Patrick Ch. 06

"I understand what you're trying to do but I can't do it, at least not now." Patrick said, "Maybe once Kevyn and I are closer and I'm more confident in my ability to control myself but even if the others don't have my particular issue you still should be able to get some kind of data from them."

"True." Veronica conceded, "Can we get some blood from you?"

"Take all that you need." Patrick said as he rolled up his sleeves.

By five-forty five, Patrick was in his car with Eustace in the front seat.

"I'll wait until you're in the building and I'll meet you over there."

******

Kevyn changed clothes several times; it was a matter of which pair of jeans to wear and with what tee shirt. She had the presence of mind to call the restaurant after asking Patrick for the name but neglecting to ask about the dress code. To her relief, it was casual dress and jeans were perfectly acceptable.

She had just finished dressing when she heard the tap on the door. In the three years that she'd lived here no one had ever come to visit. She glanced around checking to make sure that she didn't have a pair of underwear or a bra lying around before she opened the door.

"Hi." she greeted nervously.

"Hi, are you ready to go?" Patrick asked.

"I'm ready." Kevyn replied as she went to grab her jacket.

"Are you going to bring your book?" Patrick asked, "I told you that I would help you study after dinner.'

"I studied today so that I could relax tonight." Kevyn replied.

"Bring it anyway; I may just give you a pop quiz." Patrick teased.

Kevyn hesitated but got the book and handed it to Patrick taking care not to touch him, if Patrick noticed he didn't let on.

Patrick opened the car door touching Kevyn's back as she got in; she looked around the car somewhat surprised at how sensible it was.

"What? Were you expecting a jag or a vette?" he asked half teasing.

"No, I mean I didn't know what to expect but this is nice."

They arrived at 'Nyala Ethiopian Restaurant' a half hour later. Like 'Del Taco' Kevyn was given jealous glances and Patrick was receiving stares from men and women alike and it wasn't hard to know what they were thinking. The hairs on Kevyn's neck bristled when a woman walked by and "accidentally" bumped Patrick's arm.

"Do you like spicy food?" Patrick asked drawing her attention away from the woman who was disappearing into the restroom.

"What? Oh, I like spice food but not so spicy that I can't taste the food." Kevyn replied.

"How about we order from every category?" Patrick asked.

"I've never been here so I'm going to let you order." Kevyn said looking at the menu.

Patrick looked at the menu and ordered iced tea for the both of them and one of the Ethiopian beers for himself. He wasn't surprised to find that Kevyn didn't drink. While the server went for their drinks, they decided to order the vegetarian sampler, a meat sampler that included chicken, lamb and beef and finally a mixed seafood surimi that included octopus, shrimp, mussels all cooked in onions, garlic, tomatoes and seasoned red peppers.

"We're not going to eat all of that you know." Kevyn said after the server took their order.

"You haven't seen me eat." Patrick replied with a grin that made Kevyn's heart speed up.

"No but that is a lot of food." she repeated.

"Left over's." Patrick said as he took a sip of his beer. "You never did tell me why you were so stressed out by one quiz." Patrick said.

"I told you, nerves." Kevyn replied.

"Why do I believe that you aren't telling me the entire truth?" Patrick asked.

"I don't know." Kevyn replied. "So why does someone with your kind of money work?"

"I like what I do and it helps me deal with a little problem that I have .... I'm afraid to speak in public."

"'You're kidding!" Kevyn exclaimed.

"It's true, the first class is the worst and then it gets better."

His sharing that little piece of information made her a little more willing to share.

"I can't fail that class if I want to get into the nursing program."

"I see, it's the failure is not an option mindset." Patrick said.

Kevyn raised her eyebrows.

"I have at least one student a semester who's in the same boat." Patrick said answering her unspoken question, "That's why I have so much extra credit available."

"Wow an instructor who cares."

"I do care and as I said I like what I do in spite of the first day jitters, tell me about yourself, I know that you like sports, and that you want to be a nurse although I don't know what kind, do you have family?"

"I don't know what kind of nurse yet, I just want to get through the program first-that's if I get in, I do have family but they don't live close, they're on the east coast."

"Do you see them?" Patrick asked.

