Date Shark

by DelSheree Gladden

  “Leila, I don’t want you to go. Won’t you at least stay and hang out? You don’t have to climb. I promise I won’t try to change your mind.” His puppy dog eyes were not going to budge her an inch this time.

  That squirmy icky feeling that was a sure sign of her last meal coming up started building in the pit of her stomach. Leila shook her head quickly. “Watching you climb would be even worse. I would be sick the entire time thinking you might get hurt.”

  “I’m not going to get hurt,” Luke argued.

  Leila took a deep breath. “I’m going home, Luke. I’m sorry.”

  She turned and began walking away. At the least she knew she should have taken the time to introduce herself to Rick and Andrew, but they were still standing right next to the wall. She made it to the lobby doors before Luke caught back up with her.

  “Leila, wait.”

  She stopped, but didn’t turn around for fear of seeing the wall again. Luke bounded around in front of her and took her hands in his. “Leila, I’m sorry. I should have asked you before I planned this. I had no idea you were scared of heights.”

  Leila sighed. “I know you didn’t. I should have mentioned it, I guess. It just never crossed my mind.”

  “Are you angry with me?” Luke asked, his fingers sliding around her waist.

  “No, of course not.” Leila felt some of her tension slip away as he pulled her against him.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  One of Luke’s hands came up to tangle in her chestnut hair. The caress of his fingers did wonders for her anxiety. “But you won’t stay?” he asked again.

  “No.”

  Disappointment and bit of lingering frustration echoed in his sigh, but Luke didn’t push her. “Can I call you later?”

  “Definitely.”

  Luke perked up a bit. His mouth split in a slow smile. The space that had remained between their two bodies disappeared completely. The wall was beginning to fade from Leila’s mind. “I’m sorry about tonight,” Luke said.

  “Me too.”

  “Do you have any other deep seeded fears I should know about?” Luke asked with a smile. “I’d like to avoid situations like this in the future.”

  “I don’t do well with elephants,” she said, “and this isn’t a fear, but I should probably tell you I’m allergic to strawberries.”

  “Elephants and strawberries. Duly noted.” Luke’s smile turned seductive. His thumb stroked from her ear to her lips in a soft, lazy way that brought heat to her stomach. “That’s really too bad about the strawberries. There are some interesting ways to eat them.”

  Not that Leila had any intention of letting Luke eat any type of food off her bare body in the near future, but she could feel her skin flushing to what was probably a very good impression of a strawberry. The effect made Luke laugh.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said. “Do you know that?”

  Leila was saved from having to answer when Luke leaned toward her. She froze as his lips met hers. It was a momentary failing on her part. A second later, once the surprise wore off and the rush of adrenaline started racing through her veins Leila returned his gentle kiss. She was smiling when he pulled back.

  “I’ll call you later, okay?” Luke said.

  Leila nodded.

  One more light kiss, and Luke released her from his enticing hold. The walk back out to her car was unhurried. She slipped into the driver’s seat and sat staring out the window. It had been a while since she had been kissed like that. Not since college, she was sad to admit. But as Leila sat in her car, she was really quieted when a thought whispered into her mind that Luke’s kiss wasn’t the only one she had received that day. Her fingers rested against her cheek where Eli, and not Luke, had kissed her earlier.

  Before Leila realized what she was doing she had pulled into traffic, but not in the direction of her apartment. She was sure Eli would want to know that she had stood up to Luke when confronted with an adventure she wasn’t ready for, and he had said she could come by any time. Sure, she could have called him easily enough, but she rationalized that she was near enough to his apartment that stopping by made just as much sense. She was parking in one of the parking spaces reserved for visitors before she could talk herself out it.

  Her plan was almost stymied when she entered the building through the street entrance rather than the resident entrance Eli had taken her through before the symphony. The doorman looked polite enough, but he had surprised her when he asked who she was there to visit. Part of Leila feared, for some reason, that he wouldn’t let her up. Perhaps he would recognize that Leila didn’t belong in this building.

