by Natalie Ann
Her face turned red. “I’m going to kill her.”
“So,” he said, ignoring her comment.
She reached into her purse, pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, wrote something down, then handed it over. “Give me a call when you’re available. I’m guessing your schedule is crazier than mine.”
He took the paper and watched her walk away, her small rear end in another pair of tiny jean shorts, looking forward to the next time he had a day off.
No Guessing Games
It’d been a few days of doing chores and relaxing on the water and Sheldon was ready to dig into another story now that it was outlined in her head. She heard her phone ring and grabbed it off the counter. It was a local number and she decided to answer it to be on the safe side. “Hello.”
“Sheldon?”
She’d recognize that voice anywhere, but decided to play coy since she’d given up hope of him calling. “Yes.”
“Erik,” he said, not expanding anymore.
“Dr. McMann,” she said, a smile in her tone.
“You remembered,” he said, his tone matching hers. Good. That was good.
“Of course. I don’t know too many Erik’s. Nor do I give my number out freely that often.”
“Then I should feel honored.”
“You should,” she said, letting out a quick laugh and sitting on the stool by her island to look out at the water beyond. She’d never get tired of the view. There were a few fishing boats out there now trying to pull in their daily catch.
“I like your book covers.”
“Ah, so you did look me up?” She’d put her pen name down on the piece of paper. She’d seen the curiosity in his eyes during their little coffee chat, but he was too polite to ask.
“Of course I did. I suppose I should be honest and say I tried to find you under Sheldon Case, but had no luck.”
“A pen name is better. I’m sure you noticed my picture is up on my profile, but it’s best to not have it match my name completely. It’s a common enough practice to try to have a little anonymity. So what did you like about the covers?”
“Well, they were clearly romance covers, but not...explicit.”
She laughed. “Meaning no half-dressed men and women, but rather sweet embraces like a normal couple you might know or run into on the street.”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”
“The half-dressed covers fall under a different pen name.”
There was silence on the other end. “Really?”
She laughed. “What do you think?”
“I’m not sure what to think. I still would never picture you as a romance writer after I met you. Not that I have a problem with the other types of covers. I should clarify that, just in case.”
“Are you afraid of insulting me?”
“Yes.”
She liked how much of a straight shooter he was. Since she was the same way, she said, “You don’t expect me to be a romance writer because I’m not some hot and sexy man-eater.”
“Okay, now you’re putting me in my place and blowing my chance of asking you for a date.”
She crossed one leg over the other, enjoying their conversation. She didn’t talk to a lot of people on a daily basis and when she had a chance to, she found she didn’t want it to end. “Nah. You’re just being truthful and that goes a long way with me. I’m just teasing.”
“Good to know. That I’m not blowing it. So... how does your schedule look this Tuesday?”
“Day or night?” Another pause and she was thinking he took that wrong. “For a date. During the day or for dinner. I wasn’t sure what you meant specifically.”
“Oh. Anything you want. I don’t have to work Tuesday night. Once I get up Tuesday morning, I’m free until Wednesday afternoon.”
“I can make myself free whenever you’d like. Like I said, my time is loosely scheduled.”
“Unless you’ve got a deadline to meet?”
“I don’t have deadlines on all of my books, just a few.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that I’m what you call a hybrid author. Some of my books are traditionally published through a publishing house and those have tight schedules and deadlines and only two to three books a year. The rest of my books are self-published and my own timelines. I’ve got four months before my next hard deadline, plenty of time.”
“Well then, why don’t we have a lunch date and try to plan something in the afternoon. See where the day takes us.”
Right up her alley. “What would you like to do for the afternoon?”
“Do you like the water?” he asked.
“We live on an island,” she said, frowning and glad he couldn’t see her confused face.
“Stupid question, I know. Ever been paddle boarding?”
“Only every other day or so,” she said. “You?”
“Hmm. I was thinking we could get a lesson, but now I’m thinking not.”
“I’ll give you one. It’s fun. I’ve got an extra board and live in a nice calm area.”
“You aren’t going to show me up, are you?”
“Well now, I guess you’ll just have to wait and see. I mean it’s paddle boarding. Not like I’ll be jumping waves or doing tricks.”
“True. You could start balancing on one leg though while I try to stay steady on two. Make me feel inferior.”
“I guess no yoga poses or headstands on them then,” she said, trying to put disappointment in her voice.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Teasing again,” she said. “I’ll stop now.”
“I like it,” he said. “It’s not often someone teases me.”
“So used to people looking at you for answers?” she asked. That was how she was picturing a doctor in her mind. Someone that everyone took seriously all the time.
“Something like that. Why don’t I bring lunch to your house then, let’s say noon?”
“Sounds good. Do you need my address or do you have that already?”
“I’ve got it. I’ll see you Tuesday.”
They hung up after that, much to Sheldon’s disappointment, but she wouldn’t push her luck and spend hours chatting. She was probably overdoing the teasing as it was. Best to wait until they knew each other better. Now she had something to look forward to.
***
Erik hung up the phone, smiling wide, his cheeks achy.
