soon as they neared the table and Vance saw them, he was out of his seat. First, he clapped a hug around Eli then offered his hand to Leila. She took it graciously, though Eli could feel the tension quickly returning.

“You must be Leila,” Vance said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Still holding onto her hand, Vance pulled her over to the table. “Everyone, this is Leila, a brave new addition to our little group. She’s a friend of Eli’s, so be nice. We’d like her to stick around a while.”

Vance then introduced Leila to each member of the group while Eli stood back. He was actually grateful for his friend’s interference. As much as he wanted Leila with him, introducing her hadn’t only been a concern for Leila. He was sure that as soon as his friends heard the way he said her name, or saw the way he looked at her they would know. More than that, he didn’t want to introduce her as his friend, his pal, or even just as Leila. Vance had saved him from having to face that mountain just yet. Eli gave him a thankful nod the next time their eyes met, which Vance returned with a nod of his own.

When the introductions were done, Vance urged Leila to sit. She looked at Eli first, making sure he hadn’t disappeared. He was at her side a moment later. They sat next to each other, quite close thanks to the size of the booth and the number of people they were attempting to fit into it. Eli certainly didn’t mind, but he noticed Leila didn’t appear to be bothered, either.

“So, Leila,” Guy said with his altogether too French accent, “what do you do?”

“I’m the marketing director for St. Claire Designs.”

Stephanie gasped. “I love St. Claire’s! You’re so lucky.”

Her enthusiasm made Leila laugh. “It’s a great place to work. My boss, Ana, is wonderful. She’s the one who introduced me to Eli.”

In that instance, Leila’s body froze, and Eli knew exactly what she was thinking. She was thinking that his friends were aware of his date shark business. In her mind it was probably a straight shot assumption for Eli’s friends that she would have met him in that manner. Eli hated lying, so he did his best to tell as much truth as possible as he attempted to rescue Leila.