  After looking at something on his computer, the doorman smiled at Leila and introduced himself as Howard. “You can go on up, Ms. Sparro.”

  “I can?” she asked in surprise. Surely there was more to it than that.

  He laughed, but did so politely. “Mr. Walsh left instructions that you were to be admitted any time. The elevators are around the corner to the left.”

  “Oh, thank you.” She smiled and followed his directions to the elevator.

  A silly sort of satisfaction began to build in Leila’s heart as she rode the ten flights to Eli’s floor. The doorman, Howard, hadn’t batted an eye at the idea that Eli would give her such open ended access. She wasn’t even dressed to look the part of someone who lived in Eli’s building. In running tights and a racer back workout tank top, she was sure she looked rather underdressed. But the doorman seemed to think it was perfectly natural that Leila should be a friend of Eli’s.

  What also made her smile was that Eli obviously meant his invitation to visit him. He had no objections to her being seen traipsing around his building, unlike other men she had dated. That alone erased all the nervous energy that had been lingering from being faced with the climbing wall and her insecurity about showing up at Eli’s door unannounced. She was feeling quite confident when she knocked on his door.

  That only lasted a precious few seconds. When Eli opened the door, the shocked expression on his face combined with the sounds of rowdy laughter stole it all away.

  “You have company,” she said stupidly. “I’m sorry, I should have called first.” She took a step back, spurring Eli to take action.

  “Leila, I thought you were going out with Luke tonight.”

  “I was, but it didn’t go that great. I’m sorry for just dropping by.” She knew she was blushing again, which only made her think of Luke and strawberries—something she didn’t want to think about around Eli—and that only made her skin turn even redder.

  Eli’s expression turned inquisitive, probably wondering why such a simple statement would inspire so much embarrassment, but thankfully he didn’t ask. “No, it’s not a problem at all. Come in.”

  “I don’t want to intrude. It sounds like you were having fun.”

  Grabbing her hand, Eli pulled her into his apartment and shut the door behind them. “It’s just the guys over to play poker.”

  “That sounds like some serious guy time, Eli. I should go,” Leila argued.

  Eli was about to argue more when Vance came around the corner, followed by Guy and Leo. Guy clipped Leo’s shoulder, saying, “Told you it was Leila. Anybody need a drink while we’re all up?”

  He counted the raised hands, gave a quick hello to Leila and disappeared back around the corner. Leo followed soon after. Vance stayed where he was. His eyes dropped for a moment, and Leila wasn’t sure what had caught his attention until Eli’s hand suddenly released hers. She hadn’t realized she had still been holding onto him. She was sure another round of blushing would have cropped up if Vance casually hadn’t slung an arm around her shoulder right then.

  “I was under the impression you’d be out with Luke tonight,” he said.

  “Yeah, well …” She trailed off, not wholly sure she wanted to discuss it in front of Vance.

  Eli noticed her hesitation and
made a gesture to dismiss his friend. Vance was gracious enough to take the recommendation. Eli stepped closer to Leila, concern lining his features. “Is everything okay?”

  “Sure, it’s not a big deal.” Her attempt at casual didn’t get her very far.

  Eli’s eyes narrowed. “Leila, what happened?”

  She sighed. “It’s stupid really. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Leila,” Eli said warningly.

  “Oh fine,” she said. “Luke planned for us to go rock climbing with a few friends of his. I didn’t want to do it, so I left.”

  “Why didn’t you want to climb?” Eli asked as he just about pushed her out of the entryway and into the living room where the guys were getting set back up for another hand.

  “Leila,” Vance asked, “do you play?”

  She grinned despite the lingering conversation with Eli. “I could lie and say I’d never played before, but that wouldn’t be fair. Yes, I play, and very well.”

  “Ooh, that sounds like a challenge,” Guy said.

  “Deal her in, Leo,” Vance ordered.