When was the last time he smiled like that? The last time he wanted to stay on the phone and chat with someone?
Probably high school. Only this time it felt better. He was more confident. More sure of himself. More sure of the person he was talking with and that the feelings were reciprocated.
He liked her easygoing nature. That she wasn’t afraid to be herself. She wasn’t trying to impress him because of his profession but rather was acting more...comfortable. Like she was talking with her friend Melissa. If he hadn’t seen their interaction, he wouldn’t have realized that she was treating him the same. Definitely a positive in his eyes.
At first, he’d been surprised she’d given her pen name with her phone number. But he liked how she wasn’t trying to hide anything. No secrets and no guessing games.
He’d looked her up the minute he’d gotten home. For as young as she was, she’d already published over thirty books. He didn’t know much about which ones she published on her own. Self-published, she said, and that didn’t mean much to him at all. All he noticed was that she had a pretty high author ranking and tons of excellent reviews on all her books.
And those covers. They weren’t sexy as much as suggestive. When was the last time he was in a suggestive embrace? Nah, not going to think about it. It was too depressing if he wanted to be honest with himself.
But he’d bought one of her books and had read it from start to finish in one sitting. Then he bought another.
Did they turn him on? More than he cared to admit.
Did they give him an insight into her and what she might like?
Yep, and that had been his goal.
The only problem was, he read two of her books and they were slightly different. Though deep down the men in those books seemed a lot alike. They both made the first move. Both liked doing outdoor activities and both brought flowers on the first date.
He wasn’t going to be that cliché. He took the chance on the water activity because, hey, like she said, they lived on an island and paddle boarding was something he’d been dying to try but hadn’t wanted to do it alone. Nor had he been able to convince any of his friends to come to the island and try it out.
Most of his friends thought he was nuts living here, transferring here, jumping at the chance to take the opening when it was presented. But for him, it was what he wanted and it was working out.
And he wanted this thing with Sheldon to work out too. He felt he had an advantage by trying to find out a little bit more about her by reading her books.
He pulled Shelly Cassidy up on his computer and since she mentioned her profile, he clicked over there. A nice picture of her, professionally taken. NY Times and USA Today Best Selling Author. There was a little blurb about her living on a small island in the US but nothing more on a personal front. Guess it went hand in hand with using a pen name.
He purchased another, trying to gather some more insight before their date in a few days. He had time to plan, but for now, he was going to settle in and read.
Pep Talk
“When is he going to be here?” Melissa asked her early Tuesday morning. She’d come over before work, knocking on Sheldon’s door at eight a.m. and pulling her out of bed.
“Noon. I told you that. Why did you come here today? You suck, you know that? I need my beauty sleep.”
Melissa waved her hand and started to make herself at home, turning the coffee maker on. “You don’t need any beauty sleep. You can nap whenever you want. Give me a break. I wanted to come and give you a little pep talk.”
Sheldon snorted. “I don’t need a pep talk to go on a date.”
“True. But my pep talk is more about a long-term thing.”
“It’s one date, Melissa. Not a relationship.”
“And that’s why I’m here to talk to you. Don’t you think it’s about time to start thinking of a relationship?”
Here we go again. “Nope. I’m good with the dating thing.”
Melissa sipped her coffee, just torturing Sheldon since she hadn’t had a cup in over a week. She resigned herself to a cup of decaf green tea just to have something warm in her hands right now. Maybe in another week she could try a cup of coffee, but she found she was functioning just fine without it.
“I’m hungry. Do you have anything for breakfast in this house?” Melissa asked, opening up cabinets. “Wow, you’ve got actual food. You went shopping.”
“I did. I’m eating healthy. I’m taking care of myself,” Sheldon reminded her. “I needed something more than coffee and crackers for that.” Sheldon opened a drawer and took out a package of English muffins and held them up. “Do you want one?”
“That’s what you call healthy? Don’t get me wrong, I eat them all the time, but I was thinking something along the line of a salad for breakfast with lemon juice over it for a dressing or some other horrendous thing.” Sheldon narrowed her eyes, but Melissa burst out laughing. “Okay, no green stuff for breakfast. Thank God. Yes, I’ll take a muffin.”
“A little bit of peanut butter on it and some fruit. That’s healthy. Give me a break.”
“It is. I’m proud of you for expanding your normal coffee and fruit loops routine. Back to Erik and relationships.”
“No, not back to him. No relationship. A date. Maybe more than a date. Friends. Fun. That’s what I want. Nothing more.”
“Why are you so cynical?” Melissa said, grabbing a banana off the counter.
“You know why,” Sheldon said. Melissa was privy to most of the embarrassing things in Sheldon’s life. Knowing the embarrassing came with knowing the hurtful things too. That’s what a best friend was for.
“It was a long time ago. Not everyone is like that. Just give him a chance. He seems like a decent guy,” Melissa argued.
“Yeah. Well, lots of men seem decent in the beginning.”
