Date Shark (27 page)

“Ana has to use this one,” Eli said. “Magnolias are familiar, but exotic. There are no strong connotations to the image, and it pulls the eyes right to the brand name in the same colors. People will remember this. And it does look like Marilyn. Classic, sophisticated, beautiful, and not to mention sexy and a little bit exotic. It’s perfect.”

Leila’s sigh was profound. “Thank you, Eli. Ana will be more willing to give in after hearing your analysis. I know she trusts my judgment on almost everything, but I’ve never out right contradicted her on a design like this. Usually we’re so likeminded we agree right away.”

It was probably a shock for Ana to have Leila tell her she was wrong, too. Ana had heard the same complaints from Leila that she wasn’t artistic many times that Eli had heard. Although Ana knew Leila could put together eye catching displays and print work with no problem, it was usually all designed around Ana’s ideas. Eli supposed it was like a painter who could duplicate the old masters flawlessly, but failed to create anything unique and original. Only Eli had the benefit of knowing Leila was artistic, and very good as well.

The idea he had been toying with a few minutes earlier came back with even more force behind it. It would involve breaking a promise to Leila, but he felt it was worth the risk. At least he hoped it was. His mind was tearing off down paths to make his plan into a reality, but apparently Leila’s mind had switched topics as well.

“This is going to sound kind of random, but Luke wants to get to know you better. He had this idea that we should go out together … on a double date.” Leila promptly tucked her lips between her teeth as she waited for his response.

Eli feared she would be waiting for a while. Spending time with Leila
and
Luke sounded unpleasant enough. He had a feeling Luke would make a show of keeping Leila close. Leila may think he was okay with them hanging around each other, but Eli knew better. This wasn’t a bid to get to know his girlfriend’s friend. It was a chance to show Eli that Leila belonged to Luke, not him. That was enough reason to say no.

Bringing a date along to watch the carnage, that made it immensely less appealing. Eli had no desire to date anyone else. He didn’t even know who to ask. Outside of his date shark business, he hadn’t dated seriously in quite a while. He could borrow Stephanie, but Luke would see right through that. However, bringing an actual date might confirm to Leila that he was interested in seeing other women. There was no good way to say yes, but saying no would be even worse.

“Sure, that sounds great,” he said, his attempt at sounding positive falling flat.

Maybe Vance would know what to do. Or maybe Guy. Eli thought about his friend. Yes, Guy would know exactly what to do.

Chapter 21

Such A Good Boy

Luke’s work schedule postponed the double date for two weeks. It was still too soon for Leila’s taste. She was dreading the whole thing. Luke put up with her friendship with Eli, but Leila wasn’t naïve enough to think he liked it. This was a ploy to feel out Eli’s real interest in Leila. Once she would have felt certain that romance was nowhere in sight. She wasn’t so sure anymore.

She watched Eli pace back and forth on the balcony. His hushed tone and tense shoulders worried her. He had been pleasant enough when she had dropped by to let him know they had to change their plans for dinner from six to eight for the double date that night because Luke’s flight was delayed leaving Denver. His phone had rung soon after, and as soon as he saw the caller ID he had gone rigid and excused himself to the balcony.

Knowing that whatever had him pacing and waving his free hand around wasn’t going to be explained when he came in from the balcony, Leila wandered into the kitchen. Normally, tea was her first thought when she entered Eli’s kitchen, but she had just been forced to endure a Zumba class with Ana and was starving. The class had actually been a lot of fun. She didn’t admit that to Ana, of course.

Leila searched through the fridge looking for something to eat. Eli’s fridge was always stocked with interesting things. The variety of cheeses always surprised her. She hadn’t known what a dragon fruit was before meeting Eli, either. There were some small oval orange looking things that she thought might be kumquats, but she decided to go with the familiar and grabbed a banana instead. She wanted some peanut butter to go with it and sighed when she remembered Eli kept it on the top shelf.

A glance at the balcony showed him still pacing. She opened the cupboard that housed the peanut butter and reached for it. Her not so impressive height left her several inches short. Leila glanced around the kitchen, hoping for a step stool. But why would there be? Eli could reach all of his cupboards just fine. Trying again, she lifted onto her tip toes and was able to brush her fingers against the jar.

