Deliver Me (27 page)

His bright smile
made his handsome face even more devastating. “I’ll pick up the movie and
snacks. You provide the drinks.”

“Deal,” Monica said,
still questioning the wisdom of ‘making this real’, as Eli had put it.

“I’ll see you at
seven?” he asked.

“Seven sounds good.”

They stood there,
unsure of the next move. Monica thought he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t.
He only smiled, then walked out of the conference room, leaving her alone with
a mixture of anxiety, fear, and she had to admit, a good bit of excitement.

Eli should have known
better.

In fact, he should
have expected it. This wasn’t the first time she’d stood him up.

He switched the
plastic bag from his right hand to his left and knocked on the door again. Two
long minutes later, just as he raised his fist to deliver another round of
knocks, Monica turned the corner and came walking up the hallway.

“I’m so sorry,” she
said. “I got stuck at work.”

“But you were not on
shift today, were you?” Eli asked, silently acknowledging the spurt of relief
that coursed through his veins at the realization that she hadn’t stood him up.

“I was on call,”
Monica explained. “Of course, I didn’t find that out until I got paged.”

She looked whipped.
Eli didn’t want her to feel obligated to spend time with him just because she
had agreed to it earlier. But he didn’t want to leave. He had been thinking
about her ever since this morning’s meeting.

“Are you sure you
still want to do this? We can save it for another time,” he said, despite his
brain’s protest.

“No. I can use the
down time. I’ve been looking forward to this all day.”

Her words caused a
delicious shudder to rumble through him. Eli moved to the side as she took out
a key and inserted it, unlocking the door.

“What did you rent?”
She opened the door and let him in.

“Actually, I picked
something from my personal collection. You like action movies?”

She turned and
placed a hand over her chest. “A man after my own heart,” Monica said with
exaggerated dramatic flair.

Her words were too
close to the truth for Eli to keep his feelings from showing on his face. They
stared at each other for long moments as an invisible web of sensual awareness
wrapped itself around them. Monica was the first to break free of its hold.
“I, uh, need to freshen up,” she said, slowly backing away from where they still
stood in the door’s entrance.

Eli couldn’t tear
his gaze away as she walked to the apartment’s back rooms. He set up the movie
and popped the popcorn while Monica showered and changed. He was emptying a bag
of peanut M&M’s into a bowl when she walked in dressed in a peach lounging
set.

His stomach
tightened.

This was going to be
a test of his willpower. If he could spend an evening with her and refrain from
touching her, Eli knew he could accomplish damn near anything.

“That feels so much
better,” Monica said, taking a seat on the sofa.

Eli followed. He
deposited the bowl of chocolate on the coffee table and picked up the remote
from the arm of the sofa. He’d chosen
Passenger
57
, and was happy, though a little surprised, when Monica said she had
never seen it.

“I love DVDs,” she
said, popping a few M&M’s. “I watch everything, from the director
interviews to the deleted scenes.”

“The added features
are cool,” Eli agreed.

“Hey, you won’t be
disgusted if I mix my popcorn and M&M’s will you?”

“Do you mean in the
bowl?”

“No, just in my
hand. Pat—an old friend of mine used to get grossed out whenever I did
that.”

An old friend, huh?
He thought about Nia’s card sitting snugly in his wallet. Now he had a name to
go on when he contacted her. He was going to find out what part this Pat guy
played in Monica’s life.

Monica picked out a
couple of M&M’s and some of the fluffy popcorn and popped them into her
mouth.

“That is kind of
strange,” Eli said, glancing at her.

“The sweet and salty
tastes play upon each other. It’s good. You want to try it?” She held out a
handful of her strange snack mix.

Eli’s head reared
back. “I’ll pass. But,” he rose from the couch and walked over to the kitchen.
He grabbed one of the small soup bowls from the dish rack. He grabbed a handful
of M&M’s and poured the popcorn over it, then gently tossed the concoction
around like a salad.

“There you go,” Eli
said, handing her the bowl.

She took it from his
hand, an odd look on her face.

“Why are you looking
at me that way?

She shook her head. “I...umm...nothing.
Let’s watch the movie.”

As the night wore
on, Eli felt more and more like a teenager on his first date, with tiny bubbles
of elation bursting within whenever they got a little closer to each other.
They began the night sitting side by side on Monica’s loveseat. Eli kicked it
up a notch by draping his arm over the back of the couch. Then, during an
exceptionally suspenseful part of the flick, Monica nudged closer toward him.
By the time the credits rolled, her head was resting on his shoulder, and Eli
was feeling pretty good about himself.

“Wow, that was good,”
Monica said, rising from her lounging position.

“I’ve seen that
movie a thousand times,” Eli said, ejecting the DVD and placing it back into
the slim case.

“I don’t know how I
missed that one. I love action films.”

“Maybe we can have a
Die Hard
marathon one of these days.”

“Ah, Bruce Willis
jumping out of a skyscraper. Sounds like a plan.” Thoughts of the smile her
face displayed would keep Eli company for the rest of the night.

He dusted his hands
on his khakis because he didn’t know what else to do with them. He knew what he
wanted
to do. The thought had been at
the forefront of his mind from the second she walked out of her bedroom.
Visions of his hands running up the inside of her shirt, along the waistband of
her pants. It was enough to drive him crazy.

But he had promised
Monica they would take it slow and he was not about to mess this up by
pressuring her into something she wasn’t ready to do.

