Chapter 14

I leaned against the wall in my bedroom with my arms crossed over my chest and watched as Paige laid out about a dozen different outfits on my bed. She was muttering to herself and switching tops to go with different bottoms. I felt like she’d rearranged everything and then put it back where it was.

“Okay, I can’t decide between these two,” she said, crossing her arms over her own chest. I looked down at the almost identical pairs of jeans and black tops.

“Uh, Paige, it’s the same outfit,” I told her. She whipped her head around to look at me in surprise.

“They’re not even close! It’s a good thing you have me here to help you out. Otherwise you might walk out that door looking like a hot mess.” I rolled my eyes at her but kept quiet and let her decide.

I’d already listened to her debate about the type of bottoms I should wear. No dresses or skirts because I was just going to his house. Leggings were probably out because I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard. Jeans seemed right, but they had to be dark, and she just wasn’t sure what style. Skinny or wide leg? Eventually she’d chosen skinny since wide leg seemed to be a more professional look and I apparently wanted to look comfortable. It had given me a headache.

If it were up to me I would have grabbed a pair of boot cut jeans and a sweater, but I guess that wasn’t good enough. I don’t know why she insisted on dressing me every time I saw Patrick. Wasn’t he going to figure out eventually that I just didn’t give a shit about trends and style? He’d just have to be happy being around a girl that lived in yoga pants and t-shirts when she wasn’t working if he wanted to be with me.

“I think this one. Go try it on,” Paige ordered. I grabbed the outfit and made my way into my closet to change. I glanced at myself in the full length mirror and decided that it worked perfectly fine.

“How do I look?” I asked when Paige came in to inspect me.

“It’s a winner!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Then her smile faded. “Shoes. What shoes are you going to wear?”

In complete horror I followed her out of the closet and watched as she dumped a bag of shoes onto my floor. Oh no, we weren’t going to do this with shoes now, were we? I settled back against the same spot on the wall as before as Paige took each pair and held them out to my feet to decide. Finally she settled on a pair of flats. It didn’t matter to me, I was probably going to kick them off as soon as I got there. Not only did I not want to trample dirt around Patrick’s place, but I didn’t like wearing things on my feet. It was too confining.

I humored Paige a little more as I let her do my makeup. She explained the entire time about how to wear makeup that made it look like you weren’t wearing any. I couldn’t see the point, but I let her go. I drew the line at the makeup, however. She wasn’t getting her hands on my hair. I was going in a simple ponytail whether she liked it or not.

“You know, I have to admit, the ponytail actually looks cute on you right now,” she said in surprise.

“See? Less is more,” I replied. I helped her pack up her stuff and we walked out to the parking lot together, Loxley in tow. Patrick had said I could bring him.

“Have fun,” she told me with a wink and a smile before getting in her car. I gave her a wave and got into mine.

The nerves didn’t hit me until I started on my way. The second my GPS started giving me directions to Patrick’s house, I felt like I was going to be sick. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I was always so nervous to see him. It was ridiculous, really. He obviously liked me if he wanted to keep seeing me, so there was nothing to be nervous about. Only I did know why I was nervous. It had been that kiss.

I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss since it had happened more than a week ago. Add in what Paige had told me about it and it only made me more nervous. If what she had said was true, then that meant there’d probably be another one. Only this time it was going to be at his house. Oh God, was he going to expect more?

Maybe going to his place for dinner wasn’t such a great idea. I was not at all ready to be sleeping with the guy. It had been years, literally, since the last time. Even then it had been awful. What if he tried? Was he going to hate me and kick me out and never want to see me again if I turned him down? Would he be understanding? Whoa, Gabrielle, getting ahead of yourself a little bit. You haven’t even gotten there yet.

I didn’t have much time to think about anything else. My GPS indicated that I had arrived as I pulled into the driveway of a nice house that wasn’t too big or too small. I turned off the car and took a deep breath before getting out and letting Lox out as well. Patrick opened the door before I’d made it all the way up the sidewalk.

“Hey, how was the trip?” he asked with a smile.

“Fine. Easy. My GPS didn’t get me lost,” I joked. He laughed and held the door open for us.