Sheldon slid the finished muffin in front of Melissa. She picked up a half and took a huge bite. “And shocker, plenty really are that way. Just give him a chance,” Melissa repeated.
“We’ll see,” Sheldon said, but she knew she most likely wouldn’t.
A few hours later Sheldon answered her front door to see Erik standing there with two bags in his hands. “Come on in,” she said, reaching for one of them.
“This is a nice location,” Erik said.
“Thanks. There are bigger houses here, but this is good for me.”
She loved her ranch. Three bedrooms, two baths, a nice open layout and a huge covered patio that she spent most of her time on while she wrote. In the winter, she wrote in the little sunroom off her living room. It was important for her to have a nice relaxing area to write more than anything else.
She set one of the bags on her large island and started to unload it. A big chef salad and a loaf of bread in her bag. Great. She’d be starving after some time on the water. Dang Melissa for the salad comment since she’d been shoveling them down lately and was still missing something of more substance. But she was feeling better, so it couldn’t be all that bad.
He unloaded his bag and it was more promising. A few foil-covered containers that looked hot. He peeled back the tops to uncover some pasta dish with an Alfredo sauce and what looked like chunks of chicken mixed in. Another container appeared to be lasagna. Yummy. Okay, he got huge points bringing more than sandwiches, which was what she was kind of expecting.
“I grabbed a few things. Since you said your stomach was better, I got some sauce, but wanted to give options too.” He pulled the last thing out, a box of chocolate.
“What are those?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Coffee-flavored truffles. Not quite the same thing as you’ve had to give up.”
“Close enough,” she said, reaching for it and opening them up, then popping one in her mouth. “Oh my goodness. Heaven. That’s what this tastes like.” She shut her eyes for the moment, then opened them up to see him smiling at her. “I’ll grab some plates. Help yourself to a drink,” she said, nodding her head toward the fridge, trying to fight the blush that was creeping up her neck over shoving a truffle in her mouth. Smooth move, Sheldon.
***
Erik was trying to pay attention to what she was saying. Drinks? Fridge? He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her face while she ate that chocolate.
Ate it? No. She savored it. Popped it in her mouth whole, closed her eyes and hummed low in her throat. That was more of a turn on than one of those sexy scenes in her books. This was real. Standing right in front of him. Not two fictional characters that he was imagining in his head while he read the pages on the screen.
The sounds of the plates landing on the counter brought him out of the daze she managed to suck him into, and he forced his feet to move.
There wasn’t much to choose from. Water, bottles of ice tea and ginger ale. He grabbed a tea, then froze when she reached in next to him for a bottle of water. Her body brushing against his had the air conditioning in her home feeling like the furnace just kicked on.
But it started and stopped the minute she walked away, like it didn’t affect her in the least. Nothing like it did him. This might be a long date.
He pulled up a stool and sat next to her. “Help yourself,” he said.
She put some salad on her plate, then cut a few slices of bread. She didn’t hesitate to slather one in butter and scoop up a bit of both of the hot dishes he brought. He loved that she wasn’t shy about eating. That she wasn’t dainty.
“Where did you get all of this?” she asked, diving right in like she hadn’t eaten in days.
“A friend of mine owns a little cafe that caters. I
do a lot of takeout there since I don’t have a ton of time to cook and don’t really like doing it for one person. This works.”
“This works great. I might have to look into it myself. I don’t mind cooking, but I don’t always cook the best of things,” she said around a mouthful.
“Nothing wrong with splurging now and again.”
Her eyes lit up and he wondered what she could be thinking of. She didn’t leave him guessing. “I was told I couldn’t splurge right now. Some doctor at the ER said I need to take on a boring diet or I’d have to ingest more chalk.”
He laughed. “I don’t think any doctor would say you need a boring diet.”
He looked around her kitchen and saw a bowl of fruit and noticed lots of yogurt and cheeses in her fridge. Nothing overly bad to make him believe she was as much of a bad eater as she was indicating.
She winked at him. “I don’t eat badly. It’s when I get on a roll and don’t eat at all. That’s normally the problem. I tend to be more lazy than anything. Being alone, it’s easier to pop a frozen pizza in the oven than grill a piece of chicken and make a few sides. But I’m getting better.”
“Nothing wrong with a pizza now and again.”
“A frozen pizza?” she asked, taking another bite.
“I’ve gone through plenty of them in my life. I prefer to pick them up at the pizza joint now.”
“You’re close to pizza joints. By the time it’s delivered or I pick it up, it’s cold.”
“True. So where did Shelly Cassidy come from? Family name? Pull it out of the sky?”
“Out of the sky?” she asked, laughing. “Probably close enough. I wanted something close to my own name. Nothing more than that. Unfortunately, Sheldon is more often than not thought of as male, not female. So I softened it, you could say. And like I do with all characters in my books, I just pick a first name and start saying it out loud until I find a surname that rolls with it.”
He was expecting more of an elaborate explanation. Something with more thought. It just showed she was a go with the flow type of girl. His type of girl. Why he tried to settle down with someone so much different than himself was still a mystery to him. But they were called exes for a reason.