  She hoped Eli would have the sense to wait until later to continue their conversation. Not that it was a big secret, but still. Leila wasn’t so lucky. “Are you afraid of heights?” Eli asked her. When she didn’t answer right away, he explained to the guys, “Leila’s date tried to take her rock climbing. Judging by the fact that she’s here with us instead of him, she must be afraid of heights. The real question is why. Any guesses?”

  “It’s because she’s kind of short,” Leo offered with a cheeky grin.

  Leila laughed. “I’m not that short. I’m a perfectly average height for a girl.”

  “How tall are you?” he asked. “Five-two?”

  “Five-three,” she said, which made everyone laugh.

  Eli leaned over, his shoulder bumping into hers. “You are a little short.”

  “Thanks a lot,” she muttered, but she was smiling. To Leo she said, “My height has nothing to do with the fact that you will never, ever catch me on a climbing wall.”

  “I’ll go with subconscious fear of failure,” Guy offered.

  Leila groaned. “Are you a shrink too?”

  Guy found that rather amusing. “You’re surrounded by shrinks, my dear. Didn’t Eli tell you?”

  “No, he most certainly did not.” She threw him a nasty glare, but it only made him laugh.

  “Vance,” he said, “you’re up. What’s your guess?”

  Going into full out psychoanalytical mode, Vance propped his elbow on the table and stroked an imaginary beard. “Based on careful analysis, I have no choice but to conclude that Ms. Sparro’s fear of heights stems from traumatic experience in her early childhood years.”

  Leila started giggling uncontrollably at his performance. Eli’s was laughing as well when he said, “Well there you go, Leila. Did you fall out of a tree as a kid?”

  She couldn’t stop laughing long enough to answer. Shaking her head was the best she could manage.

  “Were you dropped as a baby?”

  “How about fell out of a swing?”

  “Spun off the merry-go-round?”

  Leila was laughing so hard she could barely breathe as they threw out ridiculous guesses.

  “Tall boyfriend that broke up with her,” Leo interjected with a laugh. “I’m sticking with being short as the root of the problem.”

  “No, it’s definitely a failure complex,” Guy argued playfully.

  Finally, Leila regained enough control to defend herself. “I’m am quite successful, thank you very much, Guy. I think you’re getting the two of us confused.”

  Guy brought his hand to his chest in mock offense. “Me failing? Absurd. What could you possibly be referring to?”

  “I can’t quite recall,” Leila teased, “but I do believe the incident ended with me slapping you.”

  To Guy’s credit, he took the dig with a laugh, giving Leila the win on that one. The other three guys clapped and cheered for Leila’s take down of their friend. She beamed, feeling welcomed and embraced by their easy camaraderie. She had enjoyed a small circle of friends in college, but hadn’t realized until meeting Eli’s friends just how much she missed relaxing and having pointless fun with others.

  “Okay,” Vance said, “I think we’re all dying to know now. Why are you really afraid of heights?”

  Leila shrugged. “I don’t know. Always have been. Always will be.”

  “There’s got to be a reason,” Leo argued.

  She rolled her eyes at all four of them. “This is what happens when you tell a shrink you’re afraid of something. Can’t a person have a completely irrational fear without being badgered about it?”

  They all seemed to think about it for half a second.

  “Nope.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “There’s always a reason.”

  “Always.”

  Leila shook her head. All four of them were hopeless. “I’m afraid of elephants, too. What’s your diagnosis for that? Never even seen a real elephant.”

  “Oh, that one’s easy,” Guy said. “Dumbo.”

  Everyone at the table stared at him. “What?” Leila asked.

  “That cartoon about the flying elephant. Dumbo. Haven’t you seen it?”

  “Sure …”

  Guy nodded like that explained everything. When everyone kept staring at him he said, “Oh, come on, that movie freaked me out as a kid. Baby elephants getting drunk on champagne and having hallucinations of pink elephants on parade? That’s totally messed up.”

  Giggling again, Leila said, “Well, at least I’m not the only one with problems. Guy’s afraid of cartoon elephants. At least a real elephant could squash me. That’s a valid fear.”

