Deceived 5 - New Beginnings (5 page)

His fingers moved to my hips, his eyes searching my face, asking what he couldn’t bring himself to say. I knew what he wanted and I nodded. I needed it, too. He began to thrust up into me, moving deeper and faster until I couldn’t do anything but hold onto his arms and let wave after wave of sensation roll over me.

Panting and swearing, Patrick pumped inside of me until he called out my name, his fingers tightening on my hips almost to the point of pain. That did it for me, twisting me that last little bit so even as he began to pulse inside me, I was coming. My muscles tightened and I felt his hips jerk underneath me, another cry escaping his lips.

I leaned forward, my hands still on his chest, breathing heavily as I came down. I tried to flip my hair out of the way so I could see, but then his hands were there, clearing my face so that his mouth could find mine. The kiss was gentle and tender, so full of everything we both felt that it made my chest tight.

Needing air, I pulled back and sat up on my knees, and pulled all of my hair into a ponytail with one hand. I sat there for a minute, holding my hair up on my head waiting to catch my breath. “Next time,” I panted. “Maybe I really will tie you up.”

Patrick smiled up at me. “Only if I get to have a turn, too.”

I rolled my eyes and twisted my hair further up off of my neck.

“You look gorgeous like that.”

I looked down, puzzled, then realized that holding my arm up probably made my chest arch out, making my swollen breasts even more prominent. Patrick had made no bones about the fact that he was definitely enjoying the effect pregnancy had on my breasts.

I arched my back even farther and said in a teasing tone, “You like this pose?”

He looked up at me, his wide eyes full of love. He reached up and brushed his fingers across my jaw and then down to cup my breast. “I love it. I love you, everything about you. You’re amazing. Now come here.”

He helped me climb off of him and roll onto my side, maneuvering himself rather than making me move. He didn’t stop until he was flush against my back and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. He locked both arms around me tightly, one hand on the top of my stomach, the other on the bottom. I tipped my head up, and pressed my lips against his shoulder. “I love you, too.”

His eyes were already closed and I felt the muscles in his arms relax. I closed my eyes, feeling content, and let the steady beat of his heart against my back, his breath hot against my neck, lull me to sleep.

The high heels of Nina’s fashionable boots made a sharp clicking sound as we walked out of the last maternity shop. The weather was still cold enough to warrant boots for this time of year, and while Nina had the luxury of being stylish, I needed comfortable shoes for walking. And so it was that my low-heeled boots made a different sound, every thud saying, “I can’t wear heels now that I’m pregnant.” I sighed. I missed my heels. But at least Nina had helped me find some really cute maternity clothes and I was grateful to her for that. I had three bags slung from my arms by the conclusion of our shopping spree. I was a little sad that Elyse hadn’t been able to join us, but she’d promised to come over later so I could model for her.

“Nina, you’re a gem,” I said. “I never would have found these cute clothes if you hadn’t gone with me. I can’t wait to wear them. I already feel better about myself.”

“Chloe, you worry too much.” Nina shook her head. “I told you. You’re gorgeous and you’re going to look even more gorgeous in those new clothes.” Without so much as a breath, she changed the subject. “So what do you think of Ricky?”

Before I could answer, she reached for two of the bags hanging off of my arm closest to her and said, “Here, let me carry those for you.”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely. I was never one to complain about carrying my own weight, but since I had more of it than before, tasks that should’ve been simple were taking more and more effort. We stopped so she could situate the bags into an easier carrying position, and I answered her question. “About Ricky. Well, he’s cute and Elyse really likes him. He seems like a good guy.”

“Well, he is handsome, if I do say so myself, but then he’s family so I guess I’m biased.” Nina gave a laugh and we picked up our pace again. “It sounds like you and Patrick are going to make it happen with that deal for him.”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Though this kind of thing is really Patrick’s strong suit. He handles that side of the business.”

“What’s your side of the business?”

“Patrick and I actually met when I was his assistant at Meyer and Meyer.” I waited for the inevitable look. Pretty much everyone who heard I married my boss got this look in their eyes that said I was the office slut, sleeping my way to the top. Even if it only flitted in there and they pushed it out right away, it was always there.

Except with Nina, it wasn’t. “Oh, really? What a great way to meet. And look at you now. It must have been destiny.” Her expression didn’t change.

“Yes, I think it was.” I smiled at her, feeling a rush of relief that she didn’t think badly of me. What had happened between Patrick and I wasn’t some sordid affair, but it was always hard to convince people of that. “It’s such a long story I don’t want to bore you with, but I couldn’t be happier than I am right now. I still assist him, but now I’m the manager for several accounts on my own.”

“Well, we women have to work with what we’ve got, right?” The look she gave me was curious, but without judgment.

I wanted us to be friends, and the only way to do it was to come completely clean. “Okay, I plead guilty to some of it.” I grinned at her, hoping she’d understand. “But my reasons weren’t to get ahead in business, honest. I mean, you’ve seen Patrick. He’s irresistible, and every time I was around him, I just couldn’t help myself. It’s like we were being drawn together by some mysterious magical force. I tried to be logical about it at first and talk myself out of it, but then the sparks flew between us and I just said, ‘Go with your gut feeling, Chloe.’”

