In answer to his question, Stephanie sank down on the sand. Elijah sat down beside her and looked out at the darkness that he knew to contain the water.
“I want to tell you,” he said quietly, “I really appreciate you coming with me tonight.”
He felt more than saw her turn to face him. “It wasn’t any trouble,” she said. “I was glad to go.”
“I know it isn’t that simple,” he said. “You and I… we haven’t really been seeing each other for very long. Technically, this is only our third date.”
“Technically?”
“Well, it depends how you count.” A warmth of unexpected happiness flared to life within Elijah, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. It was lucky it was so dark. He wasn’t sure thathe wanted Stephanie to see him grinning like a fool. “I’ve kind of been counting that first night as our first date.”
“The night of the awards ceremony? That was a date?” There was amusement in her voice.
“It might have been,” he said. “I guess it’s up to us whether we want to count it or not. I mean, I know we didn’t set out for it to be a date, but I had fun with you that night. I liked dancing with you. And if it hadn’t been for what happened that night, I know we wouldn’t be here together right now.”
“You mean, you wouldn’t have approached me in the gym if we hadn’t already known one another?”
“I don’t approach women in the gym, actually,” he said.
“Really? That’s off-limits?”
He shrugged. “I used to do it, but it never went well, and I got the message. Women don’t want you to come and talk to them when they’re trying to work out. It’s much better to try to pick up women at a club, or even at a bookstore.”
“Thanks,” she said, light and teasing. “I’ll keep that advice in mind.”
He laughed. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” she said. “I’m glad you came up to me at the gym, too. I’m glad you asked me out, and I’m glad I agreed to go with you.”
“Even though it meant you had to be at that party tonight?”
“I didn’t have to be there,” she said quietly. “I chose to be.”
“I don’t know how I got lucky enough to have you in my life,” he said. “You know… I wasn’t looking for anything serious when wemet. And I’ll be totally honest, Stephanie, I still don’t know what I want. Not really. But I do know that I want to keep seeing you. I hope you’re interested in that.”
There was a long silence.
Elijah’s heart pounded madly.
This was the kind of thing he had never feared saying to a woman before. Usually, he could read them so well. Usually he would have known long before asking someone out what her response was going to be. But Stephanie was always a mystery to him. There was every chance in the world that she would turn him down, that she would say tonight was the last night she wanted to spend with him.
The truly odd thing was that it wasn’t embarrassment or rejection he feared. It was just the possibility that she would say no, and that this would be the last time they would see each other. He hadn’t braced himself for how sad that would make him—for how much he really did want to spend more time with her.
She drew in a long breath. “I am interested,” she said, her voice soft in the darkness. “I’m having a good time with you. I’d like to see where it goes.”
It was enough for now, he decided. He wouldn’t try to pin things down with her just yet. He would wait and see what tomorrow held, and for tonight, it would be enough to be here with her.
He drove her home and dropped her at her door, and for the first time, he made no attempt to come inside with her. There was a part of him that held out hope for a kiss, but none came—she simply squeezed his hand and then disappeared into her condo, leaving Elijah alone under the starry night sky.
His phone buzzed as he walked through the door of his own house.
He took it out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and winced. The call was coming from his father. How Oliver Norcross could imagine that his son had any desire to talk to him right now was a mystery.But then, he’s never been that interested in what I wanted. It probably didn’t even occur to him to ask himself that question.
Elijah refused the call and tucked the phone back into his pocket. He couldn’t think of much worse than talking to his father at the moment, after what had happened at the app launch.
The phone rang again.
Elijah pushed the door closed behind him and threw the deadbolt emphatically, as if that could keep his father’s intrusiveness out. He pulled the phone out and looked down at the screen. There wasn’t any getting out of it. He was going to have to take this call, in spite of the fact that it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. If he kept terminating it, his father would just keep calling him back over and over. He could turn off his phone, he supposed, but eventually he was going to have to turn it back on.
