With a sigh Haley rang the bell to the Sharps’ house. Everybody was already there and she couldn’t wait to get a bit distracted from work. And of course see and talk to Jonny.
Patrick opened the door for her, a big grin on his face. He’d thought that it would be her, so he’d offered to open the door. “Great! You’re finally here.” He pulled her close and gave her a kiss, before he peered into her face and asked: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Haley smiled at him and closed the door.
“Come on, you can’t fool me.” Patrick helped her out of her coat and took her hand.
“Let’s talk about it when we get to your place. Please?” She squeezed his hand.
“Okay.” He wanted to know what was going on, but they’d do it her way. If she didn’t want to talk about it now, there was probably a reason.
He introduced her to a couple of people and Haley ended up talking to April for a bit. When she went to the kitchen to get something to drink, Jonathan went after her. He hugged her to his side and grinned down at her.
“We haven’t talked in a while.”
“I know and I’m sorry,” Haley apologized immediately. “Work has been crazy and then there’s-“
“Patrick, I know.” Jonathan sighed. He looked in her eyes so that she had to tell him the truth. “I hope he’s treating you well.”
“He is. He’s really good to me. Don’t worry, Jon.”
“When it comes to you, I’ll always worry. And I know Patrick’s way with women.”
“And still you told me to not listen to the stories and rumors and decide for myself what I think about him.”
“I know, I know.” Jonathan threw his hands up and walked to the window. “It seems like you’re good for him and the other way around, but I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“He helped me a lot, you know.”
“Yes. I can see that. And I am more than happy that you listened to him and let him help you. You look a lot healthier. I wish I would have realized sooner that something was wrong.”
“Jonathan, it’s not your fault.” Haley gave him a hug and looked up at him. “Let’s just be happy that I finally realized what was going on.”
“Okay.” Jonathan nodded. He sensed that something still wasn’t right. “What else is on your mind? And don’t try to bullshit me, because I know when you’re lying.”
She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes for a moment. “Well, I originally had a new project that should start when you leave for Detroit, but I got a different project now. Me and Duncan have to go to Minneapolis to write an article about a little family run bed and breakfast that’s famous for its lemon tarts.”
“That sounds like a great opportunity.”
“It is. But there’s one problem.” Haley took a deep breath. “Duncan is interested in me and tries to tell me that Patrick is not good for me and that he’d treat me better than him.”
“Yikes.” Jonathan stared at her. “Does Pat know?”
“He knew before me. And I haven’t told him about this yet. We’ll have to spend a night there and we’ll head back the following day. I already told him that we’ll talk about this when we get back.”
They talked for a little bit more before they headed back to the rest of the people gathered there. Pat had been talking to Sharpy while they were gone, but now he immediately took his place at Haley’s side again. They stayed a little longer and talked with everyone gathered there, but after dinner it was time to leave.
As soon as they closed the door to Patrick’s apartment, he turned around and asked her: “Okay, what’s going on?”
Haley stared at him, sighed, and took off her boots and coat. She wanted to at least sit down before they started talking about this topic. She sat down and looked at Patrick, until he joined her.
“It’s about work.”
“I guessed that much, because you were fine when you left this morning.”
“Yeah. I got a new project. I have to go to Minneapolis in two days to write an article about a little family run bed and breakfast. And I’ll stay the night, drive back the following day.”
“And what’s the problem with that?” Patrick looked at her, confusion written all over his face.
“I’m going together with Duncan.”
“Ah hell, no.” Patrick got up from the sofa. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Haley looked up at him. “No, I’m not. I didn’t have a choice. This is a great opportunity for me.”
“But with Duncan? I can’t stand that guy. And he wants to fuck you.”
“Patrick!” Haley got up as well and stood right in front of him. “I’m not interested in Duncan at all. They only guy I’m interested in and that I want to fuck, as you put it, is you. I won’t let him badmouth you. It’ll be a business trip. You should try to trust me.”
“I do trust you.” It was true. He trusted her completely. “But I don’t trust him.”
“Then you should know that I won’t let him do anything funny. We’ll drive there, interview the owners, the guests, have dinner somewhere, sleep at the B&B and after breakfast, we’ll drive back. That’s it. There’s not much time for us to talk about anything more than work. On our way back we’ll have to talk about the article. And I’ll try to watch your game.”
“You better. There are great sports bars in the area. That way you wouldn’t be alone with that guy.” Patrick took her hands in his and pulled her close.
“You really don’t like him, do you?”
“Can’t stand that guy. He wants to take you away from me and I can’t let that happen.”
Haley’s heart took a giant leap. She threw her arms around his middle and pressed her ear to his chest. “You’re an idiot,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes.
“Maybe. But I’m your idiot.” Patrick kissed the top of her head. Never had he thought he’d behave this way with someone. He knew what it was. He was in love with Haley. Every time he saw her, his heart beat faster and he felt happy. She made him happy. Boy, he was in a lot of trouble.