AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.Please, not Patrick too.
‘Please, just say it. It hurts more that you’re holding it in.’ My voice was sharp and abrupt. The natural defence mechanisms inside my body were hard at work as they shielded my heart from a suspected bullet that was about to hit.
He looked at me with his ridiculously green eyes, and I felt my knees go weak. It was as though the floor was butter and I was going to slip over any minute.
‘Naomi, I have feelings for you … and I know you said you didn’t want another man in your life, but I can’t help it. Your energy is addictive.’ He turned his back to me for a moment and faced the water views, and I could’ve sworn he was crying. He took a deep breath and faced me again with dry eyes. ‘I know I’m going to scare you off and you won’t want to spend time with me anymore.’ He sighed and looked down at the marble floor again.
Patrick Vitello has feelings for me? Patrick Vitello? You’ve got to be kidding me.‘Come again?’ I asked and blinked a couple of times to make sure this was reality and not some hallucinogenic dream I was having.
He laughed, then said, ‘I’ve fallen in love with you, Naomi.’
‘I … I don’t know what to say.’
‘Don’t say anything. I just thought it was something you should know.’ He flashed a warm but weary smile.
I couldn’t breathe. Patrick was my boss. Working in his restaurant was my livelihood, not to mention the opportunity of a lifetime. Granted, he was nothing like Daniel, but still … I always thought that we were just good friends, that I was the one with the crush and was reading into his motives too much, but hearing the words from his own mouth …Oh my God.
‘Patrick, I’m shocked …’ I stood there and blinked at him for a little while.
‘The last thing I want to do is push you away.’ His eyes were full of sincerity, which made my heart melt some more.
A little voice niggled in my ear:Do you want to end up like Deb and get fired for sleeping with your boss? But then I thought to myself,Well, Daniel was married, and Patrick isn’t, and oh my God, what am I getting myself into?I took a deepbreath. Deep down, I wanted this too. ‘I appreciate the honesty, Patrick.’
He nodded and waited for my next words.
‘I don’t want to lose this friendship, ever. You’re the one person that I can be completely myself with,’ I said with worry-filled eyes.
‘Me too, Naomi. I can’t help it. Ever since I met you on my birthday, all I wanted was to know more about you. You are the most down-to-earth woman I’ve ever met, and I love how connected you are to your heritage in the way you cook. We connect on so many levels, and that’s what I’m looking for. You’re what I’m looking for.’
I thought of Dad, Scott, Deb, Seb, and even Daniel. ‘You don’t understand how afraid I am to lose another person in my life. It petrifies me.’ I let out an exhale of anxiety and noticed my hands were shaking.
‘I never want to hurt you.’ He frowned, searching for his next words. ‘We can stop spending time together if it makes it too difficult.’
‘I don’t want to lose this, though. I love hanging out with you.’ I looked at his golden hoop earrings, his sculptured olive face, and dark tousled hair, and felt frightened by the thought we could stop hanging out.
‘Me too.’ He nodded as he stared at the floor.
Truth be told, I could see myself slotting into Patrick’s life. We had so much in common, our conversations flowed like wine. Part of me felt like he was the missing piece, the Libran male to balance out my fragile Cancerian emotions, but I was scared of being hurt again. So scared. But I knew if I let fear control my life, I would never be happy, and I would hate to miss out on an opportunity to be truly happy with someone. We’d both been hurt, and a part of me knew I’d never meet anyone like him again. He was so rare.
‘Patrick, you’re the most incredible man I’ve ever met, and I feel like you came into my life at the most perfect moment.’
He smiled and looked deep into my eyes. His stare was so intense, goosebumps spread over my skin as desire rushed through my body and we instinctually moved closer to each other like two magnets. He cupped his hands around my neck and kissed my forehead. It was a light, gentle kiss, but my skin tingled as if it was my first. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest, breathing in his faint spicy, leathery scent. Tears formed in my eyes, and my emotions rushed about as though caught in a cyclone. He lifted my chin, looked deep into my eyes again, and then kissed me, gently massaging my tongue with his.
Patrick took my hand and led me up the staircase toward his ornate Art Deco bedroom. I felt as though I was in a daze.Was this really happening?
‘Do you want this, Naomi? Do you want it as much as I do?’ His voice gave me chills at how sexy he sounded.
I nodded. ‘Yes, more than anything.’ We walked across his plush carpet, and I hopped onto his silky king-sized bed, my eyes not breaking contact with his.
He climbed on top of me, pressed his hands into the mattress, and kissed my neck, then worked his way down to my belly before stopping and looking into my eyes again.God, he was beautiful. I sat up, pulled off my dress, and chucked it onto the floor, revealing just my bra and underwear. He looked down at my breasts and gently squeezed them, cupping them in his hands, then stroked my nipples with his thumbs, which sent tingles all the way down my thighs. I’d never felt so much lust in my life; my whole body craved him.
‘You’re so beautiful, Naomi. Your body is like a Botticelli painting.’ He ran his finger down my abdomen and began kissing me just above my underwear.
I didn’t say anything. I just stared into his eyes and grabbed his face, leading his lips back to mine for a kiss. The kiss was warm and passionate and made the goosebumps return all over my skin.
He pulled off his shirt, and I couldn’t help staring at his smoothly muscled torso. I wanted to tell him he looked like a Michelangelo sculpture, but I was having trouble forming words. His shoulders were in perfect proportion to his body – not too wide and not too narrow. Just right. He reached over to the drawer in his nightstand and slipped on a condom, and I felt an instant warmth between my thighs.
Finally, the rest of our clothes were on the floor, and we were naked in his bed, limbs intertwined. I let out a soft moan as I felt him enter me and looked up at his skylight dappled in sunlight while my eyes watered with pleasure. My hands dug into his toned back as his spearmint breath mixed with the intoxicating vanilla scent of his room drifted my way.
