Free Date Shark by DelSheree Gladden Page A

and decided to start investigating his shoe. He got up, looked at his watch, and realized he needed to head upstairs and shower if he had any hopes of making it to his next appointment on time.
    When Eli pulled up to Dolcini an hour later, he had a hard time forcing himself to get out of the car. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t have anything to do with Leila. His hesitation had more to do with an all too vivid memory of meeting with Selene Howard two weeks ago. Most of the time, Eli met with a woman and got excited about trying to help her no matter what her faults were. Women like the hair chewer and Selene Howard were a different story. Eli closed his eyes for a moment and didn’t move. When he opened them, he immediately made himself open the car door and step out. She spotted him right away and gestured wildly.
    Groaning, Eli made his way over to Selene. An enormous handbag was slung over her shoulder. The sight of it made Eli cringe. Averting his eyes, he put on a professional expression and held his hand out to Selene. She gripped it as if he had just been caught in a mousetrap and simply held on. She didn’t shake his hand, just latched onto him. Eli felt as though he had just been taken prisoner.
    It was a struggle to not strip himself of her presence as he led her into the restaurant. Pierce caught sight of them immediately and ushered them through the growing lunch crowd to their table. As he retreated, Eli couldn’t help shrinking into his chair just a little. When Selene’s giant bag plopped on the table, Eli fought the urge to bury his head in his hands. He had really hoped she wouldn’t do this again, but she did. One by one, Selene unloaded her trinkets. A small framed picture of a seven-year-old boy, a baby rattle, a toy car, a hospital bracelet barely bigger in circumference than a quarter, a glass locket containing snipped baby hair, and a small jar that made Eli close his eyes. The severed umbilical cord carefully preserved in a see-through glass jar was too much for him. He did not want to look at that all through lunch.
    “There now,” Selene said, “it’s like Jeffery is right here with us.”
    She beamed. Eli nodded. It sure was. Keeping his eyes away from the stored tissue, Eli asked, “How is Jeffery, Selene?”
    “Oh, he’s just wonderful! Jeffery is the best little boy in the world. He was so sad to see me leave this afternoon. He never has been very good at staying with babysitters.”
    I can’t imagine why , Eli thought sarcastically. “I’m sure he’ll get used to it at some point.”
    “I hope so.”
    Catching sight of Megan, their waitress, Eli looked at her, grateful for the distraction. She had a pleasant smile on her face. She was Conrad’s best waitress, one Eli preferred to work with, but her smile faltered a bit when she saw the collection of oddities nestled carefully on the table. She was better than Eli, though, and shook it off. She took their orders politely and headed back to the kitchen. Selene picked up her menu and started looking through it. When she gasped unexpectedly, Eli looked over at her. Flopping her menu down flat on the table, Selene pointed at one of the desserts.
    “Jeffery would love this! He adores Crème Brule. Sweets are his favorite.” She giggled. “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.”
    She laughed even harder and looked up at Eli. “Do you know what that’s from?”
    Baffled, Eli shook his head.
    “ Elf . Have you ever seen that movie? It’s one of Jeffery’s favorites. We love to watch movies together. I tease him sometimes that he’s an elf with how much candy he wants to eat!” Selene laughed at her own joke for several more minutes before collecting herself and turning back to the menu.
    Eli thought he was safe to get back to deciding on his own entrée when a few seconds later Selene shivered exaggeratedly. He couldn’t help but stop to see what had startled her this