  As Guy continued to defend his fear of Dumbo, the hand started. The rest of the night was filled with laughing and poking fun. Half the jokes Leila didn’t get because they were the kind of thing only a psychiatrist would find funny, but she enjoyed every minute of it. She was almost convinced the night would last forever, but eventually Stephanie called to ask Vance when he would be home, which got Leo thinking of Julie. Guy had no one calling to check in on him, but Leila suspected that was how he wanted it. She had no illusions that his wandering hands the first night they met were a sign of genuine interest. Guy had no intentions of settling down any soon.

  “Thank you for spicing up an otherwise bland poker night,” Vance said to Leila on his way out.

  “It was my pleasure. Tell Stephanie hi for me.”

  Leo and Guy said their goodbyes as well, after which Leila went on a hunt for her purse. She wasn’t sure where Eli had put it. She was checking the kitchen counter when he came back in and grabbed her hand. Startled, she abandoned her search and looked up at him. There was a serious look in his eyes that worried her. Maybe he wasn’t as glad as the others that she had shown up unannounced after all. He pulled her over to the couch and gestured for her to sit down. She readied an apology in her head.

  “Leila, what really happened with Luke tonight?”

  His question caught her off guard. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, that. I already told you. I didn’t want to climb, so I left.”

  “How did Luke react when you said you weren’t going to climb?”

  Leila shrugged. “I think he was frustrated, but he didn’t get mad or anything.”

  “Did he try to pressure you into changing your mind?”

  His question sent a spark of annoyance through her. “He tried to tell me it was safe and that he wouldn’t let me fall, but he wasn’t aggressive about it, if that’s what you mean.”

  The snippy tone to her voice pushed Eli back a few inches. His next question was phrased more politely. “Why didn’t the two of you do something else? Why just end the date?”

  Was he disappointed that Leila hadn’t spent more of the night with Luke. She hoped that wasn’t the reason for his question. “Well
, it wasn’t just us. Two of Luke’s friends were there, too. I didn’t want him to miss out on spending time with them, so I told him to stay.”

  “And he did?” Eli asked. The incredulity in his voice made it pretty clear that he would have chosen differently.

  Feeling the need to defend Luke, she said, “He doesn’t get to see Rick or Andrew that often. And at the time, I just wanted to go home.”

  Eli leaned back against the couch, abandoning his overly alert posture. He had been sitting so close before. She doubted he had meant his closeness to feel threatening, but that had been the effect. Leila would never actually be afraid of Eli, but he had the ability to be forceful without ever raising his voice or appearing combative. It put his body close to hers when he did that, and as he relaxed he stayed close. His thigh pressed up against hers, and if he were to uncross his arms, his left arm would not be able to find a position where it wouldn’t be touching her. It was happenstance that they ended up so close, but Leila enjoyed his warmth either way.

  “So why didn’t you go home?” Eli asked.

  Quickly, Leila pushed away thoughts of how nice it was to be touching Eli and focused on his question. Unfortunately, that proved much harder than she would have liked. “Well, I just … I wanted to talk to you, I guess. Tell you what happened.”

  “Not that I’m sad you came over, but you could have called.”

  None of Leila’s earlier arguments seemed to hold up now. She dug around for the real reason she wanted to see Eli rather than simply explain the climbing wall situation over the phone. It took a few long moments before she was able to answer.

  “Luke and I worked it out. I wasn’t mad and neither was he, but I guess I was still kind of upset about the whole thing. I stood up to Luke, but I was mad at myself for not being able to put my fear aside.” Leila took a deep breath and released it slowly.

  “I didn’t want to sit at my house alone and stew about it. I wanted to be with someone.” Then more quietly she added, “With you.”

  The ability to breath altogether abandoned her as she waited for his response. It didn’t come in words. Eli’s arms uncrossed, one slipping around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. “I’m glad you came over,” he said, “and I’m proud of you for saying no when you weren’t ready to try something new.”