7. Elijah
ELIJAH
“That’s a jump ball,” Elijah explained. “See, the possession arrow favors the Vipers, so we get to keep it. That’s why everyone is clapping.”
Stephanie smirked at him. “I understand what a tie-up is,” she told him. “I told you when you asked me out that I liked basketball, remember?”
So she had. Elijah had remembered that, but in the heat of the moment, he’d simply slipped back into an old habit.
He had brought women to Vipers games before, and he was used to having to explain what was happening on the court—though he had never been sure to what extent the women he brought here genuinely didn’t understand versus when they were making a show of it to try to set him up to feel cool and smart.
Surely everyone knew what a three-point shot was, and yet he had experienced plenty of women grabbing at his arm and pointing at the scoreboard, asking whether it had been some sort of mistake.
He liked that Stephanie wasn’t doing that. There was nothing appealing to him about a person who intentionally made herself smaller to try to please someone else.
The game was drawing to a close now. They were into the final minute, and Stephanie was sitting forward with her elbows braced on her knees.
She was dressed well for the occasion, in a black ruffled blouse and black slacks.
He thought she had done a good job threading the needle between stadium-appropriate apparel and something nice enough for dinner after the game.
Again, it was different from most dates he brought to the stadium, who would usually dress up in cocktail dresses for wherever they were going afterward.
The clock ran down. The Vipers had the lead, and they managed to hold on to it thanks to the final possession they had been granted. When the buzzer sounded, they were up by two points.
Stephanie let out a whoop and jumped to her feet, cheering.
She continued to impress him. He rose alongside her and hollered at the players as they ran off the court. Then, as the crowd around them began to gather their possessions, he turned to face her. “Still up for dinner?” he asked. “Not tired or anything?”
“I could eat a horse, after all that excitement,” she promised. “What a game! I don’t remember the last time I saw such a nail-biter. I was really worried for a minute there in the second half. I thought it was going to get away from them, but they hung on.”
“Yeah,” Elijah agreed. He took her arm as they worked their way into the crowd that was now making its way toward the doors.
For a moment he thought she might pull free of his hold, but she allowed it, even leaning into him as the crush of people pressed around them.
He navigated them to the door, pushed it open, and then they were out, disgorged into the moonlight.
The sun had still been up when they had entered the stadium, and he grappled for a moment with the disorientation that came along with the world changing when you weren’t paying attention to it.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I know a good steakhouse near here, if you’re up for it,” he said. “We can walk there.”
She nodded. “I’m game,” she said.
He kept hold of her arm, pledging to himself that he would release it if she tried to pull away, but she didn’t.
His heart beat a little faster. Of course he’d known—especially after their encounter at the gym—that her resistance to him at the awards ceremony hadn’t been based on anything real.
Still, it was great to have confirmation of that fact, and he found himself wondering what else the night might bring.
Would he get to take her home with him this time?
He was determined not to ask the question.
If it was going to happen, she would be the one to propose it.
Even though he understood why she’d told him no before, he wasn’t about to be rejected twice in a row.
If she wanted something to happen between them now, she would have to ask for it.
Which she would eventually, of course, and when that happened he would happily give her everything she was asking for.
But for now, dinner. They reached the steakhouse and he pulled open the door so that she could go in ahead of him. Approaching the hostess, he bestowed a smile upon her. “Elijah Norcross,” he said. “I have a reservation.”
“You have a reservation?” Stephanie repeated, staring at him.
“Of course. It isn’t easy to get a table at this place.”
“You just asked me ten minutes ago if I wanted to come here,” she pointed out.
“I made the reservation this morning.”
“And what if I had said no?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “What if I had told you I preferred the idea of a taco truck?”
“Then we would’ve gone to a taco truck,” he told her simply. “No big deal. I would have texted to cancel the reservation. But I didn’t think you were going to say no.”
“You never think anyone is going to tell you no, do you?”
He grinned at her. “People usually don’t.”
They were shown to a table. He pulled her chair out for her and she sank into it a little awkwardly, as if she wasn’t used to people doing that.
Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe she didn’t have a lot of chivalry in her life.
That would be kind of a shame if it was the truth.
He felt bad for her. He would make an extra effort to show her a good time tonight.
The waiter handed them each a menu. “You should order whatever you want,” Elijah assured Stephanie. “It’s all on me. Should we start with some wine?”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
He put in an order for a varietal he knew would be good with their meat. When they had each placed their dinner orders and the menus had been whisked away, he leaned across the table on his elbows and regarded her.