The heat and weight of another body pressing close startled her and she fell back onto her heels. Eli grabbed the jar of peanut butter and handed it to her with a smile. “You could have just asked,” he said.

“You were busy.”

“You could have waited.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “I was hungry.”

Eli didn’t have an argument for that. He leaned against the counter, watching as Leila scooped out a spoonful of peanut butter and stuck it in her mouth. He shook his head at her eating habits and put the jar back in its place. She watched him, concerned when his face slipped back into a strained expression.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

He looked up at the sound of her voice, almost as if he had momentarily forgotten she was there. That worried her even more. Eli was always extremely attentive. He smiled again, but it was forced. “Yes, just some issues with a patient.”

“I’m sorry.”

Eli dismissed her worry. “It’s nothing, but I do have an appointment in half an hour. You were about to tell me something before I was pulled away.”

“Oh, yeah. We have to push dinner back to eight. Luke’s flight got delayed leaving DIA, big surprise. Is that okay?”

“That should be fine.”

Leila frowned. “Is it okay with your date?”

His date, whom had remained nameless over the past few weeks. It annoyed her very much that Eli had not told her who he was bringing. The idea of him going out with someone who wasn’t a client was difficult enough. She tried not to be jealous, but it was difficult.

“Oh, I’m sure it will be fine,” Eli said casually. The soft crinkle of paper rolling out of a fax machine caught Eli’s attention and yanked him from the kitchen.

Curious, Leila followed him after a moment. By the time she walked up behind him he was scribbling his name across whatever had just come through the fax machine. Once he was finished, he gathered everything up and sealed it in a manila envelope. When he turned around he was again startled to find her there.

“Leila, my dear, I’m sorry to rush out, but I have to deliver these before my appointment and I’m going to be cutting it very close as it is,” he said. “You’re welcome to stay, of course.”

“Why can’t you just fax them back?” she asked.

Eli shook his head. “They can’t accept a duplicate in this case.”

“I can drop it off for you. Where does it need to go?”

The hint of panic in Eli’s expression hurt her feelings. Didn’t he trust her enough to deliver the envelope? His head started to shake, declining her offer, but when Leila glanced at the wall clock his eyes followed. “Uh,” he hedged, “are you sure?”

“Eli, it’s Saturday. I have nowhere to be, but you obviously do. Let me help you out. You can trust me to deliver your documents. I do it all the time at work, remember?” she said.

Finally, Eli smiled again. “It’s not about trust,” he said. “I trust you completely, you know that.”

“Then what is it about?”

Eli looked at the clock again. He seemed pained when he turned back. “Nothing. Of course you can drop them off. Thank you, Leila. They need to go to Mount Rose Hospital. Just drop them off at the front desk and tell them they’re from me, okay?”

“Sure. No problem.”

With no warning, Eli’s arm shot around her. His parting kiss was abrupt and fleeting. Then he was out the door, as if he wanted to get out before changing his mind. When the door fell shut behind him, Leila stood staring at it. Eventually, her eyes dropped down to the envelope in her hands. Not opening the flap and sliding the papers out was torture.

She believed Eli when he said he trusted her completely. She trusted him the same. But there was something in the packet he really did not want her to see. That bothered her. A lot.

Leila carried the envelope clutched in both hands the whole way to her car. She didn’t want to touch it, but she also couldn’t let it out of her sight. The way she felt about the envelope was as big of a mystery to her as Eli was. He trusted her enough to give her the envelope and know she wouldn’t open it, but he clearly wasn’t going to explain the pacing on the balcony or his strange behavior. She set the packet down on the passenger’s seat when she got into her car, but fear that it might be lost or spontaneously open gripped her a second later. She pressed her palm onto the envelope and kept it there until she reached the hospital.

Walking up the steps, Leila was made even more nervous by the signs on the front doors stating that the building housed mentally disturbed individuals and the visitors should stay in the designated areas at all times. She admired Eli for his desire to help people, but she could admit, to herself at least, that walking into a psychiatric hospital kind of scared her.

