Patrick

She turned to look at Carrie who was giving her a cool look. “And this must be Carrie. Honey, you have tongues wagging because you happen to have snatched one of the most eligible bachelors in the country.”

“I love your covers and your style,” she told the woman coolly, looking at her suspiciously.

Leesa laughed moving her head and causing the dangling earrings to move against her slender shoulders. “You have nothing to worry about, honey. Your husband and I are just friends. I am afraid my heart is elsewhere, tied up with tall blonde over there.” She nodded to a tall distinguished looking older man who was talking to the President.

“Still no success in that area?” Patrick asked her sympathetically.

“When have you ever known me to give up?” She patted Patrick’s jaw fondly. “We must do lunch one of these days,” she said to Carrie before she walked away. Her walk had been spoken about so much that it was her trademark. She was in a simple black dress with thin straps and looked like who she was: a successful model and a thoroughly beautiful one. Patrick chuckled in amusement as they watched her go up and whisper something in the President’s ear and saw when the man smiled and walked away. She took the man’s hand and led him onto the dance floor.

“What’s so funny?” Carrie asked her husband as he led her to one of the tables with food.

“Leesa has been in love with Bradley for the past eight years.”

She looked up at him startled and then back at the couple on the dance floor. “Does he know?”

“He is the only one who doesn’t.” Patrick nodded to the server as he passed him a plate. “He lost his fiancé in a tragic car crash ten years ago and cannot seem to recover from it.”

“That’s dreadful.” Carrie got a good look at the man and realized that she had seen him at the club before.

“Leesa is determined to make him notice her.”

“I have a feeling he will.”

Later that night, in bed, Patrick handed her an envelope. “What’s this?” she asked him puzzled. He had massaged her feet and rubbed some special cream onto her stomach.

“Open it!” he said quietly.

She did and took out some shredded pieces of papers. “Is this a joke?” she looked up at him.

“I should hope not,” he told her gently. “Read a piece of it.”

She sifted through the papers and read the scraps there for a moment and then her eyes widened. “This is the prenup! You tore it up?”

“Yes.” He took her hand and looked into her eyes. “I have no idea how you did it, but I have fallen in love with you.”

Her heart spun like crazy as she looked at him. “How I did it?” she asked him coolly, a little amused at the way he put it.

He shrugged a little bit and smiled slightly. “You came into my life with your weird behavior and your don’t-give-a-damn attitude and made me fall head over heels in love with you.”

“Are people still saying ‘head over heels’?” she asked him amusingly.

“Carrie.” His tone was exasperated.

“Okay, go on!” she said, waving her free hand, trying to keep the amusement from her face.

“You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Just a little bit.”

“I love you, baby, and I will have you know that I have never loved a woman the way I do you. I have never met anyone like you, and even though you drive me crazy, I can never be with anyone but you.” His voice had gotten intense and a little hoarse as the emotions crowded inside him.

She used her free hand to cup his jaw and felt the tension there. “I have waited so long to hear you say it,” she told him huskily. “I love you, Patrick, and it caught me by surprise. No matter what I go through with you and this totally crazy lifestyle, it will always be you.”

“Thank God that is over!” he said with a heavy sigh. “I have been trying to think of ways to tell you how I feel and kept coming up blank.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips softly. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and have maybe three or more children together.”

“Is that so?” She arched her well-shaped brows at him. “As long as I am the one with the uterus, I get to say how many we will have, mister.” She touched her lips to his again and felt the tremor going through her body. “I love you.”

The last few weeks of February leading into March had her irritable and frustrated. Her belly had ballooned so much so that she could hardly move and her feet had swelled up. The doctor advised her to take it easy on her feet and to relax.