“She’s a nice girl,” Brandon Bollig said after talking to Haley for some time, and when she left to use the restroom. “But she’s a journalist.”
“That’s not a problem. She’s been friends with Jonny since they were children.” Patrick watched her walk away and only turned around to Brandon, when she was out of sight. He quite enjoyed watching her walk away, especially now that she had his last name on the back of her jersey.
“She’s just not the kind of woman you usually go for.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she’s not one of those big-breasted puck bunnies who can’t carry on a conversation. She’s a really nice, bright girl with a steady job, who supports herself. Not the kind you usually go out with.”
Patrick couldn’t say anything against this. After all, it was the truth. She wasn’t his usual kind of girl, but she was certainly interesting. Feisty and good looking. To be honest, she could eat more. When she’d taken off the jersey earlier he’d seen how thin she really was. It was a bit worrisome. Maybe he should talk to Jonathan about this, but he’d probably ask him other questions then.
And why the hell had she given him a kiss that close to his lips? Not that he minded, quite the contrary, but he hadn’t expected this kind of behavior from her. From the woman that had tensed up when he’d hugged her from behind. Granted, it had been the first day they’d known each other, but still.
“Haley Finton!” Patrick suddenly heard a voice call out and turned to see who it was. It was that reporter from the Chicago Tribune he’d seen earlier when he’d picked up Haley. That Duncan guy. Now that he could look at him longer, he realized that Duncan was a sports journalist for the newspaper. He’d answered a couple of his questions. Oh, and he knew the way he looked at Haley. Duncan was definitely interested and her face lit up a bit when she saw him.
“Oh no,” Patrick mumbled to himself, but Brandon heard that. He asked what was going on, so Patrick turned towards him again. “That guy works with Haley. Do you see the way he looks at her?”
“Maybe we should go over then. Can’t have him hitting on your woman.”
‘His woman’. Well, to Brandon she was Patrick’s woman. And he was right.
Together they walked over, getting the attention of Haley as well as Duncan. “Duncan, right?” Patrick stretched out his hand and grinned. “Nice to see you again. And sorry for whisking my girlfriend away like this earlier, but it’s hard to spend a lot of time together with such a busy schedule.”
“Hey.” Duncan grinned at the two men, his hand dropping off Haley’s upper arm. “Don’t worry, I can understand that. And I can go for lunch with her any other day, so it really is fine.”
Whoa. Okay. Patrick put his arm around Haley and placed his hand on her hips. He pulled her close and gazed down at her, putting on a smile for everyone to see. “You okay?”
She stiffened for a brief moment before she relaxed and leaned against him. “I’m fine.” She looked up at him and smiled before she diverted her attention back to Duncan. Meanwhile Brandon had asked him to join him and Sharpie for a beer. He could hardly say no to that, could he? And with that Haley and Patrick were alone, but he still kept his arm around her.
“You know that he wants to get in your pants, don’t you?”
“What?” Haley stepped away from him and stared into his eyes. “You’re out of your mind. Duncan and I are just friends. He was one of the few people I met here and immediately hit it off with because we have similar interests.”
“Believe me, Haley. I can tell by the way he looks at you. Even Brandon saw that.” He reached out to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. Her glasses only accentuated her eyes more and he found himself staring back at her.
“I still think you’re wrong.”
“I’m right. I just hope that he realizes that he has to keep his hands off you.” When she turned towards him again, he took a step closer and put his hands on her sides. He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Her whole body tensed up, but it only made him smile. “You belong to me after all.”
“As if I could forget that.” Haley whispered and he’d barely heard her. Her breath touched his throat and he found himself smiling.
“Good.” Slowly he raised his head again and looked her in the eyes. That’s when he realized that she looked exhausted. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
“Already?” She looked surprised. He seized that moment to take her hand in his. She didn’t shake it off.
“Haley, I can see that you’re exhausted and that you’re probably not sleeping properly.”
“Look who’s talking.” She’d seen that as well. It had been better for a few weeks now, but two nights ago he’d started having nightmares again. She was right.
“Yeah. Seems like we have something in common.” That made her give a little chuckle. The first genuine one he’d heard out of her and it made him smile.
They said goodbye to the others and went to Patrick’s car. It didn’t take them long to get to Haley’s apartment and Jonathan got out with her to walk her to the door.
“What are you doing next Saturday?”
“Nothing, why?” She dug in her purse for the keys and looked up at him again when she found them.
“There’s this charity dinner I have to go to. Jonathan will be there and April as well and it would be a great opportunity for us to be seen together in public. It’s very formal, so I’ll definitely pay for the dress. I’m sure April would be happy to go shopping with you.”
“I’d love to. It sounds like fun.” She stepped up to him and gave him a quick hug. “Goodnight, Patrick.”
“Goodnight, Haley.”