She practically tiptoed up to the front desk. When she spoke, she wasn’t sure why her voice came out as almost a whisper. It just seemed like the sort of place you would really want to use your indoor voice.

“I needed to drop off some paperwork,” she said quietly.

“What kind of paperwork?” the receptionist asked at a perfectly normal volume.

Leila was stumped for an answer. “Um, I don’t know. Eli just told me to drop it off at the front desk.”

“Eli who?” she asked.

Of course they didn’t know him as just plain Eli. “Sorry, Dr. Eli Walsh. He was faxed these documents earlier and I guess they needed the originals back with his signature.”

“Let me call up and check,” she said. “Someone may need to sign for those.”

She turned her attention to the phone then and explained the situation. A minute later she hung up and turned back to Leila. “Dr. Evans will be down in a moment.”

“Thank you.”

Leila spotted a few chairs to the side of the reception desk and headed over to them. The wait wasn’t long. A smiling, white haired man who looked to be in his early sixties walked up to her. She stood and shook his hand when it was offered. “Dr. Evans?”

“Yes. And you are?”

“Leila Sparro. I’m a friend of Eli’s—I mean Dr. Walsh. He had another appointment to get to so he asked me to drop this paperwork off with you. I hope that’s okay,” she said.

Dr. Evans smiled warmly. “Of course. That’s fine. I had hoped Eli would come down himself, but a friend is nice, too. Do you know her?”

“Know who?” she asked, confused.

“Mrs. Walsh. Eli is so protective of her, I doubted he would let just anyone come here, so I figured you must have known her before,” Dr. Evans explained.

Mrs. Walsh? Leila’s brain started running overtime. Unless Eli was married and had failed to mention that small detail to her, Dr. Evans must have been referring to Eli’s mother. The owner of the pearls. The source of so much obvious pain and contention. Normally, Leila tried to be honest with everyone, but the lie slipped out before she could stop herself.

“Yes, I did know her. Before.”

Dr. Evans’ whole body brightened. “Would you like to see her? She is always asking for Eli, but I’m sure she’d be glad to see any familiar faces. She never receives visitors.”

Saddened and disturbed by that, Leila asked. “Could I? That’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. I have been telling Eli for years that I thought his mother would benefit from seeing him.”

“Well, that’s obviously a tall order,” she defended. The night Eli lent her the pearls and she tried to ask about his mother was the only time Leila could remember Eli being upset enough to snap at her like he did. Eli was one of the kindest and most forgiving people she knew. If he refused to see his mother, there must have been a good reason. She hoped there was a good reason.

Dr. Evans gestured for Leila to walk with him. “Yes, I know seeing her is difficult for Eli, but letting a friend visit her is a good step.”

One he didn’t know he was taking, Leila thought guiltily. But it wasn’t enough to make her turn back. They stepped into an elevator and rode it up to the second floor. She was led halfway down the hallway before Dr. Evans knocked on room 231. The answer was a bit garbled through the thick steel door, but he must have understood it. Leila winced when he had to unlock the door before opening it, and again doubted the wisdom of the idea. Dr. Evans ushered her in before she could backtrack.

“Elizabeth, you have a visitor,” Dr. Evans said.

The frail looking woman sat up in her bed at once. Her eyes scoured the room as she asked, “Eli? Eli, where are you?”

The pleading in her voice made Leila’s breath catch. When Elizabeth realized her son had not come once again, tears formed in her eyes. It nearly broke Leila’s heart. She was thankful Dr. Evans spoke again, because there was no way she could utter a word at that moment.

“No,” Dr. Evans said, “but Leila is here to see you. Do you remember Leila?”

A look of confusion spread across Mrs. Walsh’s face. Leila began to panic. What had she been thinking, lying about knowing Eli’s mother? An apology was on the tip of her tongue, as well as the desire to bail on the whole experience, but Dr. Evans’ hand landing on her shoulder prevented both.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly, “she’s forgotten most of her old friends and acquaintances. Eli is the only one she has really held onto.”

Dr. Evans left Leila’s side and walked over to Mrs. Walsh. He patted her arm gently. “Elizabeth, Leila Sparro is here to see you. Would you like to talk with her?”