"I haven't been home in over a year, so I'm due but I talk to them a couple of times a week." Kevyn replied as the food reached the table.

Patrick watched her as she smiled at the server and thanked him, Patrick liked that she wore no make up letting the natural beauty of her skin show, her lips were bare which he also appreciated, he had never enjoyed kissing when the woman wore lipstick; he thought it too messy.

The table was filled with food and Kevyn didn't know where to start. Patrick reached over and took her plate and filled it.

"You can keep the eight legged mushrooms." Kevyn said grimacing.

"Eight legged..... You mean the octopus?" Patrick asked laughing.

"Yeah those."

"More for me then." Patrick replied as he took the octopi from her plate and put them on his.

During the meal Kevyn made the comment that Patrick seemed like a regular guy.

"That's because for the most part I am a regular guy who has likes and dislikes...."

"And keeps secrets." Kevyn said not knowing why she said it.

Patrick tensed and then forced himself to relax; she couldn't possibly know could she? No, it was just a lucky guess.

"What secret do you think I'm keeping?" he asked as he lifted a forkful of food into his mouth.

"I don't know." Kevyn admitted as she picked up her own fork and began eating.

The subject was dropped much to Patrick's relief as they continued eating. Kevyn was full long before Patrick was and watched amazed as he ate more than ¾ of the food.

"How can you eat so much and not be huge?" she asked.

"High metabolism." Patrick replied as he finished his beer.

"Lucky you." Kevyn replied as she waited for him to finish.

She declined the offer of coffee and Patrick paid the bill. He held her chair out for her when she got ready to stand and laid his hand lightly on the small of her back as they left restaurant. Kevyn didn't notice the looks that they generated as they walked out of the restaurant; she was too distracted by the feel of Patrick's hand on her back.

Patrick pulled into a coffee shop, grabbed her book and helped her out of the car.

"I promised to help you study so let's go." he said holding out his hand.

Kevyn took his hand reluctantly as she wondered if he was for real, Lonnie never..... "Stop thinking abut him" she admonished herself, "he was in a class all his own." Her skin tingled where Patrick's hand touched hers and she felt the warmth that she always had whenever she thought about him.

Patrick took her drink order and left her to find a place for them to sit, when she looked up, she saw the girl at the counter flirting with him and was irked. She fought the urge to go up to the counter and slap the girl but reminded herself that they weren't seeing each other and that they only had dinner but why did it feel like more than that? She wondered as she watched the girl bat her eyes and heard her giggle.

He came back a few minutes later with their drinks and gave her a questioning look, "are you ok?"

"I'm fine." she replied a little too quickly.

Patrick pretended not to notice and handed her a cup of coffee. For the next hour and a half he grilled her on the hormones and what they did.

"You'll be fine as long as you don't get nervous" he said after she answered his last question correctly, "and don't change your answers." he added as an after thought.

By eleven they were parked outside of her apartment building.

"I had a really nice time, thanks." Kevyn said.

"Me too and I wouldn't mind a repeat." Patrick replied.

Kevyn was pleased and that surprised her but she hesitated, she had a goal to meet and if she started spending time with Patrick.....

"I promise not to keep you away from your studies."

"How'd you know what I was thinking?" Kevyn asked.

"It's what I would think if I were you." Patrick replied, "I know how important school is to you and I wouldn't do anything to get in the way of you meeting your goals."

Kevyn hedged, she wanted to go out with him again but she had to think about her long term goals.

"We'll talk later." she said.

Patrick got out of the car, helped her out and walked her to her door; he wanted to kiss her but held back he didn't want to give her a reason not to go out with him again.

Kevyn looked up at Patrick, he wanted to kiss her, she could tell and she wanted him to. When it became clear that he wasn't going to kiss her, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and she kissed him.

Patrick was surprised but got over it quickly; he put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer deepening the kiss. To his surprise, he broke the kiss first.

"I'm sorry...." Kevyn started misinterpreting the reason for his stopping the kiss but Patrick stopped her.

"Don't be." Patrick said "I enjoyed it and would like to add kissing you to my list of things to repeat with you."

"I'd better go." Kevyn said embarrassed by her forwardness and Patrick's admission.