“I’m having a really nice time,” he said.
She nodded. “So am I. Better than I expected.”
“You didn’t think you were going to have fun?”
“Don’t take it to heart,” she told him. “It’s just that… it’s been kind of a long time since I had a really good date.”
Color rose in her cheeks and her eyes dropped to the table in front of her.
“I find that hard to believe,” Elijah said quietly. “Men must be lining up to take you out.”
“Not as many as you’d think,” she said. “And part of it is my fault. I don’t always make the time to go out on dates.
I don’t step away from work as often as I should.
And then, when I do… well, a lot of guys are disappointing, and I end up regretting it, and that makes it harder to do it the next time. ”
“And I haven’t been disappointing?” He grinned at her, reached across the table, and took her hand in his, feeling bold.
“You haven’t been,” she said. “Well… except for when you thought I didn’t understand how basketball worked. That was a little much. Do you always just start from the assumption that women don’t know anything about sports?”
“Most of the women I go out with don’t,” he confessed.
“Is that a lot?”
He laughed. “It’s enough that I thought I might have spotted a pattern, that’s all,” he said. “I apologize for underestimating you. You’re right. You did tell me that you were familiar with the game, and I completely set that aside in the moment. I didn’t give you enough credit.”
“Well, I suppose you were only trying to be helpful,” she said with a chuckle. “I can let it go. But don’t do it again.”
“On my honor,” he pledged. “From now on, I’ll assume you know everything until you tell me otherwise.”
“Good,” she grinned. “That’s a good rule of thumb.”
“So tell me more about yourself,” he said.
“You already know all about me. I’m an entrepreneur and I know the rules of basketball.”
“Oh, that isn’t all,” he protested. “Tell me something I don’t know yet. What do you do for fun?”
“I read. I spend time with my dog.” She paused. “Mostly I work, if I’m being honest with you. I know how boring that makes me sound.”
“Not boring. Passionate. You have a dog?”
She pulled up a picture on her phone and showed him. “This is Bruno,” she said. “The real love of my life.”
“He’s a cutie. I’d like to meet him sometime.”
Her eyes flicked to his face, and Elijah was confident that she had picked up on the fact that it was a line—a way to talk about going back to her place together without his actually having to say the words.
But if she was bothered by it, she gave no sign.
“Maybe you’ll get to meet him,” she said simply.
“He’s friendly to strangers, so he’d like that, especially if you brought him a piece of steak. ”
Was she implying that they’d go back to her place together tonight? His heart missed a beat. Maybe this date was going even better than he had thought it was. That seemed hard to fathom. It was easily the best date he’d had in months already. But if she wanted it to end behind closed doors…
The food arrived. For a few minutes, conversation disappeared into eating and exclamations about how good the food was. The wine was poured and sipped, and Elijah began to sink into the familiar relaxation that went along with a great night out.
Stephanie turned the conversation to him, to what he did for fun, and he outlined the high points of his life—mornings at the gym, afternoons on the beach, evenings at ball games or new restaurants or clubs.
He intentionally asked her nothing at all about her work.
She had made it clear, he thought, that she wanted to keep her work life and her personal life separate.
He would support her in that. There was no reason he needed to know anything about what she did for a living.
And then, at last, the food was finished and the bill was paid and they were back out on the street, arm in arm once more and moving in the direction of her house. Elijah could hardly believe his luck. That this night could be ending in such a fashion…
“This is me,” Stephanie said, stopping in front of a condo.
“You’re so close to the beach.” He could hear the waves crashing from here.
She nodded. “That was important to me. The place itself is a bit of a mess, because I had to choose between a really nice apartment or a really great location. And I’m very happy with the choice I made.”
The wind blew through her red curls, whipping them up on either side of her face.
She’s beautiful, he thought, and reached up to cup her cheek.
She let him do it—but only for a moment. Then she turned her head away. “Thank you for walking me home, Elijah.”
He thought his mind was going to burst. He’d been so determined that he wouldn’t be turned down again, and here that was happening anyway. He sucked in a breath. All right. So it isn’t going to be tonight. That’s fine. I can wait. I can wait as long as she wants me to.
“Thank you for a lovely evening,” he said.
She leaned in, and for a moment he thought this was going to end in a kiss, and God, he’d have taken that. He would have made the most of it.
But she pecked him lightly on the cheek, offered him one last smile, and then turned and disappeared into the house, leaving Elijah feeling as if his insides might burst into flame.
He couldn’t recall the last time a woman had had him driven mad like this—but already, he was itching to take her out again.