Date Shark Read Online Free Page A

Date Shark
Book: Date Shark Read Online Free
Author: DelSheree Gladden
Tags: Romance, Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Fiction, New Adult & College, Sports
Pages:
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offense, but could we just get this over with? I couldn’t sleep at all last night knowing I had to meet you today,” Leila said. She wasn’t usually so brusque, but she couldn’t handle any more waiting. “Just tell me what I did wrong last night.”
    Leila expected him to laugh at her again, comment on her inability to sleep. Instead, his face turned thoughtful. Her fingernails bit into her skin. The way his eyebrows bunched together made her wary. Leila knew some of her mistakes already, but maybe there were more hidden faults than she thought. The urge to run away crawled back up her spine. Tamping it down took a little muscle. Leila wanted this, she told herself. She would never know what she needed to change if she didn’t hear him out. Her fingers unfurled and pressed flat against her thighs. She looked at Eli expectantly.
    “You know,” he began, “my job is typically a pretty easy one. And I don’t mean taking lovely women out to dinner. Women come to me so I can tell them the secret of why meaningful relationships seem to be so elusive for them. They are never sure why they’re still alone, but I can usually see the reason within five minutes of meeting them.”
    “That’s why you’re the best.”
    He shook his head. “No, it’s simply that their faults are usually so glaringly obvious to everyone but them it’s impossible not to notice.”
    “So it has nothing to do with you being a psychiatrist, someone trained to read people’s words and expressions?”
    “Not a whole lot, no.”
    “Yeah. Right.”
    The gentle shake of Eli’s head loosened a piece of his polished brown hair. He brushed it away with a smile. His hand reached over toward Leila’s, one finger tapping on her skin. The pulse of his touch raced through her arm to her chest. Her breath stuttered.
    “You know …” Eli said.
    “Here we are,” a barista named Alice said as she set down two smoothies and a pair of turkey sandwiches. “You two enjoy your meal.” As Alice turned around she winked at Leila and gave a thumbs up sign as she pointed at Eli with the other hand. Leila rolled her eyes and ignored her.
    “Sorry,” Eli said, drawing Leila’s attention back to him, “I would have waited to order until you got her but the barista said this is what you always get. I hope you don’t mind.”
    “No, no, it’s fine.” Leila was quick to assure him, but in the back of her mind she was embarrassed to realize she was so predictable that a woman she was only casually acquainted with knew exactly what she would order.
    Whatever Eli was going to say before Alice walked up was lost. He seemed to be back to business now. “What I said about my job being easy, that doesn’t apply to you, Leila.”
    Great, even the talented Eli Walsh couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.
    “I had a bit of trouble sleeping last night as well,” Eli said, “because of you.”
    “That bad, huh?”
    This time Eli laughed in earnest. “Quite the opposite, actually.”
    Leila stared at him, not sure how to respond.
    “Sorry,” Eli said, “I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Why don’t I start with my list, first?”
    “Um, sure.”
    Pausing long enough to sample his sandwich and smoothie, Eli then took a notebook out of his blazer pocket. “I’m going to start at the beginning of the date and work my way through to the end, okay?”
    Leila nodded.
    “When I first arrived, you were overly tactile, shaking my hand with both of yours, clutching my arm with both hands very tightly. This is something that can make a man step back because he sees you as being too eager, someone who might start bringing up weddings and children on the first date. You didn’t, of course, but that is likely what will run through a man’s mind when a woman starts getting clingy on the first date. Be aware of how you touch your date and how they may perceive the contact. Keep it friendly, but not too friendly.”
    Oh. The gulp of smoothie Leila had
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