"Good night and I'll call you later." Patrick said as Kevyn unlocked her door and slipped inside.

Patrick found Eustace waiting in the car when he got there.

"I like her, she's good people." he said when Patrick got in.

"I'm glad that you approve." Patrick said as he pulled away.

*******

Kevyn leaned against the door of her efficiency, what had she been thinking kissing him like that? She worried that he would have the wrong opinion of her; she was nothing like Melissa and hoped he wasn't comparing her to that slut.

"Damn!" she cursed as she moved away from the door fanning herself.

*****

Patrick drove to Ethan's house feeling happier than he could ever remember being. Of her own volition Kevyn had kissed him, he had the feeling that she wasn't usually so forward and was probably kicking herself but he really had enjoyed the kiss. On a whim he decided to call her and tell her so.

"Hi." he greeted when she answered the phone.

"Hi, um look I'm usually not so... aggressive and if I was too forward I'm sorry."

"Do you know what I was thinking about when we were at the restaurant?" Patrick asked, "I was thinking about kissing you. As a matter of fact, I thought about it last night, you just beat me to it."

"I just don't want you to think that I'm anything like Melissa, you know, after your money and all."

"Kevyn, you are nothing like Melissa and the thought that you might be after my money never crossed my mind. I just wanted to call and tell you that I really did have a good time tonight and I enjoyed the kiss."

Patrick could hear the relief in her voice; she had really been worried about it. He wondered if that was part of the reason why she hedged on seeing him again.

"Is that part of the reason why you're not sure about seeing me again?" he asked.

Her hesitation answered his question.

"That and I really have to get through school." Kevyn replied.

"Now that you know that I don't think that you're anything like Melissa will you go out with me again?" Patrick asked.

"I..... Ok" Kevyn replied.

"Good." Patrick replied, "I know that you want to study tomorrow night and I have some things to do so why don't we talk tomorrow sometime?"

He really didn't have anything to do other than meet with Eustace and talk to the girls but he didn't want to rush her. The kiss brought them closer and talking to her was enough to keep him calm even through the sessions with Eustace.

Patrick ended the call by wishing Kevyn a good night sleep. He went to his room and took out his laptop and began working on the online course, he found it hard to concentrate but by morning, he had the first draft of the syllabus set up.

He asked himself is he wanted to have office hours and decided not to, he could always change his mind later. Once he and Kevyn were mated he would reexamine the decision, instead he would have "office hours" online where he would be available to chat. Satisfied with his progress, he shut the laptop down and got ready for bed.

********

Linda got another nasty surprise from Carl that evening. He came from his office with the credit card bills in his hands.

"What in the fuck are you buying?" he shouted.

When she didn't answer he continued, "You're paying these bills."

"How? I don't have any money!" Linda protested.

Carl looked at her for several long minutes.

"Part of this is my fault for not stopping this sooner so this is what I'm going to do; I'll pay off the highest ones and leave the smaller ones to you."

"But, that's still more money than I have!"

"Then get a job." he replied as he went back into his office leaving the door open.

Linda heard him on the phone paying off the highest of her credit card bills, even with that she was fifty-thousand in the hole. If she made the minimum payments, it would take her years but if she sold all of her jewelry she would break even and still would be broke except for the five thousand in the bank and the measly three thousand a month from Carl.

She had to sell the jewelry that much was clear and she might even have a little left over afterwards but not enough to leave her husband. When she heard Carl leave for his meeting, she logged on to her laptop and did a Google search on the Sinclaires as a whole. They had a combined net worth in the millions hundreds of times over and separately if the reports were to be believed, they were each worth millions. They wouldn't miss a few million she decided, the question was what it would take for her to get money from them.

Whatever it was, it had to be well planned out, there was no room for error or she would find herself at worst in prison, at best kicked out of the house with no money. The thought that she was thinking of doing what she advised Melissa not to do crossed her mind but Melissa was three million dollars richer than she was and not on the brink of divorce.

First things first she decided, in the morning she would sell her jewelry and pay off the credit card bills and then she would start thinking about how best to take some of the Sinclaire millions. That decided Linda began to hum "we're in the money.