‘Lonely,’ Patrick finished for me with a rueful smile. ‘I get it – it’s one of the reasons I hate going on tour. I mean, it’s amazing, playing for fans all over the world … but hotels are so empty.’
Empty. Yeah, he was right. Even though it was full of guests, I’d never been somewhere that felt more hollow.
‘I’ve had Anna and Laura crashing with me most nights, to be honest,’ I admitted, trying not to sound like a toddler who needed babysitting. ‘But Anna went out on a date tonight and Laura has a big investor meeting in the morning.’
A twinge of guilt; an investor meeting I hadn’t had time to help her prepare for. Before Patrick – and this whole relationship – I would help Laura prep for all her meetings. Big or small.
‘Must be nice to have them with you,’ Patrick said with a shrug. ‘I can’t wait for the guys to get back from their penance tours.’
‘Yeah, it’s nice. It isn’t home, though,’ I said with a wry smile. ‘But then home is a houseshare with a bunch of guys who don’t know how to put milk back in the fridge, so …’
I trailed off, trying not to sound ungrateful. This last month had been a whirlwind beyond anything I could ever have imagined.
Patrick looked at me in quiet contemplation before he opened his mouth again. ‘You could crash at my place. For the night, I mean.’
For a second, I was speechless.
Not once, in all our weeks of dating, had Patrick invited me back to his place.
I understood his need for privacy. Respected it even.
So why had he invited me over now?
I was suddenly grateful for the cover the darkness of night provided. My cheeks were surely scarlet from the heat emanating from them.
Did that meancrash at my place… in my spare bedroom? Or was he looking for a continuation of our photo-booth activities?
I swallowed.I want a part two of that night, so badly.
Try as I might, I couldn’t tell what Patrick was thinking just by looking at him. As I stared into his eyes, a calm sea reflected back at me. Not expecting, not pushing. Simply offering.
‘If … if you wouldn’t mind,’ I said quietly, testing the water by dipping a toe in.
It didn’t seem to make any ripples. Patrick just smiled. ‘I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t fine with it.’
Fine. What didfinemean?
I had a short walk to think about it, which wasn’t nearly enough time. Over the last few weeks, this whole fake relationship thing … it had to be in public. Derek had been clear about that – our dates had to be seen, be visible.
There’d never been any reason to go back to my place. Or his. And even as we began to spend time with each other outside of the scheduled events, even after the photo booth, we had never crossed that line.
I shivered with something like anticipation as we stepped up to a tall building that looked, honestly, pretty normal. Not massively different from where I lived, only the street was a bit greener.
‘Cold?’ Patrick put his arm around my shoulders.
‘Yeah,’ I lied.
I didn’t want to give him a reason to remove his arm. Even if the physical contact between us had my stomach twisting with nerves, and my heart racing and my nipples tightening –
Chill the fuck out, Jessy!
Patrick wasn’t calm either. I could sense the coiled tension running through him. His hands shook lightly as he fumbled his key at the door. His nerves told me everything I needed to know.
He hadn’t brought another girl back to his place. At least not recently.
Which made me feel good. And then like an idiot. I had no right to feel possessive over him.
I had no claim to Patrick Tetlow – not even as his fake girlfriend. Sure, we both knew there was something more here. But Patrick had never brought up being exclusive or taking this beyond its written end date.