“Oh, yes, I totally get that.” She sounded so sincere that I felt a rush of gratitude.

I didn’t want her to think I was all about me and Patrick, and I was really curious to know more about her, so I brought it over to her. “What about you? Boyfriend, husband...ex-husband?”

Nina laughed. “No, thank God. I mean about the ex-husband, but at the moment…no, not exactly.” She paused for a moment and pursed her lips, something dark passing over her eyes. “It’s complicated. There was this one guy…he was amazing. And then he wasn’t. Let’s just put it that way.”

I understood that completely. There were guys from my past that I didn’t care to mention in detail and others who I wished I could completely erase the memory of. I was just fortunate to have found a keeper.

“You know,” she said, “I had a lot of fun today. If you ever want to hang out, get your nails done, or have coffee – decaf for you, of course – just give me a call. I’m almost always free. That’s one of the advantages of being my own boss.”

“Thanks, I will. That’s really sweet of you.” We’d reached the parking lot and stopped at my car first. I dug my keys out of my purse and we loaded my bags into the car. Once I was all secure, we said our good-byes and gave each other one of those half-hugs that people did when they were on their way to being friends but not quite there yet. I smiled as I watched her walk over to her car. I was looking forward to a future of pedicures and coffee with Nina and Elyse. I continued to smile as I drove home. Life just kept getting better.

I sat at my desk, doing all the usual busy work that kept me, well, busy. Scrolling through my calendar on the computer, checking doctor appointments, and business meetings to make sure I didn’t have any scheduling conflicts. While I was looking at the upcoming week, it occurred to me that it had been a week since Nina and I had gone shopping. I clicked past the last several days that had coffee dates and a pedicure with Nina, all typed in a green font, up to today’s date. I stopped when Patrick burst into the office.

“Guess what I just got for Ricky?”

I took my hand off the mouse and raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to tell me.

“A two hundred thousand dollar commercial!” His words ran together in his excitement. “It’s for Japan, but still.”

“
Woohoo
!” I raised my hand up in the air palm out, waiting for a high five. “We’re going to Japan?”

Patrick completed the gesture and then sat on the edge of the desk to talk. “No, they’re shooting it here in New York. Sorry, babe.” He grinned as he explained the details, his face lighting up. “They’re bringing their entire crew to New York, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have to see if Ricky even wants to do it. I know he had his heart set on Gillette, and I’m still working on that, but I mean this deal is two days of work and he’ll get paid two hundred thousand minus our ten percent.” His eyebrows shot up as he got an idea. “Maybe you can get Nina to talk him into it! I mean, if he balks at the idea?”

“He
was
set on Gillette, but why not just ask him?”

“But if you could get Nina on board, I’m sure he would say yes,” Patrick countered. “You know, one more person to show him the logic in the deal and Nina would know, she’s a business person.”

I sighed. He could be so stubborn. “Do you want me to call her now?”

“Let me talk to Ricky first, and then you can call Nina and tell her the good news.” Patrick slid off the desk and walked around to stand behind my chair. “The Japanese are big race car fans. It could be a big boost for him overseas to get this.”

He put his hands on my shoulders, his fingers kneading my tense muscles. Patrick always had knack for knowing what I needed before I even realized it. I’d been sitting in this chair for so long my muscles were tight, and if he hadn’t started in on them, I would’ve been stiff by the time I was ready to go home. I tipped my head back and looked at him. “I agree. He should do this deal.”

With a smile, he leaned down and kissed my lips, lingering as the tip of his tongue traced my bottom lip. I shivered. It was a completely different sensation upside-down. He pulled back and swiveled my chair so I was facing him. He went down on his knees, circling my entire body with his arms as he laid his head on my baby bump. I ran my fingers through his dark hair, wondering if our little girl’s hair would be so soft. His fingers made small circles on my back as he rested there, every part of him relaxed, as if he could stay like this forever. I shared the sentiment. I loved all of the big things in our lives, but it was moments like this that made everything worth it. Just me, Patrick and our daughter.

The baby kicked, and he lifted his head, his eyes shining. “I felt it. That’s so amazing.” His face wore a look of total adoration, and then suddenly, it changed to concern. “Does it hurt when she kicks?”

I smiled and shook my head. “Not really. Besides, just then, I think she was giving you a high five, too.”

Patrick pressed his lips against my stomach, the gesture without a trace of sensuality. He rested his cheek on the baby bump again, pulling his hand out from behind me to run his fingertips over the soft cotton of my dress. “I thank God every day that you love me enough to have our baby.”

My heart turned over in response to his words and I let myself ask the question I hadn’t dared to ask before. “Are you glad it’s a girl?”

He straightened and took my face in his hands. His expression was serious, his eyes blazing with so much love that it almost hurt. “Yes, and I know that she will be as beautiful as you. The two of you are the most important things in my life.”

A tear spilled over before I even knew it was there. I rested my hands on his cheeks and laughed even as more tears followed the first. “Pregnancy hormones…tears…” The words came out, choked, between laughing and crying.

Patrick smiled. “I know, the good kind.” He wrapped his arms around me as we laughed and I cried.