When the time was
right, they would take it to the next level. And if there was one thing he was
certain of, it’s that Monica Gardner was worth waiting for.

“We should probably
call it a night,” Eli said. “You’ve had a rough day.”

“But tonight really
helped,” she answered, sincere appreciation in her eyes. “It’s been a long time
since I’ve just laid back and kicked it, you know? Nia is always looking to go
out and do something. Sometimes, it’s nice to just...just
be
.”

“I know what you
mean,” Eli agreed.

And he did. He
couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself as much as he had tonight,
just relaxing on a couch watching one of his favorite movies with someone who
wanted to be with him, not because he was a doctor, or because of how he
looked. Monica wanted to be with him because she had seen something
in
him. That meant more to him than Eli
had ever thought possible.

“Well, I guess this
is good night,” Monica said. She walked him to the door.

“I probably won’t
see you tomorrow. I’ve got a C-section scheduled about ten minutes before your
shift ends.”

Wait. Was that...
disappointment
he noted in her eyes?

A few weeks ago, if
anyone had suggested Monica Gardner would have been disappointed at the thought
of not seeing him, Eli would have had him admitted to the psych ward.

 
“I need to visit a couple of bakeries
anyway,” Monica said. “The pastry chef that usually works with the caterer has
a prior engagement scheduled for the night of the banquet.”

“How unfair is that?
You drag me along to look at dusty old plantations, but when it’s time to
sample pastries you leave me out.”

“Hmm, now that you
mention it, you did get the raw end of the deal,” Monica replied, a mischievous
grin creating a dimple in her cheek. The effects of her smile were heart
stopping. An overwhelming rush of desire cloaked itself around Eli’s body.
Suddenly, all he could think about was covering Monica’s lips with his own.

Eli lost all sense
of time and place as he stared into a pair of the most seductive eyes ever
known to man. When her tongue darted out to nervously lick her lips, the
fledging willpower Eli had been clinging to vanished as his body erupted in a
blaze of raging need.

“I have to do this,”
was all he managed before dipping his head low and capturing her soft, lush
lips. He moved his mouth over hers, savoring the sweet tenderness of her kiss.
The sensation was mind-boggling. His legs could barely support him as wave upon
wave of aching want crashed through him.

His hands came up to
grip Monica’s shoulders as he plied her mouth with his kiss, gently running his
tongue along the seam of her lips, urging her mouth open.

She moaned, and he
lost it.

Eli crushed her body
against the door, and plunged into her open mouth. Their tongues engaged in a
spirited dance, instinctively finding each other again and again. He sucked at
her bottom lip, growling at how good she tasted.

“No,” she purred. “No...not
yet.” Monica pushed at his chest.

Eli reluctantly
released her lips. The instant ache of not being connected to her nearly
crippled him.

“I’m sorry,” he said
through a battered sigh.

Monica stepped back,
rubbing her hands up and down her arms as if she were cold.

“Monica, I’m—”

“It’s okay,” she
said, though Eli could tell it was anything but okay. She looked confused and
afraid. The one thing he did not want to do was frighten her.

“No, it’s not okay.
I said I would not go there with you until you were ready.” He shook his head.
There was no excuse for his behavior. “All I can do is apologize and promise
not to touch you until you’re ready.”

She raised her head.
The sight of her doe-like eyes caused his chest to tighten.

“Thank you,” she
said, her voice a mere whisper. She moved back to where he stood near the door,
all traces of the fear he’d glimpsed gone.

Monica brought her
hand up and placed a warm palm on his cheek. Eli melted into her hand,
relishing the sensation of her delicate caress.

“I won’t make you
wait forever. I’m just not ready yet.”

Eli captured the
hand that covered his cheek. He brought it to his lips and gave the crest of
her fingers a light kiss.

“It will never
happen again, Monica. I swear to you.”

“Never?” The makings
of a smile graced her lips, softening her features and making her even more
alluring in the dim light of the foyer.

“Well, not until you
make the call.”

“Thank you for being
so understanding.”

She
was thanking
him
for being
understanding?

It was at that
moment Eli realized the person standing before him was no ordinary woman. She
was a rare jewel, a being so precious it would be a sin to let her go without
exploring all she had to offer to his life.

“I’m going to try to
see you tomorrow.”

“Of course you will,”
She grinned. “You want that éclair.”

“You caught me,” Eli
winked.

He turned and opened
the door, dreading the fact that he had to leave her. He wanted to stay right where
he was, even if it meant fighting this unrelenting surge of almost painful
lust. Just being near her was enough to assuage all hurt.

But it was not meant
to be. Not tonight. They would take it slow. She was worth waiting for.

“Good night, Eli.”
Monica rested on the edge of the door. Her sorrowful expression made him feel
marginally better. She didn’t want him to go either.

He ran his hand down
the length of her hair, capturing her upper arm and giving it a light squeeze. “Get
some sleep.”

“I will. Drive
safely.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

As she closed the
door, a strange sensation tugged at Eli’s heart. He had never felt this sudden
flood of longing after leaving a woman. He’d never felt any of these emotions
before, at least not to this extent. This was new territory.

Proving, yet again,
Monica Gardner was rare, indeed.

***

Amanda was numb.

For the past ten
minutes, as she sat in the increasingly uncomfortable chair, she had tethered
between stages of shock, outrage, panic, and now...nothing. She could barely
understand the words coming from the handsome doctor’s mouth. From the moment
he said the Parenting Center may be closing, her brain had shutdown.