I walked in and Loxley and I were immediately greeted by his dog, Dudley. Dudley and Lox liked each other immediately and made their way further inside ahead of me. I took a few more steps inside and looked around. It was definitely a bachelor’s house, devoid of much decoration. It was still nice, in a very simple way, and I found myself imagining the little things I could add here and there to really make it inviting.

“I actually just got dinner on the table, so you have great timing,” Patrick told me.

“I do my best.”

He told me I could put my purse down on a table in the hall before leading me back into the kitchen. I spotted a couple of plates set out on a dining room table with some platters of food laid out. I also spotted a pile of dishes in the sink and the kitchen was spotless. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw them.

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“Either you are the cleanest cook in history or you ordered food and then tried to make it look like you cooked it.” I was trying to be funny, but as soon as I’d said it I realized how bitchy it had sounded. Thankfully, Patrick laughed.

“Not fooling you, huh?” he asked. I smiled over at him.

“You did yourself in when you told me you couldn’t cook weeks ago.” He laughed and led me over to the table.

We talked and laughed while we ate and ended up lingering at the table long after we were both full. Lox and Dudley were sitting at our feet impatiently, eyeing the food still on the table. We’d fed them a long time ago, but apparently they still had an appetite. Just when I thought the evening was perfect, Patrick hit me with a bomb I hadn’t seen coming nor was I prepared for.

“Tell me about your family,” he said. My smile faded immediately and my stomach clenched. They were the absolute last topic I ever wanted to discuss with anyone.

“I told you. It’s just me,” I replied quietly. He looked at me sympathetically before continuing.

“I know, for nine years. I was just curious what they were like before.”

“Perfect,” I told him without hesitation. He smiled at me sadly. If only he knew. “My father worked, my mother was a stay at home mom. I had two older sisters, Rachel and Bailey. Rachel followed in dad’s footsteps and was a lawyer. Bailey was going to be a surgeon.”

I stopped talking there. My mind was wandering to a place I didn’t ever let it go. I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts away. Now was not the time or the place to go there. Patrick seemed to sense how withdrawn I’d gotten and how much I did not want to talk about my family.

“So I usually take Dudley for a walk after dinner. I can wait until later if you’re not interested.” I smiled at him and nearly cried at the change of subject. It was uncanny how well he could read me so well so soon.

“A walk sounds great.”

Patrick and I grabbed both of their leashes and walked out the door together. I walked along with him as he led me through his neighborhood. We were quiet for a lot of the walk, but the silence was far from awkward. It was actually nice to just be sharing a quiet moment at night, walking our dogs. I noticed Loxley stop at a spot to sniff, and Dudley joined him. Patrick and I stopped walking as well to let them sniff.

“I’m not interested in dating anyone else,” Patrick announced out of left field. I whipped my head around from watching the dogs to look at him in shock. He was looking back at me with a curious look on his face.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked. I wanted to be sure I’d heard him right.

“I really like you, Gabrielle, and I only want to date you. I’m hoping you feel the same way.” I was quiet for a moment, simply because I couldn’t make my vocal chords work. He kept his eyes on mine until I spoke.

“I do. Feel the same way, I mean,” I managed to force out. His grin grew and he lowered his face to mine.

“Good.”

Then his lips were on mine. I felt like they were on fire at the touch, but in the best way possible. My entire body went haywire as jolts of electricity seemed to spread through me. I lost track of all sense of time as we kissed, and I probably could have stood there on the sidewalk kissing him until it was time to die. Loxley jumping up on me jarred me out of that trance.

“Hey!” I yelled in surprise as I looked down at him. Loxley stood there, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, wagging his tail. I heard Patrick laugh next to me.

“I think they got bored,” he said. I laughed too.

“I should probably get going anyway. I have school in the morning,” I told him. He nodded and we walked back to his house.

I grabbed my things and he walked me out to my car. He kissed me again before I left and promised he’d call me tomorrow. I’m not quite sure how I made it home. I don’t think my brain started working again until I was in my apartment, changed, and in bed. I laid there in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, with Loxley curled up in his usual position near my feet.

Tonight had been one of the most amazing nights of my life, and yet there had been a blemish. I was more than overjoyed at the way the relationship between Patrick and I was going. Even so, I had my family clouding over that feeling. He’d asked about them, and he’d probably ask more the closer we got. The thought that in the near future I was either going to have to tell him about them or leave him to avoid the heartbreak of him leaving me had me crying myself to sleep.